My boss in his infinite wisdom wants to put me through an MBA program. While this sounds about as interesting as watching paint dry to me, it would undoubtedly be a sound investment for the future. As the company is paying, I am not really concerned about the costs of the course - I just want to know if anyone out there has any experiences or thoughts (positive or negative) to report about the business schools at NTU, NTUST, NCCU, National Taipei U. and Tatung U.
I think I’d prefer to do it via distance learning from the Open University or perhaps Liverpool University in the UK, but I don’t know if this option will be acceptable to the boss. It would, however, enable me to get through the course in a year rather than spending two on it as is the case in Taiwan.
Flicka is a good person to ask. He just completed a program in Taipei, and is much nicer in person than online. Also try Michael Turton, whose user name I can’t spell due to a learning disability related to spelling unusual names. Michael is in a Ph.D. program in Tainan.
Personally, I think you have the right attitude about getting your MBA. Detachment, that is. Sort of like doing a stint in the military, when the drill master is calling you a living abortion and wondering if you’ve actually got a pair or not. Just smile and enjoy it all for its entertainment value. Learn the lingo, make friendships with the people who get it, perform your role well.
I recently had a conversation with a Harvard-educated friend who attended the same MBA program I did. This guy is now a managing director at a big Wall Street hedge fund, lives in Connecticut, the whole bit. We both concluded that the MBA is largely a stepping stone for getting into the next phase of your career, rather than a paradigm-shifting, enlightenment-rich learning experience. You get your MBA, you join a fraternity of folks who speak the same language, but it won’t turn you into a business god.
It is also valuable if the school’s culture gets that much of the value of an MBA is in the networking opportunities it provides. I’d check to see which program has the most active alumni association, and see whether the alumni are active in helping each other get rich (although I don’t know exactly how a big nose would fit into that mix–if your Taiwanese is getting fluent, here might be your chance to put it to good use).
There are other threads on the subject. I know, because I briefly entertained the idea a while back.
After considering the various options, I felt the local option wouldn’t really be possible for a non-Chinese speaker like myself (though I believe Flicka told me that’s incorrect) and sounded just a little too mickey mouse; U Chicago’s program (completed by Gus) sounds great, but it’s very expensive (US$100k tuition?) and requires trips to Singapore twice a month, which sounds like just too far/much; so my first choice was Kellog’s top rated program with twice a month weekends in Hong Kong (slightly cheaper than U Chicago and shorter flights).
In the end, though, I discussed the idea with our company’s CFO (graduate of the actual U Chicago) and he asked why do you want to do it. I said to learn more about big corporate acquisitions, like those I was working on at work. He said, forget that, an MBA is all about networking, if you want to do it for hte networking, fine, but for the learning the experience you get with this company is ten times better than what you’d you’d get out of an MBA program. I realized he was right, so I gladly dropped that idea, saved a huge mountain of cash and 14 months of intense hardship, sleep deprivation and family struggles, and am grateful that I’m getting paid for my MBA education every day in the office.
For the OP, if your boss is going to pay for Chicago or Kellogg, then by all means go for it. One of the most negative things with going to school here was that they required me to take a ton of prereq classes. Expect the usual school bureaucracy, plus tons more. The weird thing is that the times where I felt I was the most stressed out and ready to die, people would tell me how great I looked. Many times it was like watching paint dry, but graduation was and will always be one of the most wonderful and rewarding days of my life.
I think Tomas and MT have pretty much said it all. Gus and I have a mutual friend who also did the Chicago program who would stress to me that it was all about networking. For me, it was about being able to go to school and keep a normal work schedule, improve my Chinese and do something different. PM me if you have any specific questions.
Well my two cents on MBAs
I know and work with a number of individuals who got HKNUST KELLOGG MBAs. Now while these people are not stupid, it surprised me who was left in the door to do the MBA. Then again the smart people use their brains to get into MBA courses, the stupid ones use their or daddy’s wallet.
The use big words like ZOPA, BATNA (negotiation terminology), risk management, mitigating risk etc, but I always get a good laugh when they talk them self into a corner trying to sound very executive like
And at the end of the day the smart ones will succeed cause they deserve and excel via the MBA (maybe more as a result of the contacts made as against what they learned), and the rich ones will succeed cause daddy is rich and powerful plus the bonus that his classmates will kiss his ass cause he (his money) is viewed as an asset to his classmates.
Second an MBA seems more useful if you have first hand experience of the things you are learning about. Then the MBA can consolidate and clarify things you had encountered before, and prep you on how to deal with such things ( or give you new tools to deal with such things) in the future.
People as said do MBAs for contacts and cause they expect an return on the investment. But the value of the MBA comes down to the program not necessarily the college/university that it is given in
Thanks for all your advice. I’m going to be travelling a lot next year for work and adding in extra trips to Hong Kong or Singapore is pretty much out of the question.
Seems no-one has had anything positive to say about the offerings locally yet. I take the points about MBAs being more about networking than actually learning stuff - but if I’m going to spend all that time and effort I do actually want to learn stuff. I’m starting a junior management job in January - I need to learn how to do the whole management thing properly.
Perhaps an MBA is the wrong direction for this. I am certainly not set on doing one and if I can pick up the relevant skills another, certifiable way (besides on-the-job training) then I am happy to go that route. I’m sure I can talk my boss around to a cheaper, more efficient alternative.
I had a mostly positive experience at Chengchi’s IMBA, during the early years where they were the pioneers. It is quite competitive to get in right now, and the networking within the school is still a coveted prize -they allow you to take lessons with the EMBA guys, most of them really big bosses, captains of the industry and all that.
And yes, it is all about networking, though the international nature of the beast makes it even more challenging and interesting. Being 100% in English doesn’t hurt. Waay cheaper than NUS and NUK -but it shows.
My two cents? Go to different local programs, ask to sit in one class or two. Test the waters in action and see how you feel, but hurry. Most programs start recruiting around Lunar New Year -Chengchi has early bird specials.
I’m just getting started in the business world, but I do see an MBA in the future. Like when I’m 40 or something.
Locally? I also have some friends in the Cheng Chi program and the networking with international students is probably the biggest benefit of that program.
But I couldn’t imagine myself sitting at a dinner party in a decade or 2 explaining that I got my MBA in Taiwan. I’m sure some nice people would show a genuine interest for a minute, but would they invite you to join their Saturday morning tee time?
I mean in the global scheme of things, the US MBAs are still at the top; you get what you pay for la.
I’m just getting started in the business world, but I do see an MBA in the future. Like when I’m 40 or something.
Locally? I also have some friends in the Cheng Chi program and the networking with international students is probably the biggest benefit of that program.
But I couldn’t imagine myself sitting at a dinner party in a decade or 2 explaining that I got my MBA in Taiwan. I’m sure some nice people would show a genuine interest for a minute, but would they invite you to join their Saturday morning tee time?
I mean in the global scheme of things, the US MBAs are still at the top; you get what you pay for la.
i have a mate who graduated from taida’s program and is doing very well for himself. i have other friends who did the insead program in singapore, hk offerings, etc etc, and they arent doing much different to their pre-mba lives… i guess what i am trying to say is that an mba is what you make of it.
i have heard good things about the chengchi program (in english) and obviously the taida program which was in chinese but now i believe is available in english??
essentially an mba wont harm your prospects. as you said you personally arent that interested so whether its a taiwan or otherwise doesnt really matter. i say go taiwan… stan shih teaches at one of the courses and he is meant to be pretty inspiring…
Oh, you’ll learn stuff. You’ll learn how to talk about and formulate strategy from the perspective of a vice-president at a large corporation. You’ll learn something about market research and market analysis. You’ll learn the lingo. You’ll learn some finance and accounting principles, how to read financial statements.
But you won’t learn how to manage a small team, how to write a memo, how to hire and fire people, how to negotiate media purchases, how to write a press release, how to manage key accounts, how retailers and wholesalers work, how to sell to industrial buyers, how to pull off a successful trade show, how to deal with an asshole in another department–all stuff that a 20ish or 30ish MBA grad ought to know. I thought that was the biggest mistake of the MBA program–teaching CEO-level strategic decision-making without talking about the more practical stuff that people in their late 20s would need to know.
Thing is, I don’t know where you go to learn these things, if MBA programs won’t teach them. If you are primarily interested in learning how to become a good manager, you’d probably be better off buying a library of business classics, along with some modern books on management and leadership, and getting yourself a good mentor or two from the business world. I’ll volunteer, if you like.
I think there should be a certification program in junior or mid level management, but none exists, to my knowledge. If you want to have the MBA in your pocket as a stepping stone/basic qualification sort of thing, you still ought to consider getting it. It does help you open doors.
[quote=“Taffy”]I’m starting a junior management job in January - I need to learn how to do the whole management thing properly.
Perhaps an MBA is the wrong direction for this. I am certainly not set on doing one and if I can pick up the relevant skills another, certifiable way (besides on-the-job training) then I am happy to go that route. I’m sure I can talk my boss around to a cheaper, more efficient alternative.[/quote]
Management, leadership etc isn’t about cracking open a book or schooling. You want to learn how to manage people, or be a “manager”, you need to try it out, fail and succeed often, and find a good role model/mentor to show you the ropes.
Then and only then, should you think about opening a book or getting a certification or do schooling. Without some experience to base your learning upon, you’re just filling yourself with a lot of jargon and concepts. It’s kinda like drinking beer - Fun, enjoyable but full of empty calories.
IOW, skills isn’t about getting booked up. It’s about hard work and discipline - the so-called “on-the-job” training. There’s no shortcuts.
Having said that, if your boss will foot the bill, by all means, take advantage of it! But keeping in mind that this isn’t going to magically turn you into the next Peter Drucker, Tom Peters etc.
[quote=“Taffy”]
Seems no-one has had anything positive to say about the offerings locally yet. I take the points about MBAs being more about networking than actually learning stuff [/quote]
I would say it was generally a very positive experience (at NCTU’s TPE campus), and a lot of hard work that I thought I would never be able to finish. My foreign classmates and I were sort of the foreign pioneers for that program, so some “bureaucracy/not used to dealing w/ foreigners” was to be expected. It was also nice not owing thousands in school loans after graduation. The only Taiwan MBA program accredited by the AACSB are FuJen, NCCU, NCTU and NSYSU.
