Hello,
I'm a long-time entrepreneur, who is looking for a way to improve my general business knowledge. I am trying to decide whether it's worth it or not to do a full-time MBA program. My dilemma is this: two years a long time to commit to a degree, and it's expensive.
I am considering just hashing together a bunch of classes from the online providers (which are mostly free now.) Darden, MIT Sloan, and Stanford are all offering free online courses - and it looks like I could cover most of the standard business school bases (finance, operations, marketing, supply chain, etc.)
I know that there are other things that make a two-year program worth it, but for somebody like me, wouldn't MOOCs be a good option? (I wouldn't need career services and my network is pretty well-defined already.)
MBA vs. MOOCs
Posted Dec 25, 2013 11:59
I'm a long-time entrepreneur, who is looking for a way to improve my general business knowledge. I am trying to decide whether it's worth it or not to do a full-time MBA program. My dilemma is this: two years a long time to commit to a degree, and it's expensive.
I am considering just hashing together a bunch of classes from the online providers (which are mostly free now.) Darden, MIT Sloan, and Stanford are all offering free online courses - and it looks like I could cover most of the standard business school bases (finance, operations, marketing, supply chain, etc.)
I know that there are other things that make a two-year program worth it, but for somebody like me, wouldn't MOOCs be a good option? (I wouldn't need career services and my network is pretty well-defined already.)
Posted Dec 26, 2013 13:43
There are some differences. The soft skills are the most obvious.
I'd also suggest you look at online courses that seriously involve tutors, assignments and feedback: the ability to get help with stuff you don't understand is worth paying for. Take a look at http://create.stanford.edu/index.php
I'd also suggest you look at online courses that seriously involve tutors, assignments and feedback: the ability to get help with stuff you don't understand is worth paying for. Take a look at http://create.stanford.edu/index.php
Posted Dec 30, 2013 16:21
I agree with Duncan's point about soft skill development. Maybe it's worth mixing MOOCs with some executive programs that focus on leadership or soft skills?
http://www.nextexecutive.com/topics/leadership
http://www.nextexecutive.com/topics/soft-skills
It might be worth targeting these individually, since they usually can't be developed in a purely online setting.
http://www.nextexecutive.com/topics/leadership
http://www.nextexecutive.com/topics/soft-skills
It might be worth targeting these individually, since they usually can't be developed in a purely online setting.
Posted Jan 01, 2014 12:49
Thanks for the advice. I think I'll start with a few MOOCs and see how far they get me with the business fundamentals, and if I start seeing a need for more soft skill development, maybe something like this would fit.
Perhaps eventually I will seriously consider short courses like these just for soft skills; but it also might be just as good of an investment to do a part-time MBA program or an online program with residency sessions. Not sure yet.
Perhaps eventually I will seriously consider short courses like these just for soft skills; but it also might be just as good of an investment to do a part-time MBA program or an online program with residency sessions. Not sure yet.
Posted Jan 23, 2014 18:55
Good call, an online MBA that includes some on-campus sessions could be a way to go. UNC, IE, and Warwick are good ones to start with. Some, like Warwick, even offer options for consultancy projects, which are valuable for soft skill development.
Posted Jan 24, 2014 16:51
Definitely a possibility in the future, but a little more than I wanted to invest currently. I think I'll stick with the MOOCs for now and see where that leads me.
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