Five-point mantra for a solid foundation to an MBA degree

The MBA degree originated in the USA, emerging from the late 19th century as the country turned towards industrialisation and companies sought out scientific approaches to management. Ever since, the MBA degree has been adopted by universities worldwide, by both developed and developing countries. In the present business environment, students who have completed their MBA programme are in great demand and usually get placed with leading corporates. Given below are certain essentials that an MBA student must do prior to graduation:

Skill set: They must acquire hard skills in their area of specialisation like Economics/ Finance, HR, Sales and Marketing, IT and Operations Management and soft skills such as leadership, team building, ethics, influencing and selling skills, team work and creative problem-solving. Learning happens through exploration and experimentation and very little is handed down knowledge. Along with strong domain skills, the MBA student also needs to develop integrative, systemic and emotional intelligence to facilitate decision- making in unambiguous circumstances.

Networking: Building relationships with alumnus, faculty and business/community leaders is key. This would assist them in placements, developing a career path and building business relationships.

Analytical attributes: A potential MBA student should be competent in decision-making, team interactions, technical work and be able to proactively solve problems that arise. Analysing one’s own strengths and weakness will help them in balancing aspirations and limits, and converting the areas of improvement to strengths.

Communication /presentation skills: This is one of the most important attributes of being an MBA graduate, who is expected to articulate his/ her ideas and solutions in a crisp, confident and professional manner.

Perspective to issues: As most  learning objectives are explained through case studies and contests, students need to develop their own way of thought/view point on a particular situation on hand. MBA graduatess need to widen their way of thinking or how they reflect and are expected to have their own take on issues.
The MBA course content, having been designed by contribution from best practices, emerging trends and past experiences, is believed  to be better understood, appreciated and implemented by a person who has prior work experience.  This is a criterion in the West, whereas in our country it is not a pre-requisite.

(PurpleLeap)