By
Prof Gavin Kennedy
Director of Contracts, Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University, UK

Which route to your MBA

Enquiries about 'Which MBA?' come down to two criteria: your ability and your circumstances. Take the ideal: you have a GMAT score of 650+; you are fluent in English; you can afford to study fulltime for 18-24 months; you have 3 to 5 years appropriate experience and, of course, you have financial backing of between $60,000 and $80,000 for fees, plus whatever ($40,000?) you require for accommodation and subsistence on campus.

If your profile matches, your objective must be one of the 'top 20' US/European Business Schools, which stay in the top 20 because they only recruit those with this profile. Be sure: 'If you are good enough to get into [here] your passing grades don't matter – getting accepted is your biggest hurdle.'

If you don't match the profile – or you screw up the interview – try the next tier. The 'top' Schools accept only the brightest and wealthiest students because demand exceeds their facilities. Out of the thousands who apply they take only 60 to 120 persons per year. And with annual revenues of between $5 million and $12 million, why shouldn't they? Also, their rare but talented alumni insist they keep it that way and network with fellow alumni to make being one an added attraction. Naturally, the elite market their elitism.

For those who cannot match the profile, the choice is between full- or part-time. To some extent you can still bask in a School's prestige by applying to one of the top 100 Business Schools. It then depends on how earnestly your potential employer takes the reputation of your School as the main (only?) selection device, rather than take a closer look at you and your achievements before and after you were there. If the employer has more applicants than places, the Business School you attended might get you an interview – though the corollary is that candidates from the ones you didn't attend may keep you out.

Your circumstances have the greatest influence on your choice between a full or part-time MBA. If you cannot afford the time off but can work around the regular sessions of a part-time programme, and you expect to be in the same geographical region for the next two to three years, then a part-time MBA is your next best choice. This is most certainly true if you are at the younger end of the normal MBA age range (25-35) and require regular tutorial support for your studies.

If your job takes you away for extended periods or its global responsibilities make it uncertain that you can attend fixed classes regularly, you should consider a distance MBA programme. Again your circumstances dictate the programmes from which you select. It depends on the degree of flexibility you need. For some Schools regular attendance at weekends and at 'summer schools', with set assignments and course work, are compulsory. If you miss or fall behind your assignments or your work responsibilities cut into on-campus attendance, the benefits of distance learning become a burden. Some of the bigger Business Schools into distance learning, however, offer their on-campus sessions in several countries, which might be convenient to you.

Distance learning addresses the (very large) population of potential students who have the ability (they have a specialist Bachelor or post-graduate Masters degree or PhD) and credible business experience, but their circumstances prevent them undertaking a conventional MBA route. For them, the alternative to a distance MBA is no MBA, yet their career progression would benefit enormously from competence in general managerial subjects (accountancy, finance, economics, marketing, organisational behaviour, quantitative methods and strategy). How determined are you to overcome the obstacles imposed by distance – isolation, challenges to your self-discipline, changing moods, perhaps occasional disappointments – to complete the course? That you overcome these factors to complete your distance MBA will impress an employer.

With the Internet as a delivery platform for distance students, plus its interactivity with fellow students you never see and with Business School faculty to enthuse and encourage you, the distance alternative to on campus programmes (some of which, especially those well outside the top 100 Business Schools, may be an expensive mistake) is about to come into its own.

At the end of the day, the vast majority of employers hire people who can do the job now and in the future and they do not rely on where you took your MBA. If an MBA helps you do the job – as a good one will – you will keep your job for as long as you make a profitable contribution to the bottom line, can lead others to do the same and, above all, leave the place where you work in a better state than it was when you started.