In today’s ultracompetitive business environment, companies need every edge
they can get. One such edge is top-quality talent, employees who have a willingness
to learn and become leaders.
There’s no doubt that employees who pursue higher education and achieve a master’s
in business administration bring more skills
to a company than employees who don’t.
Just ask Dr. Margaret Britt, professor of
human resource management at Mount
Vernon Nazarene University in Mount
Vernon, Ohio.
According to Britt, employees who hold
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
degrees have more analytical and conceptual skills that help them to think in new
and creative ways.
Smart Business spoke with Britt about
what value employees with MBAs can bring
to companies and what companies should
be doing to encourage their employees to
pursue higher education.
What options are available for a company
that wants to encourage employees to
achieve an MBA?
Many companies will have some sort of a
tuition reimbursement program based on a
formula for the number of years of service
that the employee has attained. Thus, an
employee can receive payment from 10 to
100 percent, based on his or her longevity in
service. A few companies offer flex hours
and partial payments to attend. Some other
companies will send their executives to a
residential MBA program that meets mainly on weekends. There will be an arrangement that the program will go from Friday
night to Sunday night, one weekend per
month for about two years. However, these
programs are geared only for executives,
are expensive and won’t accommodate the
majority of students who could benefit
from an MBA.
Some employees go to a part-time MBA
program at night. Many students complete
an accelerated program, similar to the adult
program we offer at MVNU. The greatest
learning takes place when there’s a real-life
application with the graduate theory that’s
being learned. This is important since real-life problems will be discussed and potentially solved in the classroom. In this environment, everyone learns valuable lessons.
This is part of what Dr. Peter Senge calls the
lifelong learning process (1).
What benefit can a company achieve by
encouraging employees to get an MBA?
The research team of Zhao, Truell,
Alexander and Hill found that people who
have achieved MBAs have better skills in
problem-solving, leadership and team collaboration (2). Judith Samuelson’s research
revealed that people who have achieved
MBAs have better analytical and conceptual skills, which enable them to think in new,
creative ways (3). In a global economy, this
will definitely give these companies a competitive edge. An MBA curriculum utilizes
all of these skills with an emphasis on global business.
Which employees should be encouraged to
enroll in MBA programs?
Employees who have analytical or quantitative skills and who desire to be in a leadership position make the best MBA students. Also, employees will sometimes
inform human resources of their interests for career advancement, so these employees are often good candidates.
What should a company look for when considering an MBA program?
Companies should look at the curriculum
and see how this will advance their business as well as their industry. If they want a
particular executive to attend an MBA program, then they should look for executive
MBA programs. Regional accreditation is
also another important factor. Any employee attending an MBA program should
check to see if the regional accreditation
body has accredited that program. Finally,
companies should ask their employees
what they think of the programs they’re
attending. The human resources department can develop a survey, which should
highlight the important factors for the company’s industry that a graduate program
should cover. Based on the employees’
responses and the survey, human resources
should recommend various programs.
However, the most important factor is competitive advantage. Companies should ask,
‘How will this degree enable our employees
to gain the competitive edge in our industry?’ and, ‘What will this MBA do for the
employee both from a professional perspective and a personal perspective?’
REFERENCES
1. Senge, P. (1990). “The Fifth Discipline.”
New York: Random House.
2. Zhao, J., Truell, A., Alexander, M., & Hill,
I. (2006, May/June). “Less Success Than
Meets the Eye?” The Impact of Master of
Business Administration Education on
Graduates’ Careers. Journal of Education
for Business, 81(5), 261-268.
3. Samuelson, J. (2006). The New Rigor:
Beyond the Right Answer. Academy of
Management Learning & Education, 5(3),
356-365.
DR. MARGARET BRITT is professor of human resource management at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon,
Ohio. Reach her at (740) 392-6868, ext. 4758. For more information about adult and graduate programs at MVNU, call (800) 839-2355 or visit ags.mvnu.edu.
