Don’t get an MBA (most of the time): Instead Empower Leaders to More Easily Build Their Own Networks

Why are MBA programs so expensive even while fewer companies focus on MBAs as a hiring requirement? The most expensive MBAs in particular are north of $200K. You would think that the graduates of these top MBA programs would be visionaries, geniuses, and founding the next great companies. Some of them are and yes, some of these individuals would NOT be able to succeed in their respective fields without pursuing the MBA, but the ROI seems questionable to me for 95% of applicants and students.

Generally, my advice is don’t pursue the MBA unless you really need it to make a CAREER pivot. Situations where it is still defendable to get an MBA and pay the cost yourself are limited. Two that come to mind from my conversations with friends and colleagues are

1. You want to move into management consulting
2. You want to break into specialized finance

For finance, I still (reluctantly) agree. For consulting, the hiring market right now is aggressive for lateral hires and MBB is generally putting more emphasis on SME compared to individual degrees. However, the deck is still stacked towards top MBA programs for Consultant-level entries and top Undergrad programs for Analyst-level entries.*

• * Consulting firm’s focus on prestige-recruiting is a mistake in my opinion. This is another thing I find silly and will be a follow-up blog post. Top consulting firms that solely recruit from target schools miss the gems from the state universities or people with particularly unique or more established experience.

Outside of that…you really just have to value the network you are buying vs. your own networking abilities. The MBA education itself is questionable, but overall honestly quite good if you cannot learn on the job or online super easily. Nonetheless, I usually find it is not the MBA program that makes the great leader, employee, or visionary. I have met some real geniuses from MBA programs. They were definitely not geniuses because of the B-school… I have also met some deeply uninspiring and sometimes very unimpressive alums of top MBA programs like Sloan, Wharton, and Tuck who make me question why employers would place a premium on these individuals…

If your employer pays, the math changes: Part of the reason that MBA programs continue to rise in price is that the end buyer is often an EMPLOYER sponsoring the applicant partially or fully. That helps keep the cost high even while MBAs become increasingly less important for hiring and promotion at corporations. Particularly in technology, there is much less of a need for the modern MBA.

My hypothesis is professional business communities like Bizfluence App can help close this MBA power and cost gap for many small and medium business professionals. If you empower the users to create their own networks and allow them to take success into their own hands, you’ll see a lot of motivated entrepreneurs and business owners thrive together, rather than just compete independently and isolated.

I still want an MBA?

I know everyone is prestige-oriented in today’s world, but often these MBA programs do not teach much that isn’t available online. The value really just comes from the network. If anyone is looking for a good EMBA program that is reasonably priced. BYU Marriott School of Business’ program is only $50K in total, which is about 1/4 the price of other top 30 MBA programs.

If you’re looking to get employer sponsorship and care less about using the MBA as a career jump into consulting or finance, BYU is frankly a lot better value, provides strong a strong regional network in particular, and perfectly matches anyone looking to go into government or defense positions in the future…