Human resources experts are split on whether you need an MBA to be a successful manager, pointing out that while work experience is often more valuable, an MBA remains a good indicator of commitment to career development and self-improvement.
Christa Luetzenkirchen, head of human resources in Asia-Pacific for multinational chemical company Clariant (China), said in her experience most candidates with MBAs were ambitious, willing to learn, to take a project further than its obvious conclusion and to look beyond common day-to-day tasks. An MBA, however, was not mandatory in the chemical industry where recruitment activities are more focused on scientists, engineers and sales staff.
'It depends very much on individual people, their skills, their attitudes, their willingness to learn, and their values. But those with MBAs do seem to bring particular skills to their work,' she said. 'It's the potential to think in a strategic way, to analyse things quickly and to look at the big picture, which from our point of view is the most important ability.'
Ms Luetzenkirchen also noted the patience and motivation of those pursuing an executive MBA (EMBA) while working full time.
'Personally, I feel they are brave people. How do they manage family life and work plus an EMBA over one or two years? If they pass, the achievement is a clear signal about their future plans for the company and for themselves,' she said.
With so many people enrolling to do MBAs and EMBAs over the past decade though, it may seem that the significance of this master's degree is becoming diluted. And it is certainly no guarantee of an executive job.
Research by BusinessWeek magazine in 2006 found that less than one in three executives who held high-level positions in corporate America had an MBA. A more recent poll conducted by professors at Pace University in New York found that only 159 out of 488 top companies surveyed had CEOs in place with MBAs.