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While MBAs might learn stuff like budgeting, recruiting, etc. Are they going to better at doing this than an accountant or a professional recruiter? Is this th

While MBAs might learn stuff like budgeting, recruiting, etc. Are they going to better at doing this than an accountant or a professional recruiter? Is this the additional value they add when the join a company?

thegoldenchild 10y ago
No, but it's the same as a CS student taking one class on operating systems, machine learning, android development, etc. You won't be an expert after one or two courses, but you develop a foundation level of understanding. As a CEO, you'll be in meetings with accountants, marketers, engineers, recruiters, lawyers, etc. Knowing the common vocabulary helps you avoid wasting unnecessary time asking questions about the core concepts.
- deong 10y ago
  And you're going to be in the position of having people under you frequently disagree with one another, and they're going to try to provide the best argument they can as to why you should pursue their preferred strategy. If you don't know the difference between an capital and an operational expense, you're heavily compromised in your ability to decide who's right.
phillc73 10y ago
They don't need to be better than a professional accountant. That's not where the value is. I completed an MBT (Masters of Business and Technology) at UNSW, Australia. The course programme was certainly slanted towards technical managers, perhaps aspiring CTOs (which I'm not). There were fairly basic courses, for someone with a technical product management background, but there was also some very useful business focused topics. The one module I really learned the most from was Fundamentals of Corporate Finance. I do not aspire to know more than a professional accountant, but I can now understand what the professional accountant is telling me. I don't just know what the numbers in the budget mean, but also a pretty good idea of how they were derived. For example, I understand, in context, asset depreciation and what it means for my business. I probably could have picked up these skills elsewhere too, but that module alone made the entire MBT degree programme worthwhile.

thegoldenchild 10y ago

No, but it's the same as a CS student taking one class on operating systems, machine learning, android development, etc. You won't be an expert after one or two courses, but you develop a foundation level of understanding. As a CEO, you'll be in meetings with accountants, marketers, engineers, recruiters, lawyers, etc. Knowing the common vocabulary helps you avoid wasting unnecessary time asking questions about the core concepts.

deong 10y ago
And you're going to be in the position of having people under you frequently disagree with one another, and they're going to try to provide the best argument they can as to why you should pursue their preferred strategy. If you don't know the difference between an capital and an operational expense, you're heavily compromised in your ability to decide who's right.

phillc73 10y ago

They don't need to be better than a professional accountant. That's not where the value is. I completed an MBT (Masters of Business and Technology) at UNSW, Australia. The course programme was certainly slanted towards technical managers, perhaps aspiring CTOs (which I'm not). There were fairly basic courses, for someone with a technical product management background, but there was also some very useful business focused topics. The one module I really learned the most from was Fundamentals of Corporate Finance. I do not aspire to know more than a professional accountant, but I can now understand what the professional accountant is telling me. I don't just know what the numbers in the budget mean, but also a pretty good idea of how they were derived. For example, I understand, in context, asset depreciation and what it means for my business. I probably could have picked up these skills elsewhere too, but that module alone made the entire MBT degree programme worthwhile.