Pathway to the bigger picture

Regena Mitchell’s advice includes making friends and developing robust relationships with fellow students who have skills in areas other than yours. “Working with others who have skills and expertise in areas different from your own will serve you well – in the short term, as well as the long. When times are tough, it’s your friends who will help to get you through.”
John Tucker agrees that collaboration with others in the class is essential, to share understanding and learnings. “This is an important attribute in negotiating the way through the programme and offers significant support structure.”
Time management is also critical, says Tucker. “It’s a learned skill and requires considerable effort. There is also usually a heavy reading and research load within any MBA programme. Students have to develop skills in managing this aspect.”
Although don’t attempt to read everything, warns MIT’s Dreyer. “Skim reading is often advisable, particularly if it’s boring. Be selective, and don’t try to cram at the last minute.”
Establishing a regular study routine is important, adds Massey’s Matheny. “Find somewhere quiet where there’re no interruptions – even if it means training your four-year-old not to come into the home office.”
Matheny knows of one student who made arrangements to study in a neighbour’s back room, so she literally ‘won’t be home’. “Even her neighbour may not be aware of when she is there.”
More relevant than ever
The relevance of the MBA is perhaps greater than ever, and this is reflected in the high demand for programmes. The business environment has shifted, job market competition is hotter than ever and job candidates need that extra edge and confidence in their business abilities.
“The Massey MBA remains current, even in this dynamic business environment – but above all it provides the opportunity for people to extend their thinking. It teaches you to think,” says Matheny.
“The recession means businesses are re-engineering their operations to meet the demand and then take advantage of identified opportunities,” says Tucker. “To prepare for this, employers need to put middle and senior managers through an MBA. As they progress through the programme, they’ll develop the skills to exploit the opportunities, given the support of the employer.”
Owner-managers must also use the recession time to upskill, says Tucker, to take advantage of the upswing when it happens. “This is the time to delegate and prepare for the future. No longer can SMEs operate on the strength of innovation alone. Sound management and leadership is required to survive.”
There’s no question that the MBA gives students the big picture – a greater understanding of economics on a global scale. So when Government introduces measures, graduates can see what the impact will be on business – and specifically their business. It addresses leadership issues, allowing students to see, measure and take risks, tackle hard decisions, and understand why things come unstuck from time to time.
Peter Withers believes that attitudes towards the MBA, particularly by Baby Boomer business owners is still eight to ten years behind the Northern Hemisphere. This is because of the ingrained DIY attitude amongst these family-owned Kiwi businesses. “There’s a degree of cynicism there.”
But if you’re in your 30s or 40s and aspire to lead an entity, then you must engage with global companies at their level. Know how to play the game and speak their language, says Withers. “The MBA is your driver’s licence.
“To survive in business today doesn’t call for short-term linear decisions – you’ve got to think over the horizon. The MBA helps you do that.”
He says the Auckland MBA includes a course on how to make high value decisions and implement them. “To survive you need to develop people capable of thinking in that environment.”
The true proof of relevancy lies in the students who report that they can apply new knowledge to their businesses even with only a few papers completed. Ken Lee recalls one student who experienced six promotions during his MBA studies and was head hunted for a top position, once he had graduated.
Good for business
For business owners, an MBA provides a whole toolbox of skills, knowledge and practices to help them grow their business to a new level. At some stage of their business’s development, they will need this skillset.
“It helps if they already have a stable business and the experience to relate to what they are being taught on the programme,” says Ken Lee. “Then they can transcribe the theory into practice and put new learning into the context of their business.”
It’s never too late to enrol in a programme. Peter Withers knows of one owner-manager in his mid to late 50s who is highly successful at property development and leasing and took on an MBA to “learn how to think and learn how to change direction”.
A part-time MBA is probably the best option for business owners, and for most the MBA is a chance to gain a broader perspective and see just how far they can go with their business. The payback can be almost instantaneous – there is the story of one business owner who left the MBA programme just a quarter of the way in, because his business began growing too fast!
There’s no doubt that the MBA is also good for employers who choose to support a manager through his or her studies.
“It sends all the right messages back to staff, and because an assignment in just about every paper relates to the student’s organisation, there’s direct benefit to that organisation – the employer can almost treat it like an internal-consultancy,” says Massey’s Jonathan Matheny.
It’s a given that confidence comes from knowledge and understanding, and MBA-equipped employees therefore become better, more confident, all-round executives who can hold a conversation and challenge business professionals or advisors.
Regena Mitchell believes employers should back MBA aspirants or risk losing them, and she doesn’t recommend bonding them either. “It’s asking for trouble. They’ll be very unhappy and only look for another employer to buy them out.”
So is membership to the MBA club worth all the expense, sleep deprivation, family pressures and inconvenience? Feedback from graduates would suggest that it very much is – and every MBA department head has numerous satisfying tales to share from graduates.
Wayne Dreyer recalls the MBA graduate who was one of 17 children in the family, and the first member of his extended family to go through University.
Jonathan Matheny shares the story of 65 MBA students introducing themselves to each other during orientation. One student mentioned in his introduction that he was about to be made redundant from his job. “Less than a month later he landed a job through a contact of one of the students – that’s the power of our MBA network!”
For AUT’s Ken Lee the most satisfaction comes from hearing from graduates who have been promoted or have landed top jobs. “I’ve heard from graduates based all over the world – the executive in New York, consultant in London, financial manager at a Hong Kong bank and logistics/operations manager in China.”
Peter Withers remembers the “engineer’s engineer” who made it through to graduation and remarked: “you’ve taught me how to think, not what to think”. But it was an email from a recent student that stood out the most for Withers – a student who was initially uncertain of why he was there amongst ‘the posturing and egos of the other students’, but who soon realised that the programme grows everyone as human beings. It teaches humility and builds leadership qualities. ‘My one true aim is to be an inspiring leader and have the confidence to move through any uncertainty’, the student had typed.
That’s exactly what’s required for these uncertain times.
Glenn Baker is editor of NZBusiness.