MBA vs. MBS

River

Registered User
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153
Hi All,

I’ve been recently considering doing a Masters and am undecided regarding whether to do an MBS or MBA. My background would be in Finance.

Originally I was edging toward MBS as I saw a few courses in Smurfit/DCU that interested me but after discussing with colleagues in work, they have lead me to believe that an MBA would hold more clout.

What are people’s opinions on this?

MBA choices would probably be between Smurfit/Trinity/Manchester, with Manchester probably current favourite.
 
What's an MBS? Whatever it is, the MBA is a much more general and recognised degree. The MBA would be useful if you wanted to move into a more general management type of role.
 
Hi River

MBAs are more practical, and usually have more clout. They are however, usually more expensive (up to €40k, average €20k). You would need to specify whether you would prefer Full Time, Part Time or Distance Learning. Manchester, for example, has one of the best Distance Learning MBAs in the world. If you can afford to take a year or two off work, then the Trinity MBA is well regarded internationally (I am biased as a TCD graduate - not MBA). UCD (Smurfit) is also well regarded, but TCD is ahead in the latest MBA rankings.

SM
 
What's an MBS? Whatever it is, the MBA is a much more general and recognised degree. The MBA would be useful if you wanted to move into a more general management type of role.

MBS = Master of Business Studies in UCD. Should have just said Masters

Hi River

MBAs are more practical, and usually have more clout. They are however, usually more expensive (up to €40k, average €20k). You would need to specify whether you would prefer Full Time, Part Time or Distance Learning. Manchester, for example, has one of the best Distance Learning MBAs in the world. If you can afford to take a year or two off work, then the Trinity MBA is well regarded internationally (I am biased as a TCD graduate - not MBA). UCD (Smurfit) is also well regarded, but TCD is ahead in the latest MBA rankings.
SM

It would definitely have to be part time and perhaps distance learning as couldnt take time off. I saw the FT list of top MBA's and UCD had dropped to 98 if I remeber correctly, I think the Manchester one is in or around 25. It also comes in about 15k cheaper than UCD. I would hope to get sponsorship from work for a hefty % of fees but we'l see.

a couple of things that would still have UCD in the running for me personally are;
I've heard that when applying for a lot of jobs in Ireland, there is preference given to smurfit graduates (kind of old boys club mentality), not sure if any1 has any experiences of this.

I would also imagine networking opportunities are greater attending a Masters in Ireland than abroad (if one was hoping to remain working in Ireland).

please feel free to discuss
 
Hi,
Definitely go for the MBA ahead of the MBS. I recently completed an MBA in Smurfit, and the MBS is very definitely looked down on even by the school.
I should stress that despite some inadequate lecturers etc, I found the MBA program extremely rewarding and has allowed me to go in a completely new direction.
Certainly if you intend having the career in Ireland, I think UCD or Trinity is a better choice than Manchester, even if Manchester might have better teaching, facilities or other reasons why you want to choose them.
You should definitely do the part-time option as the full-time generally has a deficit of senior executives in the ranks and thus opportunity for learning from them reduces
The reason I say this is that the most rewarding thing in the MBA is the people you deal with in your class, work closely with and learn from. Also depending on some of the courses (electives) you can choose as part of the Final semester (in Smurfit, can't speak for Trinity), means you get access to some quite significant business people who give guest lectures.

I'd gladly give you any other insights from my experience doing one if you want, either ask here or PM
 
Does anybody have an opinion on the [broken link removed]?

Yes - disappointing.

At least it was several years ago when I was there and the standard of the staff was poor-to-middling, with one or two glaring exceptions.
 
Take a look at yesterday's irish Times. There was an education supplement which discussed various postgraduate options, including a large section on MBAs. There was also a large article on distance learning.

SM
 
Take a look at yesterday's irish Times. There was an education supplement which discussed various postgraduate options, including a large section on MBAs. There was also a large article on distance learning.

SM

thanks SQ, hopefully I can get my hands on a copy somewhere
 
Hi River

Whatever your decision, because there are so many 'iffy' MBA programmes around, you should ensure that the one you choose, at a minimum, is accreditated by the AMBA. EQUIS accreditation would also be helpful.

Regards

SM
 
Hi River

Whatever your decision, because there are so many 'iffy' MBA programmes around, you should ensure that the one you choose, at a minimum, is accreditated by the AMBA. EQUIS accreditation would also be helpful.

Regards

SM
True. I think Smurfit and Trinity are the only MBAs in Ireland that have any accreditation. The other option is the Open University Business School (Distance Education) where I did my MBA. This is triple accreddited ..see below:

"The OU Business School is accredited internationally by the European Foundation for Management Development, through its EQUIS programme; by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB); and the MBA is accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA). The School is one of only 21 business schools worldwide to have achieved all three accreditations."
 
Hi Squonk,

Would you mind giving me some feedback on the Open University MBA??

I have a background in IT/Project Management and am contemplating doing an MBA.

Cost/Course quality etc etc.

Thanks in advance
 
Hi,
Definitely go for the MBA ahead of the MBS. I recently completed an MBA in Smurfit, and the MBS is very definitely looked down on even by the school.

I really want to do a Postgrad so that I can move to the next level in my job with real credibility. However I was going to go down the route of MBS as I assumed that it would be more focused and specialised whereas I felt MBA is more generalist. Does the MBA have more credibility in business because the actual process of getting the degree is more rigorous and bootcampish than the MBS?
Many thanks
Tangerine
 
Hi,
Definitely go for the MBA ahead of the MBS. I recently completed an MBA in Smurfit, and the MBS is very definitely looked down on even by the school.

I really want to do a Postgrad so that I can move to the next level in my job with real credibility. However I was intending to go down the route of MBS as I assumed that it would be more focused and specialised whereas I felt MBA is more generalist. Does the MBA have more credibility in business because the actual process of getting the degree is more rigorous and bootcampish than the MBS?
Many thanks
Tangerine
 
Does the MBA have more credibility in business because the actual process of getting the degree is more rigorous and bootcampish than the MBS?
Many thanks
Tangerine

Im just looking into this at the moment too so no real experience to speak of but my view on it is that an MBA is much more focused on real working life experiences/skills and attempting to give participants lessons that will allow them to add value to their workplaces, particularly at management levels. An MBS would seem to be more focused on giving a particular skill set in the chosen discipline.

So could be said that MBA is more general as it is concerned with overall dynamic of a company/business whereas an MBS may be more focused.

Choosing between the 2 would really depend on what direction you want your career to go. In my case, I was thinking of doing an MBS in strategic management but I now feel that an MBA would be better suited as it would encapture most of the strategic lessons of the MBS but would also add real life examples and may also be better regarded by employers.

again its just my take on it but hope this helps
 
Often thought it would be cool to do an MBA but as it would just be a real ego thing (I already have a masters - lack of qualifications wont ever be my downfall ... just the actual doing work bit ;) ) my inclination would be to try to do it in Harvard or some other Ivy League place.

Does this cost ridiculous amounts? I'm presuming these are at or near the top of the FT rankings? Are they any harder than MBA's elsewhere - would you need to be a genuine "rocket scientist" to survive it?

Bit of a pipe dream due to young family, not yet loaded, no pressing reason to do it etc. etc., but if you dont have a dream, then you should have a dream, or how you gonna have a dream come true ??!!
 
I really want to do a Postgrad so that I can move to the next level in my job with real credibility. However I was intending to go down the route of MBS as I assumed that it would be more focused and specialised whereas I felt MBA is more generalist. Does the MBA have more credibility in business because the actual process of getting the degree is more rigorous and bootcampish than the MBS?
Many thanks
Tangerine
Depends what you want out of your career. All I can say is that an MBA will open your eyes and you willnever be overawed by a senior executive again. You'll have the confidence to talk the talk and walk the walk. This is particularly true in an exec MBA course (part-time), as you are interacting all the time with senior guys from other companies and business disciplines. I think the ROI is far higher with an MBA....
 
Often thought it would be cool to do an MBA but as it would just be a real ego thing (I already have a masters - lack of qualifications wont ever be my downfall ... just the actual doing work bit ;) ) my inclination would be to try to do it in Harvard or some other Ivy League place.

Does this cost ridiculous amounts? I'm presuming these are at or near the top of the FT rankings? Are they any harder than MBA's elsewhere - would you need to be a genuine "rocket scientist" to survive it?

I think you'd be looking at somewhere in the region of 100k for this....If you want a great career in the states, then you'll probably get payback reasonably quickly. If you want to come back to work in Ireland, my personal view is that it will be quite obvious that its an ego thing, and may not serve you well in the long run.....

In relation to the rocket scientist bit, you need to know that the subject matter in an MBA is not in general extremely intellectually challenging. You don't need to be a rocket scientist. However the volume of work is quite significant and that is where you can fall down. A bit like work I suppose....
 
Hi Squonk,

Would you mind giving me some feedback on the Open University MBA??

I have a background in IT/Project Management and am contemplating doing an MBA.

Cost/Course quality etc etc.

Thanks in advance


I did an MBA with the Open University..absolutely excellent. The quality of the material is first-class because it is essentially written by a committee so there are no 'bad lecturers' and feedback from students is regularly incorporated back into the material. The OU MBA fitted in well around my family and work life and I had my tutorials at UCC. Believe me, it was hard work but very rewarding. I had considered doing the MBA at UCC or UL but neither were accredited the last time I checked (I think mainly because they don't have 'business schools' , not, as far as I've heard because the courses are sub-standaard). The downside is that the OU course is by distance-education so options to network are limited (even though there are residential schools and tutorial sessions). Also, I get the impression, that the OU 'brand' isn't as well received in Ireland even though the teaching quality is better than most Irish Universities (I know...I've other degrees from UCC and UL). The OU MBA doesn't appear on the FT league tables because it is part-time (but neither do UCC or UL which are full-time). My company paid for the MBA...total cost was ~€20k if I recall correctly. See http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01F02
 
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