Navigating the MBA Maze: A Personal View

Anyone searching for an MBA programme today in the UAE faces a bewildering and complex
choice there are currently over 45 MBA/MSc programmes available in the market. The decision to
take an MBA represents a major commitment, both in terms of time and money. Deciding which
programme to select is confusing because you are quickly swamped with a deluge of information,
unfortunately not all of which is reliable and some is misleading. How then do you navigate through
this information maze to select a MBA programme?
One way is to undertake a comprehensive research of all programmes and institutions offering the
programmes - surf the websites, study course brochures, read the MBA guides, examine the
institutions rankings and accreditations, review the advertisements, and talk to representatives from
the institutions at education exhibitions. And so be deluged!
This process is time consuming and much of the information gathered will be of limited value. For
example, information from websites is usually not detailed enough and often out of date and the
same applies to MBA guides; advertisements invariably slant information and can be deliberately
ambiguous and deceptive, and some MBA brochures are nothing more than elaborate
advertisements. Education exhibitions meanwhile are busy affairs making it difficult to have
anymore than a superficial conversation with representative from institutions about their courses.
Then there are the rankings. Increasingly newspapers and magazines conduct annual ranking
exercises and produce league tables for Business Schools and MBA programmes, the best known
of which is the Financial Times (FT) Global MBA Rankings which ranks full-time programmes only.
There are however, a number of problems associated with any rankings. The first is that the
rankings use different yardsticks and weightings to measure, and while these yardsticks are often
explicitly stated, most students do not take the time to read them. For example, the FT Global
Rankings is 40% weighted towards post MBA programme salary and salary increase; this favours
Business Schools which take on younger students many straight from graduation, as their
percentage increase in salary pre and post MBA tends to be significantly higher than that of more
mature mid-career students. Secondly, these league tables assume that the needs of all students
are the same; in reality, the selection of a University, Business School or MBA course is always a
complex and highly individual decision. Thirdly, these league tables are almost always based on the
institutions domestic operations and fail to measure the quality and content of off-shore and
executive programmes offered by the institution.
Therefore much of the information gathered from these traditional sources is really only useful as a
first step in determining which programme to enroll in. How then does one decide on which MBA
course offered by which institution? The answer is to first determine what it is that you want from an
MBA. For example, if all you want is the initials MBA after your name and are not especially
concerned with the quality and reputation of the programme, or what you will learn on it, then you
need information on the quickest, easiest and cheapest programme available. For those who want
more than that, more investigation is required.
A primary source of information which is consistently rated as the most useful is word of mouth
testimonials from current students and alumni of programmes. Talking to these individuals is a
must as they have direct experience of the institution and its programme and will be able to give
you personal insights which you will not get from traditional media sources. They will also invariably
give you straight answers. Visiting the institution and reviewing its facilities, the programme
materials and talking to representatives from the institution, preferably academics who have indepth knowledge of the structure of the MBA programme and what it covers, is an equally important
source of reliable information. Finally, the reputation aspect should not be ignored - this is a little
more difficult and you should be looking for two things:

reputation founded on reliable and objective measurement, the most significant of which are
accreditations by the three primary international accrediting bodies AMBA (Association of
MBAs), EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) and AACSB (Association to
Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). These should be regarded as a filter, so that you
can concentrate on choosing from among accredited schools. For an MBA, AMBA
accreditation is crucial for being assured of reasonable standards. At the national level,
accreditation by the Commission for Academic Accreditation of the UAE Ministry of Higher
Education and Scientific Research is an important qualification. These accreditations
evaluate a Business Schools mission and strategy, faculty qualifications, curriculum,
teaching and assessment, student management, standards of the graduates, resources and
the institutions quality management and assurance process. All of the above accreditation
processes are rigorous and comprehensive. They demand the highest standard of
achievement in postgraduate business education and endow business schools with
international credibility. In short, they provide students with a level of confidence that the
business school is providing top-quality education against international benchmarks.

reputation founded on the history of the institutions MBA programmes. For example, is the
MBA programme a relatively new one, or is it a well-established programme which evolved
through long experience, and has stood the test of time? The last several years have seen
an explosion of MBA programmes in the market. On the surface, many of these appear quite
reasonable but a closer examination reveals that the programmes are poorly structured, they
suffer a lack of integration and often fail to include what are generally regarded as basic
MBA courses in their programme structure.

Offering the MBA has become a lucrative industry, and new entrants will continue to enter the
market with programmes which unfortunately often compete not on the basis of quality, reputation
and integrity, but on price using carpet bombing advertising techniques. Thus In choosing which
MBA programme to enroll in, you need to be savvy and check the programmes and institutions
carefully before you make what will probably be one of the largest investment decisions you will
make in your life.

Ron Bradfield
Director, Strathclyde Business School UAE
University of Strathclyde Business School.
Mobile: (97150) 836 1254
Email: bradfield@strath.ac.uk