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MBA vs PhD

Is or will the MBA replace the PhD in finance/business ?

I believe that the PhD is still something one should try to aspire to. Be it for prestige or something else. If you look at the board of directors of several companies, most of its members have a PhD. Nevertheless, I was just recently talking to a friend and it made me think.
He believes that the MBA will become more and more significant and that in the near future the question will be: "Where did you get your MBA" rather than "Do you have a PhD" (to put it in real simple terms).

What do you think?

Reply 1

Ice_Queen

PhDs do tend to be more academic these days, however a PhD is still a level above an MBA (which is, after all, a 'mere' Masters course).

It's practicality vs. theoretics. I think a PhD will always be more respected though.

Reply 2

Iorek

Original post by the_decider

There isn't really a set rule for this issue when it comes to most companies.

Academic qualification is only good to get you your first job. After that I've yet to have any employer ever ask me what my degree is, where it is from or what grades I had. What you can do becomes far more important, especially how much profits you can generate for the company.

However some companies, vast majority of them American based will never let you progress beyond a certain level unless you have an MBA.

Where you get your MBA is extremely important........ don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

PhD, while it is indeed true there are many of such people holding positions in the boardroom, it is relatively rare that such people have any real powers but rather mostly in their capacity as an advisory role rather than anything else.

Reply 3

yoyo462001

Remember the longer you stay in academia the bigger the opportunity cost, i.e. you forego valuable work experience. You'll find experience is more likely to get you into a board rather than extra years of research. Obviously there is no spoken rule for this.

Reply 4

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

They are entirely different qualifications and largely different skill sets. A PhD is an advanced research degree, often highly theoretical in content, and usually (unless in the sciences) a largely solo effort. The academic requirement is that the research 'adds to the body of human knowledge' and its deliverable is a single thesis (though there may be publications along the way).

The MBA is a Masters level degree which builds taught theory on top of practical experience. It is invariably a collegiate period of study where candidates draw on their own and their course peer's experiences. They are invariably largely taught, highly modular and assessed in a variety of ways, often more practical eg by presentation, business plan etc.

I've done both - they were utterly different experiences and equip me for very different professional roles.

Reply 5

robert137

All MBAs nowadays are marketed as 'practical', with lots of group work and practical cases. Loads of courses have students play business games and even have them take on entrepreneurial challenges. This is probably why it's MBAs and not PHDs that big companies actually ask for when hiring for jobs that fast stream to executive-level positions.

Then again, I bet most MBA grads couldn't create research to the same standard as Business PHD students, so it depends on where you want to work.

The quality of careers services for MBAs are usually advertised as part of the deal.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

robert137

All MBAs nowadays are marketed as 'practical', with lots of group work and practical cases. Loads of courses have students play business games and even have them take on entrepreneurial challenges. This is probably it's MBAs and not PHDs that big companies actually ask for when hiring for jobs that fast stream to executive-level positions.

The quality of careers services for MBAs are usually advertised as part of the deal.

Then again, I bet most MBA grads couldn't create research to the same standard as Business PHD students, so it depends on where you want to work.

Reply 7

zanzibarroso

Original post by Ice_Queen

It's practicality vs. theoretics.

There is also a degree called DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) which is some sort of a mix of the two degrees. It lasts 3 years and is a research degree like a PhD but it's really practical rather than purely theoretical.
I don't know if you can become a university professor with a DBA :confused: