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CRYSALY
Aviles had no plans of pursuing an MBA, but that is
exactly what she did after working briefly; she
completed her MBA at the University of Phoenix in 2006.
“The MBA was a professional pursuit. At that time I had
peaked in my current career and was looking for a career
transition,” she said, adding that an MBA was a
practical decision for her since business will always be
business regardless of whatever field.
Aviles,
like many young professionals, turn to post-graduate
business programs like an MBA to be more competitive in
today’s work environment. The general perception is that
having an MBA can make a professional more attractive to
companies. The QS TopMBA Applicants Survey 2008 shows
that 70.3 percent of respondents credited “improving
career prospects” as their main reason for taking an
MBA.
Deciding
to take an MBA, however, can be a tricky proposition.
Except for the very well-heeled, opportunity cost plays
a central role in an applicant’s decision to take an
MBA, in this case to focus on work or to study and reap
supposed rewards in a few years.
First
hurdle: tuition
Philippine tuition fees for a standard MBA from a
credible university range from P250,000 at the Ateneo
Graduate School of Business to about P800,000 at the
Asian Institute of Management (AIM). For a student, or
for a company sponsoring the student, this spells two
years of little to no productivity in absolute terms.
A
further complication: the current global economic
slowdown coupled with record inflation, causing a whole
slew of effects such as tighter company budgets and
layoffs.
With
these negative factors in place, many potential students
wonder if taking up an MBA or any post-graduate course
for that matter, is simply too risky at this point. The
deans of some top business schools in the country—and
outside the Philippines—don’t see this as the case.
“Toward
the start of the first quarter and even until June, our
line of thinking was the same—that higher inflation and
the global slowdown will cause the (MBA) market to
contract substantially,” said Alberto Buenviaje, dean
of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business He
acknowledged that in recent years, the total market has
declined for full-time MBAs, “but to my surprise the
numbers [at the Ateneo] have increased this first
semester of 2008.”
No
slowdown in numbers
De La
Salle University’s Graduate School of Business vice dean
Pia Manalastas, who oversees about 1,000 enrolled
students in their program at any given time, said that
there has been no slowdown in the numbers as well.
Joanne
Hvala, associate dean of New York University’s Stern
School of Business, said that they are not seeing a
shift from the traditional MBA. Ross Geraghty, editor of
the TopMBA career guide, cast aside talks that the
industry is contracting.
“Rumors
that the industry is contracting are unfounded,” he
said. “ Due to the credit crisis in the US and
associated countries, business schools are experiencing
a spike in applications as many people feel they want to
sit out the possible recession, get their MBA and return
in a year or two.”
In fact,
several new trends in the MBA industry are defying the
way we view post graduate courses because now more than
ever, education choices are abundant.
In the
case of MBAs, Buenviaje said the upswing in enrollees
was due to students availing themselves of the part-time
programs. “The trend in the Philippines is towards the
more work-based type of student versus full-time
students,” he said.
For the
AIM, the only top business school in the country to
offer a full-time MBA program, the number of enrollees
has remained stable, according to Ricardo Lim, associate
dean of the W. SyCip Graduate School of Business. He
attributed this to the AIM’s shorter-than-usual MBA
program which runs for 16 months and its large foreign
population, about 65 percent.
Part-time programs popular
He
noted, though, a growing interest in their part-time
programs, especially from Filipinos. “If the AIM offers
more flexible MBA programs, we might see an upsurge in
enrollment [for the part-time program],” he said.
A
standard MBA typically takes 18 months to complete, but
with a part-time program, classes are held less
frequently and usually in the evening. These classes may
run for three to four years but students never have to
leave their jobs.
There
are also executive MBAs tailored for executives or upper
managers; popularity is limited, however, due to high
work experience requirements, typically at five to ten
years.
Outside
the Philippines, however, full-time programs are still
favored but applicants have registered “slightly more
interest” in part-time programs, according to a 2007
report by the Graduate Management Admission Council, a
global organization of top business schools.
Specialization
Another
major trend pointed out is the growing emphasis on
specialization among business courses.
Geraghty
acknowledged that in a few years, business schools will
flood the market with MBAs and therefore business
schools will have to find new and innovative ways to
develop their programs to distinguish their graduates
from other schools.
As a
result, most top universities offer MBA specializations
or concentrations such as international business,
finance, information technology or supply-chain
management, to name a few.
The De
La Salle business school offers the full range of
concentrations. “Students have a choice of whether they
want to specialize or not, and in recent years more and
more students have been availing themselves of these
programs,” Manalastas said.
Buenviaje said the Ateneo also offers concentrations but
they have yet to implement all the programs.
The AIM
currently offers three MBA majors namely in finance,
marketing and entrepreneurship but Lim acknowledged that
demand is growing. In response to this demand, the AIM
is looking to add additional majors like project
management or service management, he said.
In other
countries especially in rapidly-growing economies like
that of India, MBA specializations are very
well-represented.
Tushar
Pandit, 23, an MBA graduate specializing in Telecom
Management, believes the rise of specializations
resulted from the evolving needs in the business
community.
He said
Indian universities have specialized courses in
“telecom, retail, actuarial sciences—the list goes on.”
Indian schools actively publicize these courses as their
points of differentiation.
“Although it is considered a bit risky to pursue a
specialized course in India, an ever-increasing number
of students are applying for these courses,” he said.
Alternative routes
Many
young professionals are also exploring alternative
routes instead of an MBA. Roger Bartholomew, President
of International Education Specialists (inter-ed
specialists), a Manila-based education consultancy firm,
sees post-graduate programs as very cyclical. He said.
“15 years ago companies wanted generalists, hence the
popularity of the MBA; but now companies are moving away
from that and want specialists.”
The
local schools realized this some time ago, hence,
another trend gaining steam are the nondegree diploma
courses. These diploma programs, which can last as short
as a few days to more than a year and typically cost
less than a standard MBA, have been enjoying some
popularity for a few years now.
These
programs offer focused courses ranging from project
management, international business, finance; and
typically, units taken in these courses can be credited
to an MBA—should the student eventually decide to pursue
this track.
Manalastas said De La Salle introduced their courses
around three years ago and they have been enjoying
healthy enrollment, as some companies, or students, are
more willing to spend for these programs instead of a
costlier and lengthier MBA.
The
Ateneo business school reported similar results in terms
of the diploma program’s popularity. Buenviaje further
added that companies feel that they can reap more
tangible benefits by sending their managers on more
specialized programs.
The AIM
showcases a diverse range of specializations in their
diploma programs such as an Enterprise-Wide Risk
Management Program, finance programs and even a program
on managing family corporations. Costs, while
considerable by local standards, still pale in
comparison to their standard MBA’s tuition fees.
Lim said
companies favor these courses for their respective
professionals because of the lower cost and time
commitment. There is less risk involved should the
professional choose to transfer to another company in
the future.
International relations
Students
already taking post-graduate courses may have noticed a
number of foreign students present. Apart from the AIM,
where a majority of students are international students
from India, other top schools like La Salle and the
Ateneo have a mix of international students as well.
The
Ateneo business school in particular has 10 percent of
its students from foreign countries—mostly from
China—and is intent on growing this number to about 20
percent. Manalastas said 5 percent of their MBA students
are international students, also mostly from China.
But as
the number of international students in the Philippines
is growing, so is the number of Filipino students
planning to take their MBAs outside the country—mostly
in the US which is still the undisputed leader in higher
education.
Top
student destinations
The QS
survey revealed that globally, the top education
destinations for MBAs are the US, UK, Canada and France
and Australia.
Bartholomew, whose company assists about 150 students or
about 20 percent of the total number of Filipinos
leaving yearly to study post-graduate courses abroad,
said the top countries that Filipinos choose are the
US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Despite strict laws
in the US, Filipinos prefer it there mostly because of
the close cultural and historical ties shared with the
Philippines.
The
University of San Francisco (USF) is a popular choice
among well-off Filipino students due to its diversified
student body—20 percent are Asian—apart from its
location in San Francisco City, with a big,
well-established Filipino community.
Zhan Li,
associate dean for academic planning at the USF, expects
this trend of international students studying in the US
to grow.
“We
expect to see an uptick in the applications and
enrollment of international students,” he said,
attributing this rise to the weaning of the US dollar
and the relative easing on international students
receiving visas to the US. “The weakening dollar makes
attending US business schools relatively cheaper.”
Top
schools around the world are beginning to recognize the
value of international students not just as additional
sources of revenues, but also in making their classrooms
more diversified and ultimately providing a richer
learning experience. Bartholomew said that in the UK,
schools would ideally like international students to
compose 12 percent of their school populations.
With so
many universities fighting for a share of the MBA
industry, it is no surprise that some schools are taking
their campuses to their students. Paris’ Sorbonne
University has set up a campus in the cash-rich United
Arab Emirates, France’s INSEAD has set up a campus in
Singapore, Monash University from Melbourne has opened a
campus in Malaysia.
Li said
the USF has an office headquartered in Thailand with the
primary responsibility of recruiting students from Asia
and around the world.
To get
closer to students, schools are also traveling in
so-called MBA fairs like the QS World MBA Tour, a
provider of MBA fairs. In 2007, 80,000 potential
candidates participated in the tour which visits 72
countries (the tour will be returning to Manila in
November 27, 2008.)
Value
for money
Despite
trends, potential students might ponder the short-term
gains that one can get from taking an MBA. The QS survey
reveals that the average yearly salary for a Filipino
MBA graduate is $25,200 but many graduates are “hopeful”
of earning $89,000.
Typically, depending on the quality of the MBA, and to a
larger extent the quality of the graduate, the
investment shelled out for an MBA can be earned
relatively quickly. Pandit, while unable to disclose
that cost of his MBA, said his investment was earned
back after a year’s work.
In the
Philippines, MBAs still hold a certain appeal to
employers. “There will always be employers who will need
MBAs,” said Manalastas on employment opportunities.
If for
anything else, having an MBA can keep Filipinos
competitive with their Asian neighbors, according to
former Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry
president Samie Lim. Taiwanese, Chinese and Koreans are
taking MBAs, even PhDs, so Filipinos have to be
competitive, he added.
Still,
having an MBA isn’t a guaranteed solution to success
financially or otherwise. Bartholomew shared that taking
an MBA is not as simple as a student attending any
business school for a degree and getting that dream job
right after, because the fundamentals still remain the
same: one’s character and quality of education.
“Basically if you’re a good student, you go to a good
MBA school and you have the drive to succeed, then there
is a job waiting for you,” he said. “There are a lot of
unemployed MBAs out there, not because of the MBA, but
because it didn’t change them as a person.”
Aviles’s
experience however, did change her. Her MBA has met her
expectations in salary and offers, and she found
companies more willing to train her because of her MBA.
She
said: “It seems that an MBA is really a stepping stone
into greater professional endeavors.” A good MBA might
not instantly open that proverbial door between yourself
and success but perhaps, at the very least, it can give
your knock that much needed snap. |
