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What to look for in an MBA program

An MBA program is only good as the components of the program. This means that the program must reflect current requirements and be adequately armed with a complete selection of core and elective courses. Crucial to any program is proper content and structure, elective alternatives, teaching quality and relevance to current business needs.

Faculty

The quality of any MBA program is directly related to the abilities and qualifications of the staff teaching, and supporting the program. The academic reputation of faculty and staff members, as well as their research credentials and ability to enthusiastically transfer knowledge form a foundation to the quality of any MBA program under consideration.

Culture

Each business school has a culture that is pretty well distinct from another business school. The same of course applies to the corporate world. The prospective MBA student should understand the target business school’s culture and should ensure their ability to fit in to the respective culture.

Size

The size of a particular business school may be an indication of the involvement and resources related to the business school. Large business schools have more resources at the student’s disposal but can be impersonal. Smaller business schools, intentionally or otherwise, usually allow more personal involvement but can be restrictive when it comes to resources.

Facilities

Facilities provide an important support mechanism for any studies. A business school should at least be equipped with good and relevant libraries, multimedia broadband communication systems and related media centers. Sports and recreation facilities may also be desirable.

Careers Services

An organized career service can be a strategic asset for any graduate school of business. Good career services provide proper career guidance, job matching and placement offices. Adequately staffed guidance services help graduates properly reflect and prepare for targeted job applications and interviews.

Internationalism

Business is becoming international and geographic borders are slowly melting away. Most future job seekers and workers will engage their skills in a multicultural multinational multilingual environment. Adaptation is critical for career and business success. As a result an internationally oriented business school may reflect more business reality than a business school limited to a particular location.

Accreditation

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 20th Anniversary Edition of Which MBA? 2009, “accreditation acts as an assurance that a school’s curriculum meets a minimum standard in terms of what is taught, the quality of students that are admitted, and the standard of the faculty.”
The three main accreditation bodies when it comes to MBA studies are the US AACSB International, the European EQUIS and the British AMBA. These organizations are international and a chosen MBA program should belong to a business school that adheres to the standards fostered by the above organizations.

Sources:
Bickerstaffe, George. 20th Anniversary Edition: Which MBA? 2009. London: The Economist Intelligence Unit

Bounded Rationality and Management Decision Making

The concept and associated decision model of bounded rationality was first discussed by Herbert Simon in his celebrated book Models of Man published in 1957 by John Wiley and Sons.

Simon basically stipulates that individual decision making is not rational as assumed by a number of theories, especially dealing with economics issues. Individual decision making is limited by a number of boundary conditions such as the individual's intellectual traits, time, and non perfect information.

Non perfect information for example, can pertain to limited access to reliable information or raw information, information corruption through layered processing and/or simply lack of information.

Usually a number of models dealing with economics and the social sciences assume, for the sake of simplicity that humans on average are rational entities and have sufficient if not more than enough information to make the most rational decision. For example, the basic microeconomic concept of marginal utility rests on this basic assumption of rational choice.

Simon's theory of bounded rationality states that individuals as entities are only partially rational and behaviour as well as decision making is influenced by a number if nonrational factors including emotions, prejudices and other subjective biases (Simon, Herbert (1957). "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice", in Models of Man, Social and Rational: Mathematical Essays on Rational Human Behavior in a Social Setting. New York: Wiley).

When applied to management decisions, managers, usually because of time constraints, lack of information, and cognitive factors usually make numerous daily decisions and seek to make the best possible decision considering the circumstances, rather than the optimal decision; the optimal decision would be the most rational decision under perfect circumstances. Perfect circumstances include perfect information.


This also implies that a particular manager faced with the same challenge but at different time may make a different decision at that time.

So instead of employing purely rational problem optimization techniques, mainly because of the complexity of the situation, cost/time and cognitive limitations, managers will opt for a heuristic approach to problem solving (such as trial and error, best or educated guesses, and past experiences) to come up with the best decision possible which may or may not approach an optimal decision, if such exists.

Bounded Rationality Explained Through an Example

The concept of bounded rationality can be illustrated by a simple purchasing example:
John wishes to buy a new and expensive stereo system. John, in trying to decide on a particular brand consults with a number of friends, relatives as well as trade journals. John decides to purchase ReasonableStereo. While at the store, the saleswoman, Janet, explains and proves to John that he can do much better with his budget if he goes for OptimalStereo. OptimalStereo gives better value for money with respect to cost, performance and fidelity, design, warranties as well as style.
John nevertheless, even if he would receive more value for his money with OptimalStereo, OptimalStereo being the rational choice, opts for ReasonableStereo.