The MBA - is it worth it?

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Pedagogy - Job Education, Further Education, grade: 2,0, University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, course: Business English, language: English, abstract: The question of whether the MBA is worth it or not has caused much debate over the last years. As far back as the nineties, a discussion about the value of the MBA is held. In those days, a strong decrease in the number of applicants at American business schools was proof enough for the decline of the MBA in general (Celis, 1993). Today's reality is that there are 12,000 business schools in the world and the demand remained unbroken (Entrepreneur, 2012). In America, even a persistent shortage of talented mid-level leaders is the case for two-third of all businesses. Despite of an MBA title or not, business skills should be accessible to a lot more people preparing them for the next economic crises. The trend in many industrial countries is that the so-called baby boomers are retiring and not enough young business leaders are to follow. Therefore, efficiency enhancements, allocating resources and eventually getting good results will be even more important. According to Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, 'organizations will have to radically adapt their cultures, structures, systems and processes in order to survive the new world order' (Tauber, 2013). For that reason, business specialists are essential. There is some controversy as to whether they need to have an MBA degree or not.