Either Heriot Watt- Edinburgh Business School MBA Putrajaya (Fee: 58K)
OR
Victoria University MBA Sunway (Fee: 45K)

HW has double accreditation for its MBA thou...

How ah hahaha

I live in subang.. so hesitating HW cuz its Far away, But it seems attractive for its accreditation

Opinion? Thanksss

Alternatively, if you can qualify, then go for Asia School of Business
Almost full scholarship for Malaysians. Top notch program, although still building up their reputation.
Lots of exposure and job opportunities overseas at graduation.

Go to one of their events (see their facebook page) and talk to the people there to see if you qualify, the academics I hear is pretty rigorous.

Facts first, accreditation is a minimum expectation for a MBA course. The competitive advantage is the reputation of the university itself.

Second, what is your objective of getting a MBA? If it’s for gaining knowledge and professional development, there are a lot of business books, TED talks and HBR articles which are definitely a cheaper option.

If it’s to get a job, I don’t think both option can help much. Most employers in MYS don’t value or require the candidates to have MBA. Those that do normally prefer those from very prestigious universities such as Insead, Oxford, Harvard, … As these easily cost around RM500k, most Malaysian employers cannot afford these graduates salary demands anyway. If your MBA is not in the FT100, I think any MBA will make much difference in the eyes of the employer.

If it’s to gain network, MBA may help as most students have some business background or corporate hotshots but again there are cheaper alternatives.

Hmm what if is to make a cv look better, at least better than degree alone

I agree with Topace 100%

Your objective is to get a better job but your mentality is still the apply and hope someone will look at my CV. An MBA from a noname university will not make your CV look better because most hiring managers would like at experience first assuming you get past the automated filters. An MBA from a top university will look better only for someone who can afford to hire you at that rate.

Networking done well will gain you far better opportunities.

I don’t have a clear formula but the higher ranking you are, the lesser importance your paper qualifications will come into play as your work experience / achievements will do all the talking. If you are the boss, will you want to recruit someone who has proven track record & experience or something with just theoretical knowledge and a paper?

In corporate world, the star employees will be identified and fast-tracked for promotion. Most organizations have affiliations with business schools to send their bright VP/Directors to get better paper qualifications to bolster their CV before their induction into C-level or Board of Directors. They will be bonded for few years. Most MBAs work this way.

MBA from prestigious university will have value such as Harvard. The entry requirement to these universities are quite hard (Ie: GMAT, 2 alumni endorsement, interview, tests, …). It may be harder than some MNC interviews. Not to mention the financial costs. It comes with 2 major perks. First, the students network is massive provided you willing / able to engage. You will be liaising with VP/Directors/CEOs of various MNCs throughout the world. The second perk which is the most important one is the alumni recruitment program. Unis such as Harvard, Wharton and Stanford has a recruitment database which is only open to their MBA students. You can call it a professional affilitation. MNCs need bright staffs and these schools can provide them. The schools can then sell the MBA based on employability of their students. You can call it the rich boys club.

Malaysia universities are rushing to offer MBAs to attract people for this reason without the reputation and financial clout to attract MNCs. If you just want to have a MBA, I think the public universities MBAs are not bad considering the costs.

HR always put more emphasis on work experience over paper education. Your education (post-degree) is nice to have but not pre-requisite. Most people will tell you is better to learn skills such as IT programming or languages which is also a boon in your CV.

where did you see full scholarship for malaysian? thanks

Internal source. Best to go talk to them directly.

Thanks a lot for your input man, appreciate it!! Rollover too! Thanks man

thanks. the course really worth few hundred k in quality?

Hmm, After some thoughts about what you wrote ( which I appreciate it), I am thinking to do my Mba now (22 yrs) and work at the same time (part time Mba). After that, I probably will be studying again, either masters (tech/AI related) or CFA... Then by the age of 27, I will be full fletched for my career by then..

The reason for the Mba is to boost my cv (not now... I am expecting a fresh grad degree holder salary after graduating the MBA... But rather after having maybe 5-10 yrs of working experience, from there onwards I am expecting the mba to bear its fruits)... Alongside with the additional masters/CFA, will it be better this way? Say like maybe when I am 35 years old..

I can assure you that the MBA would not assure that it will bear fruits 10 year later. It may, or it may not.

Bachelors, Masters, Doctorates are fantastic. Masters and Doctorates are essential if you want to go down the academic path.

MBA? 10 years later? No. Employers don't care about your MBA. They want to see your latest CV, and how you can contribute to the company. Your 10-years ago piece of paper means zilch if you have been working as an office-boy the last 5 years.

ROI for an MBA = cumulative future earnings
future earnings = career services + next job after MBA + b-school reputation + alumni + professional network + a little bit of the stuff you learn during the MBA + your own capabilities

IMO ASB has the advantage for your next job after your MBA and to a lesser extent the professional network, primarily due to its MIT link and the silicon valley trip they take every year.

At the same price level and assuming you can get in to both ASB and INSEAD/NUS/Chicago, obviously INSEAD/NUS/Chicago is a better choice as their alumni and reputation are far ahead. Throw in the scholarships and the balance tilts to the other direction.

Having been to the campus multiple times, talked to the CEO and other faculty members, I think it's a good program with a lot of potential. Personally if I had to do it all over again I would seriously consider ASB.

Maybe I share what happen in India and China. The job competition is so huge there, a degree is only perceived as a minimum requirement. Hence, some graduates are obliged to take MBA / Masters in their own country. China / India business schools are nothing to scoff at either, they are always ranked top 50 or top 100 in the world. After that, the more ambitious one will obtain a 2nd MBA from the Ivy leagues in the US to obtain the foreign stamp on their CV. Why go through all this hassle? India & China graduates put US/UK as their preferred destination to work and a US/UK MBA will help them get entry to the MNCs there. For example, Amazon hires a lot of MBA grads and has a special program just to assimilate them.

In terms of CV, I think you should start working first and let your work experience dictate whether you still need the additional education. Most students think there is a linear formula to achieve success in work force which is not necessarily the case. It’s not so simple as putting effort A + effort B = output C. It’s better to assess whether you need a MBA after 3, 5 or 10 years of working.

Agree with your points but I have a slightly different view on the difference of MBAs.

The common perception is you will take a US MBA to work in US. It’s because the program is tailored made to US ecosystem and you will be liaising with professors and students predominantly from US also. This will ease your transition to US job system. Not to mention that most of the alumni will most probably based in US also.

Based on ASB website, it costs around RM440k for foreign grads and RM340k for locals. Top MBA programs in US is around $150k / RM600k. No doubt the US program is more expensive but you will be earning the salary there. An average annual salary in US for MBA holder is around USD100k (a very prudent figure). Within 2 years, they can easily recover the cost. For MYS grad? Assuming you also earn RM 120k per year (10k per month), you need around 5 years to repay? The math doesn’t add up. And I think the full-fledged US MBA program ranks ahead of collaboration program like ASB if you want to work in US. This is why centers such as INSEAD are always perceived lower than Harvard / Stanford.

Agreed. The concept of MBA education started and spread from the US, largest economy and capitalist center of the world.
There is simply no contest between the gains from a top US MBA school, ranking or otherwise.
INSEAD might rank higher than Harvard or Wharton in some "rankings" simply due to the methodology used, which introduce biases, it's just like how NTU can outrank Princeton/Yale in QS world ranking, laughable to say the least.

Ask any recruiter, top management or man on the street, you'll find that Harvard/Wharton etc are tiers above INSEAD in overall perception, prestige and connections.
That's not to say that INSEADs or NUS MBA etc are not good, there is still value as long as there is some level of brand value, just don't expect the same level of returns.
On a side note, I would say the ASB-MIT MBA is more or less equal to INSEAD and NUS MBA.

This post has been edited by James1983: Jun 14 2018, 11:26 AM

yes, that's what i want to know whether the course quality is as good as what they charge at few hundred k, eventhough they would provide almost full scholarship to malaysian, eventhough malaysian would earn less in malaysia. just price vs quality against other MBA programme.

Normally its the corporation that will provide the scholarship for the staff to undertake such MBA.

Top tier MBA price is more expensive because of few factors. First is the company affiliation. MBA programs tend to be quite practical which take real-life case problems of a large MNCs for the MBA students to solve. For example, MIT has affiliation with google and any there are course structure that is based on google business issues. You may also meet google senior management as part of the course work. Some of the professors/lecturers also include CEOs or MDs from large MNCs. Some professors are also used to be high ranking regulators or politicians. In addition, the alumni program run by the university also recruits a lot of people to maintain. As the university reputation is important to attract further people to enroll, they will ensure you to work at proper places. All these costs monies.

Course quality is the minimum expectation. You are also paying for:
1) Network quality
2) Post-grad alumni program
3) Professor connection & quality

Most people actually invest on MBA just for those 2 I listed above.

thanks