So what do you do? 
[/quote]
I manage an abacus As much as I love forumosa, Iād rather not talk about it in āpublicā.
I disagree that itās all about connections. Sure, you make a lot of good connections (and good friendsā¦not everything is bizness, even among over-preened A types) ā¦ but there is also a lot of real content taught.
Funnyā¦the one class everyone paid less attention to ā like the ones on organizational design & leadership are the ones the really resonate now.
MBAās may be practcal but are not the only way to judge a worth of someones ability.
My first cousin has only High school quals but is in senior managment of DHL Asia Pacific. Finished high scholl plus later on a couple of short Diploma courses.
capec.com.au/TeamMember.aspx?EntityId=101465 ( PS if you wonder why my cousins looks Asianā¦ well his mom is Japanese. Married my old mans younger brother after ww2 )
I have just come from a 3 hour meeting or two partner groups in a joint venture where I consult to two CEOās and VP level sales and marketing staff.
What is the end result is that I have just set into place major policy directions for both companies. I know the nuts and bolts of their businesses plus being able to look at the long term future.
Gotta love being in the TV business. 
My education levelā¦ High School plus some further studies but no completed degrees or diplomas.
To get many jobs, you need to be able to check the right boxes, be this Graduate, Masters or PHD
An MBA does not guarantee success or ability, and having no MBA does not guarantee failure or no ability. Its a qualification you can pull as necessary
Yes, but my point is again, what is the actual added value to doing an executiveās job, very little I suspect.
Well, in business school you learn finance, accounting, economics, marketing, statistics, banking, supply chain management, and business management (organizational psychology, etc.). Someone whoās already an executive or whatever may lack skills in certain fields and wants to beef up in those areas.
My apologies. I thought this was the āWhat did you do with your MBAā thread. 
[quote=āJack Burtonā]I read this book about a journalist from the Daily Telegraph who decided to goto Harvard B-school, then didnāt do a career in āfinanceā and instead wrote a book about his experiences. Pretty interesting insiderās take on the value of b-school. Of course, his bias is clear and you may or may not agree with his āidealismā.
Still a decent light read.
The title was something like Two Years at Harvard Business School: Philip Delves Broughton[/quote]
Can read about it from BusinessWeekWhat I Learned at Harvard Business School: An opinionated journalist goes to Cambridge for his MBA and finds āa factory for unhappy peopleā
My apologies. I thought this was the āWhat did you do with your MBAā thread. [/quote]
Sorryā¦I was suddenly feeling the cold draft of over-exposure on the intarweb.
GBH, for what itās worth, an MBA (earned in 1993), got me the following:
MBA programs teach models that can be applied to the analysis of financial and accounting data. They teach market research design and data analysis. They teach international political economy and international finance. They teach a lot of strategy, largely through case study analysis. They teach a few special things (e.g. I had a Leadership course and a Marketing Topics seminar that were very useful), but they donāt teach you how to do things like hire someone intelligently, fire someone humanely, write a memo, deal with problem employees, deal with asshole co-workers, etc. In other words, much of the course content is focused on higher level strategic decision making, and very little is focused on the things a young manager in his/her late 20s or early 30s will do on a day to day basis.
But you get the cache of having an MBA, whatever thatās worth nowadays (the schoolās rank and reputation plays a role in future job opportunities). Fifteen years ago, it was worth something.
I wasnāt even aware of MBAs until I was almost 30 by which time it didnāt make sense economically for me. Think about it $150K on the course plus 2 years lost income to get a job at not a lot more money than I was on. Iāve been lucky in as much as having had a major career change from Banking to Life Insurance but I really donāt see any value in the programs. Asian employers in particular seem to value them in their job adverts but every job I have gone for it hasnāt been an issue because of my experience in the real world.
IMHO take your 150K and start a side business or invest it in property (esp right now) and you will be richer sooner than by throwing away two years at school with a bunch of people who are paying to access your connections.
[quote=āEdgar Allenā]
IMHO take your 150K and start a side business or invest it in property (esp right now) and you will be richer sooner than by throwing away two years at school with a bunch of people who are paying to access your connections.[/quote]
Yes, unless youāre interested in something other than just making money, and assuming you have the cash.
Iām not sure where 150k comes from. Is there an MBA program anywhere that expensive?
Sure easily. 2 years at Wharton, Harvard, Yale with living expenses.
Thatās what it cost me - but I had a family of 4. For someone single, it should be somewhat less.
The cost of the MBA is about the same among like top 25-30 schools - itās just the incomes coming out are very different.
Donāt forget the opportunity cost. If by enrolling you forego a $65K/year job for two years, and during that time spend $50-100K in tuition + living expenses to boot, then $150K would be a pretty dirt damn cheap MBA. Even if youāre single.
Yeah well my incomes quite a lot more than the average on coming out so it gets very silly - hence me not doing one.
Hey there EA, thanks for your referal contact with your friends in China. I may start a serious push into Shanghai once the real direct flights start up.
Will have a product online that will make expats in China very happy. 
Youāre kidding?? Tell him to get in touch pronto as this fellow high school dropout has a large shipping account to send his way.
Youāre kidding?? Tell him to get in touch pronto as this fellow high school dropout has a large shipping account to send his way.[/quote]
I can put you in touch with his underling here in Taiwan as he is one of my customersā¦ an expat from the UKā¦
Send me an email jim@taiwansatellite.tv