Executive Online Mini-MBA

Here we go - not just an Executive MBA, nor just online, but...

The Fox Executive Online Mini-MBA (TM) [need to get that trademark in there]

http://www.foxminimba.com/

...and not just ONE Mini-MBA (TM), but FOUR!

I guess Temple University sees a market for this. What's a bit scary is when you click on the benefits link and see how they tout their respected name and AACSB accreditation, top rankings, etc.

I especially like:

"Our Executive Online Mini-MBA™ program is a university without limits. We are not limited to one faculty. Instead we have been able to attract the best business practitioners from around the world to give you the best education available anywhere."

Read: If we used our full-time teaching staff it would erode the value of the full-time MBA, you know, the one that got those great rankings, AACSB accreditation, etc...

Plus, two added benefits:

1) Writing papers is completely optional
2) No GMAT Test is Required

Their reasoning - you're too busy to do a real MBA, and therefore too busy to write papers or study for that danged GMAT...

The price?

"A top-quality traditional MBA from a prestigious, highly accredited university like the Fox School of Business would cost you between $50,000 and $70,000. Our highly concentrated Fox Executive Online Mini-MBA™ only costs $3,200."

Wow, sounds like a bargoon - no writing, no GMAT, lots of great professors, takes only 3-5 months for a measly $3,200.

And it's accredited by AACSB and top ranked? Oh, it's not? Just the full-time program? But on the website...

...oh, it says:

"Get Priority Consideration and Earn Credits You Can Apply Toward a Full-Time Traditional MBA - With these Mini MBAs, you can transfer a total of 6 credits (two Mini MBAs) that may be applied toward a traditional MBA at the Fox School of Business or any other university that will accept them. (Although you will receive priority consideration, your acceptance to the Fox traditional MBA is not guaranteed.)"


Please forgive the sarcasm, but this site is too hilarious, with an almost deceptive blending of facts with fiction.

However, to be entirely fair to Temple, if the program provides 3 CR of decent education (note that 6 credits equals 2 Mini MBAs (TM) ) that for the right person needing the knowledge rather than the parchment this might be a decent deal, not unlike the executive programs of Wharton, etc.

I just HATE the Mini MBA (TM) moniker - how about a mini dental program too? For just $3200 we can teach you how to drill fillings, and if you apply to the full program (you receive priority consideration, but acceptance is not guaranteed) we'll tell you for another $50K how to fill them again!

 

Holy cow, that site is crazy. It makes me want to hold off on enrolling until I see them on late night TV telling me that if I call now, I can get two MBAs for the price of one.

Mooooo. $$$

This is classic.



They need to reword this as well:

"On the other hand, if you decide to pursue a traditional MBA at the Fox School of Business, you will receive Priority Consideration and you will be asked to write an optional paper to transfer three credits for a single Mini-MBA or up to six credits for two Mini-MBAs for the Fox School of Business or any other school that will accept them."

Oh, you are asking me to write an optional paper? No, I'll pass. Just transfer the credits.

 

I found out about it this afternoon when they sent me an e-mail. I sent them a reply and will post the response (if received):

========

Hello Fox Mini MBA,

I read your recent e-mail and had a follow-up question.

From what your eBrochure says under “benefits” you can transfer credits to a traditional MBA program. Is the Mini MBA covered under AACSB? I had thought that under AACSB rules a certain number of tenured or tenure-track professors must be used and your program states that you are “not limited to one faculty”. If the credits are not AACSB-accredited then this would severely limit their transferability to an AACSB-accredited program.

Also, should one accomplish the Mini MBA and then want to proceed to Temple’s traditional program, will the GMAT then be required?

Thank you in advance for your reply.

========

 

To me the classic line is:

"or up to six credits for two Mini-MBAs for the Fox School of Business or any other school that will accept them."

Sounds a bit vague. Imagine a telephone conversation with someone in admissions:

"Will you accept them? Please? Pretty please? But I worked hard and spent $3200 for those credits!

No, I didn't take the GMAT.

No, I didn't write any papers, those were optional."

 

Perfect for the executive who needs to prepare for an online mini-job...

 

Or maybe these cowboys herding cows the size of schnauzers ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut0WDb-xzks&feature=player_embedded

 

All that mumbo jumbo does not matter apparently. From the FAQ:

"Is it true that the Fox School of Business has the world's highest accreditation?
Yes. The Fox Executive Online Mini-MBA™ program is AACSB accredited."

Another gem from the FAQ:

"Why is an Executive Mini-MBA superior to other MBA programs?
An Executive MBA is considered the elite MBA because you will be sharing your online courses with other high level executives. You can enjoy the benefits of peer-to peer learning, profit from their experiences, make valuable contacts and develop a professional network that could prove to be invaluable long after you’ve completed your Mini-MBA."

This whole site is looks like it was written in a vacuum. You'd swear it couldn't be from a school that offered traditional MBAs as well.

"These Mini-MBA courses are taught by the world's most successful business practitioners ... working professionals who are prospering in the trenches of today's ultra competitive business world ... not academics in ivory towers. You'll find our instructors are focused on providing you with plenty of practical real-world solutions to the challenges you face every day ... not on theory ... which is the most common complaint about most other MBA programs."

What? Including your own traditional MBA program?

"Once you join the Fox Online Mini-MBA™ program, you can plug into our worldwide alumni network of over 51,000 business professionals in leading companies around the globe."

Ha! Yes, get a 4-week mini-e-online-micro-MBA then start calling our traditional alumni and tell them you are a graduate of Temple just like them! They'll be happy to hire you.

 

A friend of mine, who had originally graduate from Pitt, did just that with a handsomely-framed Business Executive Certificate from Carnegie Mellon. Cost him $5K. Fifteen weeks of one catered lunch, one catered dinner, and one paper per week. He met a lot of business contacts that led to several contracts for his small business: as he was found of saying, "Yeah, when I went to CMU..."

 

He should buy a class ring for CMU.

 

Wow. I'm curious as to how they can prove that students live up to the standards.

You're probably not far from the truth. I expect that there is a different program director and set of staff that is part of Fox but not affiliated with the full time program. At Indiana, the Kelley Direct program has its own administration staff different than IU Bloomington's full time program, although the faculty are shared.

I'm sure that the for-profits will come up with their own 2 hour Nano MBA (TM).

Unfortunately, people seem to have forgotten that the M in MBA stands for a masters degree. The Mini-MBA is even less than having the equivalent of an associates degree.

 

My wife is taking a 1-week executive program at Wharton shortly, and networking will be a big plus. However, since she already has her (hard earned) MBA, she knows the difference.

 

It's not even that close. It's like taking a 3cr undergraduate business survey course.

 

And that is perfectly acceptable. These "mini-MBA" programs should redesigned for people that already have an MBA and want to add to that skillset. If someone already has an MBA in Finance but wants to branch into Strategic Thinking, Leadership and Management Development, Women's Leadership or Human Resources then something like this program would have value if structured properly.

There is nothing wrong with using it for networking either but there is no way this 4-week program is anything more than a cash cow for the school as they know many big businesses have the money to throw away.

 

There have been similar talks regarding Buffalo's mini-mba:
http://mgt.buffalo.edu/executive/ommba

I don't mind the concept of receiving a quick lesson in business fundementals (many of us could probably use it), but, like many of you, I despise the name, "mini-mba."

I like the way UNC has branded and packaged their program (which I'm thinking about taking):
http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/businessessentials/

 

At least the Online Mini MBA offered by the University at Buffalo is clearly marketed as NON-CREDIT-BEARING

 

Exactly, but completing something from Wharton gives her the right to drop the name, which could be useful.

 

As promised, here's the response received from my inquiry (bold emphasis is mine):

Many thanks for your interest in the Executive Online Mini-MBA™ program. Our courses are credit-waiver bearing and able to be transferred, if the student is accepted, into Temple's Fox School of Business program, and/or other schools that accept the credits. Students are given priority consideration if they want to apply to Temple's program. Also, please see the paragraph below I copied from our FAQ page. To enter one of the traditional MBA programs, you will have to meet the appropriate acceptance requirements. The GMAT is required to move into the traditional Temple degree program.

The phrase on our website "not limited to one faculty" refers to the business leaders and professionals who provide our audio lectures. Rather than listening to a single professor, as in a traditional classroom, you hear from real-world practitioners at the top of their game. This is why you will gain practical and applicable knowledge to enhance your job performance.

Please contact me if you have any other questions. I'll be glad to review which Mini-MBA is the best fit for you. You can reach me via email, or by calling xxxxx


Note the phrase "credit-waiver bearing". Caveat emptor.

 

True, plus she's assigned an advisor before/after the week and will have lecturers such as Ram Charan.

 

Amazing - buyer be aware for sure!

Theoretically, anything could be "credit-waiver bearing." When I was completing my excl portfolio at UMUC, we were instructed to included anything and everything in order to get credit. So, people included their Series 7, their pilot's license, etc. I'm not sure how that all faired, but if you could demonstrate college-level learning somehow, you most likely got credit.

This temple program seems looks and sounds like plain CHEESE.

 

I still wonder how the mini-MBA program at Temple can be AASCB certified.