Common
Questions of prospective MBA’s
What is the MBA?
The Master of Business Administration degree is a professional degree
that is awarded to those who successfully complete graduate* level
programmes in business administration. Business administration is the
label given to the study of how business organisations operate and
are managed. The MBA degree provides knowledge of the people and processes
within business organisations, the environment within which those organisations
operate and the forces affecting that environment.
The MBA is an interdisciplinary master’s degree rather than one
that focuses on a single academic discipline. MBA degree programmes
are designed to create generalists not specialists. MBA students may
have completed any number of different undergraduate (bachelor) degrees
and are selected on their ability to apply knowledge in the work place
as well as their intellectual ability. MBA students are encouraged
to develop strong analytical skills and the ability to apply knowledge
to business opportunities, organisational problems and issues.
*graduate = master’s degrees undergraduate = bachelor’s
degrees
What is the history of the MBA?
The first graduate (master’s) degree programme in business was
offered at Dartmouth College's Amos Tuck School in Hanover, New Hampshire
in 1900. Eight years later the first exclusively graduate business
school, the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration was
founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
Two educational institutions are known for having initially developed
the MBA in New Zealand. In 1972, Massey University offered a specialised
version of the MBA entitled the Master of Agricultural Business and
Administration or MBA (Agric). Four years later, in 1976, the University
of Otago offered the more traditional MBA through its Commerce Faculty.
Today, MBA degree programmes are being offered around the world. One
internet site boasts a list of over 2000 universities offering the
MBA. In New Zealand, there are ten institutions openly offering MBA degrees
with several designs from which to choose.
|