MBA Week: A ticket to getting ahead of the pack

IN the third part of our week of features in association with Leeds Business School, TheBusinessDesk.com looks at who studies for MBAs and why.

AT a time when all eyes are firmly focused on the bottom line it can be difficult for companies and staff to consider investing time and money in new skills.

But competitive times are precisely when firms discover the strengths and weaknesses of their workforces and individuals need to find ways of standing out from the crowd.

The Master in Business Administration degree is a broad-based internationally-recognised qualification that equips future managers with the skills they need and helps senior staff review and revise their own approach to business.

“People approach it from two perspectives, for promotion within their company they currently work for or career enhancement in the wider world,” says Rachel Banfield, associate dean at Leeds Business School.

“Someone might have done an accounting qualification and want to master their general management skills and strategic angles that will lead them into a higher position in the company, perhaps as the chief executive rather than chief accountant.”

For more information on unlocking your future with an MBA click here Leeds Met MBA doc

Employers who support their staff taking the MBA do not have to wait two years to see results with students encouraged to apply the lessons they are learning to their own businesses.

“Part of our programme involves them doing a project that is vocational in nature. The student examines an area of their work and effectively does a consultancy project on it. So the benefit to the employer is a direct one – they are getting additional consultancy straight back into their business.”

MBAs are often associated with employees of larger private sector companies but the experience of Leeds Business School is that the course appeals to a much broader range of people looking to improve themselves and their organisations.

“We get a huge range of people ranging from public sector organisations, students, people from large companies and also people running their family business or SMEs,” sayd Nick Beech, head of the centre for director education at Leeds Business School.

“On a superficial level you are getting a ticket that could helps you get a job or remove the glass ceiling to promotion. Even if you have limited experience the MBA demonstrates that you have the potential to go up the ladder quicker.

“On a more practical level, you get a better grasp of the issues that businesses need to address. It is easy to write a strategy but the MBA asks you who is going to do it and how. The programme continually challenges students to explain how they are practically going to apply the strategic model they are advocating.”

Leeds Business School offers MBAs on a full-time basis and Executive MBAs on a part and full-time basis.

Find the Leeds Business School prospectus at http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/study/postgraduate.htm.