There is a thesis as well at the end. I think it is about 25% of the overall mark. No one really fails the course. Working like a dog is compulsory but they want you to learn and go to great lengths to make sure you do and by the time the exams come around you are in a position to pass them.
I completely disagree that it only makes sense for people with a business background: Quite the opposite is true. If you already have an undergraduate in business or finance and have some work experience in your field, you will not learn very much in the MBA. If you are however a technical person and want to move on from being an engineer for example into management, sales or anything that has more to do with money than you purely technical engineering job, you will need to understand how a company works "in general". This is exactly what you can expect from an MBA: Generic knowledge on business that you will need to apply for your industry or company by yourself.
Therefore, I personally believe that it makes close to zero sense to make an MBA before you have a couple of years of work experience: If you have never ever worked, you cannot match the generic knowledge to your situation. So you will take out much less from the same lessons as somebody more experienced.
Can you learn the same by reading the textbooks alone? You might get the knowledge, but in my course the really interesting parts were the discussions.
Lol, and "It depends" is definitely the best answer to a lot of questions. The value comes in then being able to justify your answer..
My personal philosophy is that the sole advantage of having money is not having to think about it.
Studying for an MBA is the exact opposite, and guarantees a lifetime of money-centric existence.
I would avoid it like the plague. Unless you don't have much else going for you.
Money at least can rent happiness.
I didn't get the feeling the OP was oriented that way. It can be a truly rewarding experience just to learn in a dynamic and friendly environment, when team work and a sense of solidarity of purpose is present. You may end up working with a young, clean shaven, hungry pack of wolverines though, so research the profile of your place of study carefully.
http://www.economist.com/business-education/whichmba/
I wouldn't go to IESE though. Its run by the Opus Dei.
I also have a Master of Commerce degree but found the MBA added substantially in the field of managing people and processes. One shouldn't discount the degree just because one has a basic business degree already.
And a neat segue -- it really surprises me how many people say to me. "oh, you have an MBA and a Master's degree?!" What do they think the M in MBA stands for?!
There are about as many league tables for MBAs as there are schools offering the degree. Each table uses different factors to come up with its list. What really matters to you ? Salary within 6 months of graduation? Number of citations in published literature per member of faculty? Diversity of students by nationality, religion, ethnicity? Choose your table ...
To see Harvard ranked 5 and Stanford 7 is a little out of step with most ranking tables; this is The Economist demonstrating Euro-bias.
I could show you league tables that don't feature any Australian MBAs and others that show my school in the top ten worldwide.
The MBA is the quintessential American business degree and I believe that most employers (including Swiss companies) look to the best-known US MBA league tables for guidance.
The gist of the message though was that if you are going to spend a chunk of money and a sizeable part of your life in something like this, you should go for a top class school. Didn't mean to offend you or your Australian School for not being shown in The Economist ranking.
I run a search in Linkedin: " MBA " as a keyword for all Swiss based Linkedin members. The results here:
10,251 results for mba, CH
Universität St. Gallen-Hochschule für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwissenschaften (666) IMD (International Institute for Management Development) - Business Programs (573) INSEAD (535) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (477) Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (440) University of Geneva (393) HEC Lausanne - School of Business (309) Universität Zürich (269) Université de Geneve (239)
It looks very-very Swiss with the exception of INSEAD. Doesn't speak a lot about Swiss glabalization. I am a bit surprised actually.
now, lets do the same search but adding the keyword " director ":
3,378 results for mba director, CH
IMD (International Institute for Management Development) - Business Programs (256) INSEAD (239) Universität St. Gallen-Hochschule für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwissenschaften (209) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (132) Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (115) University of Geneva (104) HEC Lausanne - School of Business (97) Universität Zürich (97) Harvard Business School (82)
Harvard boys (and girls) start to show up in those higher ranking jobs.
Now lets go for people with the word " president "
1,353 results for mba president, CH
IMD (International Institute for Management Development) - Business Programs (103) INSEAD (101) Universität St. Gallen-Hochschule für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwissenschaften (84) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (59) Harvard Business School (56) Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (55) London Business School (40) HEC Lausanne - School of Business (37) University of Geneva (37)
LBS starts to show up too.
I could continue with more keywords but it will start to become boring. Yes, the words director and president could mean nothing because people can be CEOs of their toilets. Statistically though, I would say these findings are significant, even more so, considering that Linkedin is more American than European or Swiss. If there is a bias, it should favour America.
I do not think that a full time MBA at a "top school" is automatically the right thing for everyone. I know several people who have done their courses in hardly known local Swiss schools part-time and are entire happy about it. They are locals and will probably stay here their entire life. So for them it was important to make local contacts with people of a simiar background. While you potentially do not sit in class with one of the future presidents of the USA, you can additionally continue to work, which is a bigger financial aspect than the tuition fees.
Making a "general ranking" based on criterias that should represent the average (or the editors opinion... ) is at least questionable. How can a journalist know what the average needs? I often see then arguments as "average salary increase after MBA". I find this completely misleading as the salary does not only depend on your business school, but your prior education and experience. If you are interested, here is something well written to read .
I am surprised that nobody has started the next typical topic: accreditation.
I find many of those discussions far over the top - just like some of the students. I believe that it is not too hard to see if a university is a serious academic institution or some "rather obscure" private school... and if I am able to make an educated guess on how good an education is, I am sure employers can do that as well (no matter what stamp is on the diploma). But it seems to be good business to accredit schools for the organizations that do so...
In some areas I understand the OU is highly regarded.
Maybe a prejudice by recruiters.
OU is pretty unknown in Switzerland/outside the Commonwealth. I think their programs sound good and are surely not inferior to other part-time options in Switzerland from an academic perspective. I would definitely hire somebody who demonstrated that he managed to study on his own besides working. Not everybody can motivate himself for this work.
What you can of course completely forget with this option is the network you would gain at a top school.
So "it depends" on the factors that are important for you.
The course of career usually takes you through few years of practical experience in the field, then you can start thinking of moving to sales or managment.
Giving example of friend of mine and myself.
He finished his MSc in engineering and worked for 15 years in R&D (basic and good salary) before he started his MBA. Now he is a project manager and earns good bucks.
Myself MSc then 7 years of practical experience in R&D (basic and good salary), then PhD backed with another 2 years of practical experience (very good salary) and now I consider to start with MBA within the next 2-3 years (hopefully towards excellent salary). Currently I am doing LCP (Leadership Challenge Programme) to get a hands on towards my MBA in the future.
It also very much depends on your predispositions, career path and what you really would like to do in the future. It does not help to pursue a degree because of its current popularity on the market. It has to be well motivated and come from within you.
What experience do you base your points on? Do you have a top school MBA? How did it help you? Where did you see some advantages over the average MBA or a distance course? Not just bullshit around, give us something real.
BTW: OU has a very strong brand in the UK. It stands for second chance education. You would not believe it, but some employers prefer those candidates with a track record of working extra to get something to the high flying twenty-somethings that are going to move on after twelve months on a job. So yes, it does depend on the employer and what he is looking for. Saying it is rubbish and does not have a Harvard brand is simply wrong.