FAILING GRADE

FROM HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL

Are MBAs Worth Fat Paychecks?
Businesses still say yes, but complaints on the rise that MBA programs need to specialize

By Laura Schreier
Hartford Business Journal Staff Writer
02/18/08
Having the initials “MBA” on your resume is often a golden ticket, a sure-fire path to career advancement and a fatter salary.

Boston’s Northeastern University made its own MBA changes two years ago, said Thomas Moore, dean of the College of Business Administration. Rather than moving away from the MBA altogether, Northeastern reworked its programs — but Moore agreed with Earley’s assessment of the MBA’s current flaws.

“The one-size-fits-all, the general MBA, has lost some of its appeal,” he said. “The notion of a broad, general MBA that’s going to create this Renaissance manager and leader, those days are probably gone.”

Northeastern has tried to incorporate more specific programs on issues such as finance, marketing or supply chains, but the college has also added an emphasis on “soft skills” — such as project management abilities, data mining, communication.

Moore said they restructured their program based on advice from corporations such as Fidelity, W.R. Grace, State Street Bank and others, gathered from a series of focus groups. The process took about 15 months.

“It was a pretty extensive change,” he said. The school has since kept in contact with many corporations to gauge how the changes have fared in terms of real-world results, and Moore said those businesses are happy to be more involved in the process. Some of those strengthened academic-corporate bonds have helped increase the number of corporate residencies — similar to internships — offered for their students.

“Companies are paying a premium for the MBA, and they expect results,” he said.

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