How do DL MBAs compare with one another?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Hafnia, Dec 7, 2005.

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  1. Hafnia

    Hafnia New Member

    DL MBAs - Top notch or not?

    I have been following the discussions at degreeinfo.com, with interest, for a while.

    I am currently a MBA student at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Business School. I admit that I think that it is a high quality programme, and I can see that others share my opinion.

    But...

    ...what I would like some comments on, is what makes a Business School top notch or not?

    How come a DL MBA from Warwick Business School is “rated” so high compared to EBS. Are they really so much better and what is the reason for the differences?

    Are they more aggressive in marketing terms?
    Is the programme of better quality?
    Are there better network opportunities?

    I look forward receiving your comments.
     
  2. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    It depends on who is doing the rating. You would think that some group of experts or someone visits the school, observes teaching, and so forth to evaluate the program quality. Unfortunately this is very far from the truth.

    What usually happens is there is a survey from a magazine that someone fills out. It asks things such as number of students, average GMAT score, number of faculty, amount of donations,etc, none of which have anything to do with the quality of the actual program. All this data is plugged into some formula that somebody came up with, and a "ranking" is produced. EBS chooses not to participate in such arbitrary rankings which is why you rarely see them in a magazine ranking, or if you do, it's for Heriot-Watt as a whole, and not EBS.
     
  3. Are there actually any DL MBA rankings out there? I've seen rankings for full-time, part-time and executive programs, but not DL yet.

    Cheers,
    Mark
     
  4. tcmak

    tcmak New Member

    That is one thing that deserves attention about "ranking" and choosing a DL MBA programme. The ranking only reflects the full time or executive MBA counterparts.

    However, business schools (one thing they teach is marketing, so they should be good at it) should be good at marketing their programmes or their brand. There are schools rely on these ranking to establish their brands and can be crucial when the competition is so keen. Thus it is not surprising to find schools promoting their DL programmes by telling people that their FT MBA programme ranks high in certain ranking.... and of course there people take these as reference points to determine whether one school is better than the other, especially when knowledge about those schools are quite limited.

    One more thing about the ranking system: They emphasize a lot on how competitive the programme is and what the students are before the programme... e.g. GMAT scores. But how well they did after the programme is not well measured (e.g. taking salary increase as a measure, which depends on economic situation of the location.... also, there are people who completed an MBA to start a company, just can't expect them would have a sharp increase in salary immediately upon graduation.....). There is little emphasis on the value-added by the programme. That is good major criticism among the rankings.

    The other thing I don't like about ranking is that....

    However, in UK, there is an assessment scheme, funded by all the universities, giving marks to universities on how well they teach or how well their research work is done.

    www.qaa.ac.uk

    Warwick score well in both teaching and research
    - Teaching: 22.7 (out of 24)
    - Research: 6.0 (out of 7)

    Heriot Watt scores well in teaching, but seems research falls behind "top" UK universities
    - Teaching: 22.5
    - Research: 4.7

    The range within the teaching score is relative small, from 23.5 (Dundee) down to 19.3 (East London)

    But for research, it can range from 6.6 (Cambridge) down to 0.5 (Thames Valley)

    However, I am not an expert in these numbers, and not how subjective these numbers can be.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 8, 2005
  5. Hafnia

    Hafnia New Member

    Hi edowave

    And thank you for your answer :)

    When I submitted my question I also thought about how people talk about different Business Schools, not just the rankings.

    Do you think peoples opinions are based on these rankings and thats the reason for explained differences?

    Finally, as a alumni of EBS, would you think that Warwick is more valuable?

     
  6. Hafnia

    Hafnia New Member

    Hi edowave

    And thank you for your answer :)

    When I submitted my question I also thought about how people talk about different Business Schools, not just the rankings.

    Do you think peoples opinions are based on these rankings and thats the reason for explained differences?

    Finally, as a alumni of EBS, would you think that Warwick is more valuable?

     
  7. Dave C.

    Dave C. New Member

    Mark et al,

    In 2003 the Financial Times published a list of the 'Global Top 20 DL MBA's', in no particular order.

    I tried to attach the file but cannot upload PDF format and the jpeg is too large. Job for you there Gregg.

    If anyone wants it PM me or give me your e-mail. Warwick and H-W are both on it, as are Henley who I have just applied to.

    All the best,

    Dave C.
     
  8. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    Yes they do. A lot of people seem to live and die by rankings and some just want the bragging rights. When UF wasn't in the top ten, they said, "The rankings are arbitrary and don't mean anything." Now that they are in the top ten, that's all they talk about. Silly.

    As for Warwick being more valuable, for DL I would say no. The benefit you get from a DL MBA is the value it adds to your work experience. If you are a career changer and did Warwick's on-campus program, that might be a little more useful because of better networking opportunities.
     
  9. dinz

    dinz New Member

    The Warwick DL-MBA has some residency requirements (annual seminar week) and some optional on-campus seminars (5-day modules, induction day, exam preparation seminars...) - so I would say that there is a greater opportunity to network with other students and to integrate some B&M elements into the DL study track. Depends on your expectations, of course - if you prefer a lone wolf all-distance approach or can't travel to the UK, then H-W probably suits your needs better.
     
  10. tcmak

    tcmak New Member

    I would wonder how much value can be added in terms of networking via a one-week face-to-face meeting in a year.

    On the contrary, self-organised gathrings, if properly managed and supported, can give more networking opportunities. But again, I would agree that this is another challenge to motivation and self-discipline. Also one would need to be in a location where quite a number of students are there.
     
  11. Actually, I found it very useful - we kicked off the first year at IU in-residence, which allowed me to both meet colleagues as well as work in a team environment for the first course.

    In the Angel course management system there are photos and profiles which help "refresh" my memory from time to time.

    Cheers,
    Mark
     

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