A true return on investment

Uncertainty in the economy has only helped boost confidence for those deciding to return to school for an MBA degree, especially in broader concentrations like project management.

According to the July edition of the Global Snapshot, a newsletter from international recruitment specialist Antal, hiring levels across the globe have increased 52 percent at professional and managerial levels that require MBAs compared with 50 percent in February. Of the 13,000 companies surveyed around the world, 52 percent intend to hire in the coming quarter.

In Prague, several universities offer the degree as either a full-time, part-time or intensive course of study, which is generally offered on weekends and attracts working individuals. While an MBA is not a mandatory requirement for many business positions, it is considered an advantage by companies.

William Pattison, MBA director at University of New York Prague (UNYP), said he is not surprised by the interest in MBA programs, especially intensive degrees.

"Before the economy tanked in 2008, there was no real need for people to go back to school, but by the end of that year interest in MBA programs went up 100 percent," he said. "People need to be competitive in the market now, especially with our unemployment rate, because the market is saturated with too many people without a competitive edge. If you want to be a successful executive or entrepreneur, an MBA is very important - if you want to work in a factory the rest of your life, it isn't."

UNYP, along with the Institute for Industrial and Financial Management (IFPM) and the University of Pittsburgh, are among 20 competing universities in Prague providing experienced businessmen and women the type of edge that many companies are now requiring in order to be in a management position or move up the company ladder. All three offer working men and women an intensive degree completed in fewer than two years. According to the Czech Statistical Office, about 300 students are enrolled in an MBA program each year throughout the country, and of those, roughly 150 graduate.  

"Titles are important to people in the Czech Republic, and an MBA can give you that," said Susanne Neumann, MBA program coordinator for IFPM. "An MBA can give you options to move up within your own company or work internationally."

Many IFPM graduates seek international work, not just upward mobility within their company, Neumann said.

"A lot of our students are from Škoda, Audi and Volkswagen because they're corporate sponsors," she said. "We've not only helped them move up in the company, but a lot of our former students moved to other countries like India, China or Spain, where they took on an international manager role there."

At the University of Pittsburgh, the executive management MBA program is designed for people who have at least five years of business experience and are looking to develop leadership skills.

"The main focus is on management strategy in a global context," said Ivana Goossen, director of the MBA program at University of Pittsburgh. "People in business can develop in a specialized role or in a managerial role. We provide people with the tools to develop in a managerial way; we show the big picture of an organization for professionals."

According to Pattison, the most coveted MBA in 2011 is project management because it casts such a broad net over all industries; it doesn't pigeonhole recipients of the degree into any particular industry. UNYP offers project management, along with seven other intensive MBA programs that are held on weekends, twice a month for a total of 19 months. The hottest program at the university is currently finance and banking.

"There are a lot of Czechs with engineering or IT degrees and no work because they saturated the market years ago," Pattison said. "Very few of these professionals have the skills to communicate or manage a company; they are technically gifted, but not leaders. Project management offers those skills and works in every industry but you got to get in before the trends, not after they're over."

Melih Gundogan, performance and supplier manager at DHL Information Services in Prague, is a UNYP MBA graduate who had a concentration in information technology.

"An MBA will not magically transform you into Superman or a Jedi warrior on the first day, but it did teach me to improve my business knowledge and skills," Gundogan said.

Neumann said the corporate partners that work with IFPM want their employees to have an MBA with a wide berth too, which is why the school just offers a program in general management in both German and English.

"It's a more universal perspective and gives an overview of all aspects of business," she said. "Everyone has to have experience coming into the program, so they all learn from each other about different industries and what works and what doesn't, and they find it can apply to any type of job."

Work experiences not only separates an MBA from a standard master's degree; it also gives an additional leg up in a competitive job market.

Since graduating from IFPM in 2009, Martina Lambert feels more confident in her abilities as head of marketing and communications at LBBW Bank.

"My course was more practical than traditional university study, and I found it very useful because I was able to apply my previously gained experience during the course, share it with others and apply it during class," Lambert said. "Sharing this knowledge and different points of views and experiencing different corporate cultures from fellow students with different business backgrounds was also very valuable. I haven't been promoted since I graduated because I report directly to the CEO, but I have been able to take on more responsibility."

While students in the MBA programs need to have business experience as part of a requirement, they are not the only ones. The professors in many of the MBA programs in Prague are either retired managers or CEOs who are currently running Fortune 500 companies.

"Both current and retired managing directors and CEOs from different countries teach our students," Pattison said. "Students learn things they can't read in a book; they learn financial accounting from the president of Coca-Cola bottling in France, for instance. They learn the tricks of the trade and how global markets work today and get to apply it in their field immediately."

Currently, UNYP has 30 MBA professors and only one is Czech. Each is an industry leader who also has academic credentials, Pattison said. Having diversity in the classroom is a fundamental component to the programs because it provides many vantage points. Students gain from other students by sharing knowledge from different sectors of the work force, as well as gain a global perspective by being taught by professors from varied countries and companies such as Mercedes Benz, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Bosch and many more.

"UNYP has a band of highly skilled, international, ethical, multicultural and caring professors," Gundogan said. "I was surprised because I was expecting more theoretical information and not completely updated information, but they truly reflected the global climate of the current business world."

An article in the Aug. 23 issue of Bloomberg BusinessWeek argues that in the current economic crisis, having an MBA might not warrant the price since placement rates and salaries have taken a hit across the job market. But in Europe - and, more specifically, in the Czech Republic - educators and graduates disagree.

"An MBA is the cost of a decent car, and people don't think twice when investing in a car," Goossen said. "If [having an MBA] is aligned with where you want to go with your career, an MBA will do more for you than a car in terms of investment."

The University of Pittsburgh's program costs roughly 860,000 Kč ($50,000) for 16 months; IFPM costs about 231,626 Kč for 18 months, and UNYP's degree costs 325,000 Kč for 19 months. When compared with the average cost of an MBA in the United States - $75,000 (1.3 million Kč), according to BusinessWeek - students in the Czech Republic are getting the same degree for a fraction of the price.

For students the networking and contacts gained from MBA programs is worth more than a salary.

"The long-term benefits, like networking, are the real value," Gundogan said. "My degree also immediately tells any employer that I have obtained the theoretical base for building practical achievements. Every year in job ads I see 'required MBA degree' rather than 'preferred,' so yes, it's worth it."

Megan Battista can be reached at
features@praguepost.com