Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58061
Priceless Commodity? MBA: A survey by Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management shows that while top executives find the MBA valuable, it has a way to go to be "priceless." To turn the MBA into something extraordinary, schools need to bolster their hands-on learning and their commitment to ethics. by Linda A. Livingstone T he debate over the value of an MBA degree reminds me of the long-running advertising cam- paign for MasterCard. Viewers are presented with items that can be purchased by the easy swipe of a credit card. The last item, typically something money can't buy, is deemed "priceless." Is an MBA a priceless commodity in the eyes of executives who hire newly minted graduates? To find out, Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Manage- ment collaborated with the market research firm Harris Interactive in a survey of Fortune 1000 senior executives. We wanted to discover if these executives believe business school graduates are ready to work in today's world—and if their MBAs help make them invaluable employees. We also wanted to discover if our own MBA program is turning out graduates with the skills these employers need. Our analysis of the responses suggests that employees consider the MBA a useful degree, but they don't find it extraordinary. The research also suggests that they're looking for MBAs who have honed their skills through experiential learning and obtained a solid grounding in ethics. In the coming years, business schools will need to place additional emphasis on these two areas of business education if they want to position the MBA as a "price- less" commodity. 50 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2007