The Certified MBA

The criticism that the CMBA is receiving well justified. I have not seen enough. What was read in this thread are opinions and views of well educated prospective consumers of the CMBA.

In my opinion, I see little utility in obtaining an CMBA. As a prospective owner of a private practice with management experience, seeing a CMBA on a resume would not impress me at all. It is overkill and resume padding.

In terms of educational requirements, a regionally accredited MBA for a business related position will do just fine. If an applicant has completed both undergrad and graduate studies, that already shows ambition and persistance. In fact, a CMBA may work against the MBA applicant. I would question why him or her pursued a CMBA. Was this applicant seeking remedial studies? Does this person lack confident in his or her knowledge
of the fundamentals of business or position thereof? A CMBA only tells me that he or she has passed a test that any ambitious money making corporation could develop. Hell, brainbench can develop a certified MBA. Im surprised they have not. Im sure a few degreeinfo.com members can come together to market a "licensed and certified business administrator" exam. Call it a
LMBA or DMBA as in "Diplomate of Business Administration".

If you want to objectively measure how well an employee may do in a position, there are interview styles and job simulations that employers may coordinate and administer. Corporations can also develop instruments that test the employees knowledge of subject matter that corresponds to the position. In fact, some already do.

Personal assessment is the only utility I see in obtain a CMBA.
A CMBA test result may show that a tester lacks knowledge of
accounting. The CMBA is kinda like obtaining a credit report. Find
out what areas you need to improve upon and plan a strategy to
reduce ( eliminate ) the perceived lack ( missed payment alerts )
of knowledge ( spending restraint ) that you believe employers
(creditors) may think you lack. Hence your passed or
failed score ( credit score ).

Alright im rambling. These are my opinions and I may be wrong
about the CMBA. Until I am proved otherwise with significant
formal research and evidence of the reliability and validity of the
CMBA test, I am not convinced.

 

"(creditors) may think you lack" <--- sorry its have not lack.
Its 4:21 am and the new ball and chain is waiting for me to join her. better get to sleep.

 

Re: CMBA recognition in academic community

I could make up some difficult exams and sell them as well, doesn't mean it is not a mill.

If ICI accepts MBA students from a place like Ambai (where transcripts and your diploma is sent to you via email as a PDF), they will take anyone. Why they bother with the MBA requirement at all, and not just let anyone take the exam, I don't know. I guess it adds to the illusion of legitimacy.

This is a mill. A mill that has fooled a lot of people, including other universities.

 

Re: Re: CMBA recognition in academic community

Do you mean this AMBAI?

 

yes

 

They are totally different.

The SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and so forth are exams that are developed by professionals in science, literature, business, education, etc. ETS is a non-profit educational research company that has input from the universities that use them. You know exactly (or can find out) who had a part in developing the exams and who reviewed them by checking their website.

The CMBA, lists people who had a hand in developing their exam as "made up of individuals." They seem to get no input at all from B-schools over what topics should be covered. ICI is a for-profit company. The exams are scrutinized by no one but themselves. The sample exam I saw seemed remarkably like rewordings of questions you can find in any test review study guide (e.g. Schuam's, Barron's, REA) or business textbook.

 

Definition of "mill"

A "mill" is generally defined as an entity that issues impressive-sounding credentials, such as degrees or certifications, for a price, with no questions asked. Many people would also apply the term "mill" to entities that issue such certifications for a minimal, substandard level of effort.

Any organization, whether it is public or private, for-profit or non-profit, can issue "certifications" if they wish. Some such organizations are mills. Others establish rigorous criteria, such as difficult exams, and consistently enforce them; in this case, they are not mills.

If you were to establish a certification based on a difficult exam, then you would not be acting as a mill, because mill certifications (by definition) require little or no effort. Your certification would likely be poorly known and unrecognized, and therefore of little real-world value, but it would not be accurate to call it a "mill".

Same goes for the Certified MBA. The available data (which admittedly are limited) suggest that certification is based on a real test with a significant flunk rate, and that it does require some level of effort to pass. Therefore the CMBA is not a "mill" certification, unless your definition of a "mill" is substantially different from the one above. It may or may not be a valuable or necessary certification, but it is not a "mill" certification under the usual definition.

 

CMBA vs. EIT

Personally, I doubt that the CMBA is necessary; if I had an MBA (I don't), I probably would not pursue it. But in fairness, many of the “charges” that have been leveled against the CMBA in this thread are pretty silly. Let’s consider some of them, using another professional exit exam, the Engineer-in-Training certification, for comparison. I picked the EIT exam because it is both rigorous and well-respected.

You can qualify for the CMBA exam with an unaccredited MBA degree. In many states, such as California, you can qualify for the EIT exam with an unaccredited engineering degree. You can even qualify without any degree at all, if you have suitable work experience.

The CMBA exam is an excuse to market study guides and review classes. The EIT exam is an even bigger scam by that standard, because the EIT test prep industry is much larger and more expensive.

The CMBA is redundant, because most MBA degrees are already “certified” by accrediting agencies. The EIT is also redundant by that standard, because most engineering degrees are rigorously “certified” by ABET.

The CMBA exam is prepared by a private organization, with no governmental or academic standing. The EIT exam is prepared by NCEES, a private organization with no governmental or academic standing.

There are legitimate reasons for questioning the value of the CMBA. But the reasons above are not among them.

 

I'm extremely sarcastic about ETS "nonprofit status". What, guys took around $1000 from my family (2 TOEFLs, 2 GREs - me and wife, 2 GMATs - wife), and they can not turn a profit? Why do you think GMATs are almost twice as expensive as GREs (almost identical content, same software, same testing centers)? They include "experimental sections" in every exam, making PAYING CUSTOMERS do UNPAID WORK for them. Nonprofit, right...

I vaguely remember an article on ETS top managers getting huge bonuses. I also saw a guy on another forum who work at ETS mentioning their awesome benefits. ETS is a monopoly.

 

Whatever you guys do do not stop this discussion thread! It is great to read such a spirited debate. Great job!

 

Re: CMBA vs. EIT

Here's my reason for questioning the value of the CMBA: I don't need it and, if you have (or will have) an accredited MBA, you don't need it either. It is not necessary for employment or licensure anywhere for any reason. It's superfluous.

 

Read the book "None of the Above" by David Owen. Now dated, but I doubt too much has changed.

Monopoly? Nearly. Not-forprofit? Technically. But they act like a bad mix between a rich-boy's club and a business. They used to operate a for-profit division, but I don't know if they still do.

Bad ju-ju, those ETS guys, mon.