The MBA degree. How much is it really worth these days?

Back when I left school in the late 90s, MBA was a degree people did after working for donkey years and needed to get into 'management'. So most of us engineering types never gave it a second glance. Over time, especially with the rise in profile of investment banking, MBA gradually took on a life of its own. Everybody, and I mean, everybody, suddenly started chasing an MBA. So I started to contemplate it, even though I have an Msc in Engineering. After all, who no wan dey for 'Management'?

With the global recession and the collapse of the finance sector, I thought maybe the demand would have died down. For where? Nowadays MBA has been taken to another level. There's a Telecom Mini-MBA (5-day course), a Pocket CIO MBA (5 day workshop), and today I just got an email inviting me to an 'MBA for Executive Secretaries'. MBAs have even become more specialized, with MBAs in Oil and gas, product innovation, even in Human Resources. There are MBAs in Logistics and Supply Chain, Production Management, etc. I thought there were already masters degrees in those areas! Why an MBA?

I remember one time last year a school is Russia was offering a 1-year MBA on your iPhone. The MBA was an iPhone app! How about that? You take your lectures through the app, the exams are multiple choice, and you get a degree after 1 year, from a valid Russian school.

After all said and done, I wonder if the MBA is not merely an euphorism for some kind of business training, and not really worth a certificate. For now, I think Steven Silbiger's Ten-Day MBA (hardback edition) will do for me. What do the rest of you guys think?

Well the chase for certificates knows no end in this our seemingly unproductive economy. To continue to strive to get into management and be noticed by MBA wielding managers, you would NEED to get one even it is a 1-day online MBA!

I think like you said on many threads, the solution is getting our hands dirty and tossing all the big books aside. I stand with you on this but personally, I dislike 'management' and would rather end up being a technical supervisor which to me is management but without the added need to read giant books to have the right to scream at my colleagues when my wife serves me a cold breakfast

ow11:

Well the chase for certificates knows no end in this our seemingly unproductive economy. To continue to strive to get into management and be noticed by MBA wielding managers, you would NEED to get one even it is a 1-day online MBA!

I think like you said on many threads, the solution is getting our hands dirty and tossing all the big books aside. I stand with you on this but personally, I dislike 'management' and would rather end up being a technical supervisor which to me is management but without the added need to read giant books to have the right to scream at my colleagues when my wife serves me a cold breakfast

@ ow11
The quest for MBAs is not just a Nigerian thing, it is global. Everywhere you look people and schools are on the MBA track.
Its very important that ones hands get dirty with practical work but that has to be evened out with 'studying of big books' too.

In all I still think the MBA is just a variant of the masters degree; it is the schools that offer such courses that make it appear to have a life of its own so that way they profit from it.

@Mr.AjanleKoko
I always admire your depth of of analysis on every topical issue,I therefore feel humbled responding to this post of yours.You see,MBAs are good and will always remain good inasmuch as organisations strive to have a competitive edge in the modern dynamic business world.MBAs are designed to train managers who think and act strategically.MBAs will not only teach you how to do your work but also how to do it well for the overall growth of the organisation.The value of an MBA is dependent on the purpose for which it is acquired.Some go for it just for the name,others contact/connection and a handful acquire it because of the opportunity it provides to interact,share and learn new ways of handling workplace related task.
For instance,immediately i finished my nysc i went directly for my MBA, and guess what?i see myself being able to function effectively in any department,organisation or any human endeavor i find myself even with little or no work experience .I now have self confidence,understands and appreciates the contributions of every individual in the organisation and above all,think strategically.