MBA program
description

MBA programs set themselves apart from other graduate programs by the importance they place on the fundamentals of the different areas of management including accounting, management, human resources, strategy, finance, information technology, marketing, etc. 

Unlike research-focused graduate programs, which have students specialize in a given discipline and address a specific issue with the aim of making an original contribution to a disciplinary field, MBAs are fundamentally generalist, providing students with tools, concepts, theories, examples and techniques that will help them in their work as managers.

MBA programs are not designed to train specialists, but rather managers who are able to adapt to any situation.

Another hallmark of MBA programs is graduates’ wide array of academic backgrounds. An MBA is a graduate degree, so, to be admitted, students must already hold an undergraduate degree. As a result, an MBA stands out from other master’s degrees by the diversity of academic and professional backgrounds of each and every cohort.

A class of MBA students will frequently bring together engineers, lawyers, accountants, sociologists, pharmacists and artists. MBA programs are also diversified in a different respect: most full-time MBA programs welcome students from multiple countries, thus enriching the entire classroom with a variety of perspectives. At the beginning of their program, students doing an MBA are united solely by the desire to hone their management skills. Their diploma and camaraderie will keep them connected for many years to come!

As a general rule, admission to an MBA program is conditional on having work experience in a management situation. In many ways, actually being confronted with a management situation is fundamental to maximum learning and to becoming a good manager.

The teaching provided in MBA programs resonates much more strongly with students who already have professional experience. Moreover, the classroom formats and small groups allow students to speak up and interact in order to complement their teacher’s instruction with examples of real-life cases they encountered during their own careers.
 

Whether in the workplace or in the classroom, tapping into everyone’s experience and academic background is essential to solving problems of all kinds. As a result, MBA programs regularly have students work in teams to analyze and solve problems arising from concrete, well-documented cases.

By the end of their studies, MBA graduates have learned to work with the most diverse personalities, to make the most of each individual’s strengths and to deal with others’ weaknesses. In fact, this cooperation is instrumental in enabling MBA students to learn to know themselves.
 

The faculty of MBA programs generally include university professors, career managers and consultants who are well versed in the latest trends in their field. The courses taught by career professors are directly informed and continually updated by the teacher’s research, while those given by lecturing consultants are kept up-to-date by the lecturer’s everyday professional activities. The result is an outstanding education drawing on scholarly knowledge as well as experience. Few programs offer such a balance.

MBA programs take on a diversity of forms depending on the universities where they are offered. This variety of program offerings reflects the growing demand for the diploma among employers and managers as well as the innovative spirit that drives management schools, which are the first to apply what they teach—namely, the importance of self-renewal in the face of a fast-changing world.

MBA programs can be completed on a part-time or full-time basis, can involve an internship, a consulting project or a thesis, and can target managers in a specific field or be open to executives from all industries. By design, they are primarily geared toward facilitating knowledge-sharing in the broad field of management among the greatest possible number of people.
 

Earning an MBA degree is the culmination of an intense and difficult course of study. Regardless of the particular form of the MBA, one of the first things students learn in the program is that they are responsible for a fast-fire sequence of deliverables that reflects the feverish pace with which all managers are confronted in today’s society.

However, far from merely replicating the modern scourge of constantly being short on time, MBA programs are specially designed to help managers cope with this challenge. Students learn to better manage stress, schedules and priorities. 

MBAs have more than one string to their bow. They have completed multidisciplinary and generalist training allowing them to adapt to all management situations, and forged ties with colleagues, professors, professionals and managers with experience in a plethora of economic sectors. Finally, they have learned the paramount importance of working in a team while observing even the tightest of deadlines. They represent an unquestionable asset for their organizations.

Today, MBAs are more numerous and competent than ever, and ready to rise up to economic challenges and contribute to the development of our society.