MBA STUDY: Beware the MBA syndrome

By bne IntelliNews October 31, 2011

bne -

While an MBA will give the holder more awareness of business skills and - as in Iva Ivanova's example - may boost confidence in both professional and personal life, working professionals invariably warn that it is, of itself, no talisman guaranteeing a successful future career.

And that includes MBAs from even the most costly, highly ranked schools, as Mladen Fogec, chief executive of Siemens in Croatia, relates to bne - though stressing that he was speaking for himself, not Siemens' company policy. "Theory is one thing, and practice is another. I prefer practice; I think the best way to learn is experience," he says.

Yes, he admits a professional needs a good foundation - and an MBA can help with that - but "experience is something on top, which makes you successful, or not," he says.

Fogec's own experience has been greatly influenced by an encounter with one of the more loathsome types of MBA graduate. "I want to tell you a story. I won't comment; it's up to you to draw a conclusion. Seven-eight years ago, I had a colleague who came back to the company as a fresh MBA graduate from a famous French school. He sat in as part of a team on a career review board. After one hour with him in this team, I asked him: did you finish an MBA in Paris or a modern inquisition studies in Spain? I don't want to express any more," he says.

Read in IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Drum rolls in the great disappearing act of Russia's banks

Jason Corcoran in Moscow - Russian banks are disappearing at the fastest rate ever as the country's deepening recession makes it easier for the central bank to expose money laundering, dodgy lending ... more

Kremlin: No evidence in Olympic doping allegations against Russia

bne IntelliNews - The Kremlin supported by national sports authorities has brushed aside "groundless" allegations of a mass doping scam involving Russian athletes after the World Anti-Doping Agency ... more

PROFILE: Day of reckoning comes for eccentric owner of Russian bank Uralsib

Jason Corcoran in Moscow - Revelations and mysticism may have been the stock-in-trade of Nikolai Tsvetkov’s management style, but ultimately they didn’t help him to hold on to his ... more

Follow Us On

Most Read

  1. The models are wrong, climate change is accelerating faster than predicted
    5 days ago
  2. EU finally boosts defence investment into arms production as Ukraine runs out of ammo
    1 month ago
  3. Don't mention the "D" word - Ukraine
    10 days ago
  4. The 'wet-bulb' set to kill hundreds of thousands of people if temperatures and humidity levels continue to rise
    7 days ago
  5. Russia already treating Bosnia’s Republika Srpska as an independent state
    5 days ago
  1. Russia could pay off its entire external debt tomorrow, in cash
    1 month ago
  2. Albanians campaign on social media to keep bus bridge created in freak accident
    1 year ago
  3. BRICS announce a blockchain-based payment system to create a common currency
    1 month ago
  4. Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for Neom city
    20 days ago
  5. Iran vs Israel: Who is better equipped for war?
    16 days ago

Reports

Dismiss