Mba

[metimmee]

Anyone completed a distance learning MBA or an MBA or any flavour? I'm considering signing up for the Henley MBA (Project Management) but the price tag is making me wary, even with ELC, it still adds up to a wedge.

I'm after a heavyweight qualification with an emphasis on project management that will give me the commercial awareness that I dont currently have in the mob.

 

[chiefy]

I don't know about the MBA to be honest, wouldn't mind a look if you could post a link though.

I suspect that it requires significant PM experience to complete though. I am a PM, a proper one; running projects rather than being a member of a project team or a junior PM, I have full budgetary control and autonomy on all my projects answering to the project sponsor, I'm not sure I have the type of portfolio required to complete an MBA.

My feelings are that you probably do have the commercial accumen just not the experience; which an MBA isn't going to give you. My tact would be to follow the APM route : APMP then Certified Project Manager + Risk certificates, it may seem tedious but is a well recognised route and with APM currently seeking Chartered status all of their courses are going to count towards Chartered PM. MBA's are priced for companies to pay for and reliant on the drawing down of grants and subject to tax relief, if you can get a job as a PM your company may well put you through the MBA.

Industry is short of PM's at the moment at all levels in every sector, APM is the industry standard and pay with just an APMP is between about £35k and £60k, little additions like PRINCE2, perhaps a strategic PM course etc can make you stand out but ultimately a decent portfolio of "Projects" as opposed to projects that don't stand out from everyday business will secure a good job. Companies want you to be able to plan, schedule, analyse, calculate earned value and IRR, do a stakeholder analysis, formulate a communication plan, measure and present risk appropriately and all that other important stuff, but what they are really after is people who can lead a team, communicate well and make decisions whilst meeting their constraints - all things that come with experience rather than study. Some aren't particularly worried if you have no sector specific quals: engineering, IT etc, their clients want a structure PM approach from a qualified and experienced project manager because it significantly reduces their risk. I'm not sure an MBA is of interest to them when recruiting but they might see it as a benefit to subsidise your benefits package and form part of a PDR.

 

[mustard]

I did the APM on a week long course 18 months ago and it was great. Steep learning curve and a 3 hr exam at the end. (If you have not done exams for a while its worth looking at some other exam questions before you get there to remember the skills needed). At present I am with the OU on the MBA. Awesome residential with great learning value and a huge amount of flexibility in terms of how/when to study. Before I decided who to study with I attended several open evenings at various Unis. I suggest this will help you to decide what is the best route for you – the tutors are there to give advice and steer you towards what you want to achieve. If you feel any hard sell, walk out.

 

[3wheeledtechie]

My personal view is that MBAs are useful for corporate animals who may or may not wish to become captains of industry or the like. They are sought after for senior managerial and consultancy roles. To relate it to the RAF, they're probably the sort of thing an officer might consider doing at about Wg Cdr level.
I'd endorse Chiefy's view that an APMP is probably more suited to what you want. I've got the PRINCE2 Practitioner ticket and it is sufficient for more junior PM roles.

 

[Stevienics]

MBA Stuff

MBA Stuff

Sorry, I left about 10 years ago but I guess this is relevant. If you want to do PM, it is probably best to think about what discipline first, then specialise - get to know the commercial environment and find out as much as you can about it first. I recently did the week course, as I was compelled to by my company and its pretty dry stuff with no context to set it against.

As far as the MBA by Distance Learning (its called flexible learning now) is concerned, more and more people are opting for this as pretty much an early step rather than a consolidation exercise 10 years down the line. After 3 years of so it is worth considering and this is probably when most schools of repute will consider your experience in lieu of an honours degree anyway (you need to do other things to get in as well). Henley is one of the top schools and probably worth the dosh, but others are also available if you self fund and start at about £3K a year - but you still need to cough up for books and travel to the monthly workshops, exams etc. Just finished mine this year, but not with Henley - the more generalist Napier University School in Edinburgh. Again, much better to get work first and get the Co. to pay for it at least in part as it can really rack up.

Conclusion: Choose what you want to do and then go for that sort of PM environment. Get the MBA later but always try not to pay yourself!

 

[8:15fromOdium]

Metimmee, if you are after an Information Systems related Project Management qualification there is a good course available through the Defence College of Management & Technology over at Shrivenham:

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/dcmt/shortcourses/infosysprojectman.jsp

The course is ISEB accredited and leads to the Certificate in IS Project Management (following doing the course and passing the exam you then get interviewed by ISEB bods). The qual is on a par with PRINCE2 practioner and is rated very highly in the IS world. I did it 3 years ago, a colleague who did it with me went on to do an OU MBA and couldn't stop going on about how well the ISPM course had prepared him for it.

Also if you can justify the course through work (easy if you are TG4) you should be able to get one of the MOD funded places on the course.

 

[metimmee]

Metimmee, if you are after an Information Systems related Project Management qualification there is a good course available through the Defence College of Management & Technology over at Shrivenham:

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/dcmt/shortcourses/infosysprojectman.jsp

The course is ISEB accredited and leads to the Certificate in IS Project Management (following doing the course and passing the exam you then get interviewed by ISEB bods). The qual is on a par with PRINCE2 practioner and is rated very highly in the IS world. I did it 3 years ago, a colleague who did it with me went on to do an OU MBA and couldn't stop going on about how well the ISPM course had prepared him for it.

Also if you can justify the course through work (easy if you are TG4) you should be able to get one of the MOD funded places on the course.

Thanks, I've done this one, I agree it is an excellent course. I've also got PRINCE2 practitioner. Thanks, good gen about the course being a good grounding for the OU MBA.

Also, is the same dept, they do MSc in information systems geared for the Service which can be done over several years, with breaks. Looks good but they were having some teathing problems with the remote access to course materials.

I enquired about the MSc in Project Management that they run in the Management School only to be told that I had no chance, being a SNCO...

I'm trying to persuade work to fund the M_o_R (management of risk) course for me but the coffers are a bit bare..

Thanks for all the responses.