With the usefulness of MBAs increasingly scrutinised since the global financial crisis, one must ask themselves the question—is it really worth it? As MBAs around the world continue to become more specialised in the separate corporate fields, how useful is a HR MBA?
HR Magazine decided to explore this frequently asked question by speaking with Yen, Le Thi Hoang, HR MBA graduate and Country HR Manager at British Council Vietnam.
What does an MBA involve?
Ms Le Thi Hoang—who recently received her MBA in Human Resource Management from the University of Wales—commented, “The MBA focused on a wide range of challenging topics. Firstly, it gave me a variety of hard skills, focusing on topics such as finance, management, marketing, operations and change management. It also greatly assisted in the development of soft skills including leadership, style, business ethics and communication.”
Although the focus of her MBA was on Human Resources issues including employee relations, retention, HR strategy and HR management, 50% of the course actually concentrated on other business topics including sales, accounting and growth strategy. As a result, this allowed more effective communication with other areas of the business outside of the HR function.
The conundrum: is a bachelor’s degree enough?
When questioned about the benefits gained from partaking in the MBA as opposed to a regular bachelor’s degree, Le Thi Hoang stated, “My bachelor’s degree helped me to ‘read and learn’ some of the theory and practice of HR, my experience from working in HR put some of these pieces of the puzzle together. And now my MBA gives me the right tools to assemble the entire puzzle in a logical, systematic and sensible way.”
Le Thi Hoang asserted that one does not need an MBA to be able to see the entire puzzle, but she feels it has helped her substantially as an individual.
For entrepreneurs or corporate types?
Many people believe that MBAs are solely useful for people starting their own business; Le Thi Hoang believes this is not purely the case. She ascertained that the various case studies and challenges of the MBA programme could help an entrepreneur launch a new business into a market, but similarly can help people working in different corporations become more entrepreneurial and strategic in their day-to-day challenges.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
