7 Reasons Top Professionals Need an MBA

Whatever your career aspirations are, you’ll need to ensure that you have the relevant qualifications if you want to succeed. When you’re competing for top roles, you’ll be up against the best candidates from around the world, so you’ll need to find ways to stand out from the crowd. 

For aspiring business professionals, an MBA is undoubtedly the most coveted qualification out there. In fact, 13 out of the top 30 Fortune 500 CEOs have MBAs, which highlights just important postgrad qualifications are if you want to reach the top. 

However, it isn’t just employees of large corporations that benefit from having a Master of Business Administration qualification. If you’re an entrepreneur and you plan on launching your own startup, an MBA can give you the critical skills you need to run a successful business. As your SME grows, an MBA will give you the knowledge and expertise you need to develop into a thriving enterprise. 

To learn more about the benefits that a business postgraduate qualification can offer and to start planning your next career move, take a look at these seven reasons why top professionals need an MBA:

1. Broad Business Knowledge

As you move into a leadership role, you’ll need to have a broad knowledge of all business areas. Most professionals focus on one particular sub-sector or specialism throughout their career, which can leave them at a disadvantage when they want to join the C-suite. 

You might have an in-depth knowledge of financial management, for example, but your expertise in operations or supply chains could be lacking. 

Studying for an MBA will give you the opportunity to broaden your knowledge and gain a detailed insight into critical business areas. The holistic overview of company management that an MBA offers will enable you to undertake leadership roles and perform with enhanced success. After all, the success of a commercial organization depends on each department working in conjunction with one another. With an MBA qualification, you’ll have the knowledge you need to run startups, SMEs, national companies and global corporations. 

2. Work in Any Location

When you establish yourself as a top executive or a talented business leader, you’ll increase your employability. This gives you the opportunity to work in any location, either nationally or internationally. To get an insight into the locations that could provide the best opportunities, take a look at this post and find out which cities are best for MBA graduates. 

As an MBA enhances your employability, you’ll effectively have your pick of top roles as they become available. While there’s no doubt that you’ll face a competitive selection process when you apply for prestigious positions, having an MBA gives you an advantage over other candidates and increases the likelihood of you securing your dream role, wherever it might be. 

3. Economic Perspective

There are many factors that can affect a company’s commercial success but external issues, such as the economy and political changes, have a major impact on how a business performs. When a recession occurs, for example, businesses often need to modify their operations to account for the reduction in consumer spending. 

Due to the link between the economy and business performance, it’s essential for leaders to have thorough knowledge of how economic issues can affect governance. Furthermore, successful business professionals will need to know how to navigate challenging economic times while maintaining and even maximizing profitability. 

Most MBA programs incorporate a range of courses or modules, some of which are compulsory, and others are optional. While some mandatory modules will cover economic perspectives of business, many MBA programs offer economic-based optional courses too. This enables graduate students to enhance their knowledge in this area and gain a new perspective on how the economy affects business performance. Additionally, you’ll gain theoretical and practical skills that will help you to run a successful company in times of boom or bust. 

4. Practical Experience

Today’s MBA programs aren’t solely focused on theoretical learning or academic principles. Instead, they incorporate a wide range of practical opportunities too. In fact, most MBA programs are geared towards the application of business theory, so that students gain practical skills in a real-world environment. 

Of course, this gives you the critical experience you need as you transition from a valuable employee to a lucrative leader. As a top professional, you’ll need to feel confident enacting change and know how to apply theoretical methodologies appropriately and effectively. 

With innovative learning opportunities, an MBA gives you the chance to develop these skills outside of your day-to-day role. Essentially, you can learn from world-renowned tutors and gain the chance to hone your skills in a ‘safe’ environment. With the enhanced knowledge and expertise you’ve gained, you’ll be ready to implement your newfound skills in a real-world professional setting and feel able to do so with increased confidence. 

5. Risk Management

Many business decisions involve assessing risk and determining what level of risk you’re willing to take. Similarly, leaders might adjust the input or modify the organization so that the risk is reduced, and more favorable outcomes are obtained. 

If you’re considering expanding a business, rebranding a company or introducing a new product range, for example, you’ll be required to assess the risk that these investments represent and determine whether the potential return justifies the level of risk in question. 

The increased usability of Big Data ensures that business leaders have more access to verified information than ever before, which can help to mitigate risk and improve outcomes. However, executives must still calculate and forecast potential risk and use established methodologies and algorithms to ensure that risk is being assessed accurately and appropriately. 

As part of your MBA program, you’ll have the chance to develop these skills and practice their application. With so much of a company’s success depending on your approach to risk management, this is one area that it’s essential to undertake further study in and an MBA will give you the advanced knowledge you need. 

6. Strategic Development

The vast majority of business owners or shareholders want to grow their companies in order to increase their profitability. However, expanding a business is a challenging process, regardless of whether you’re growing a startup into an SME or a national brand into a global enterprise. 

To achieve successful growth, companies actively seek out leaders who can offer strategic development. This means that top business executives need to have a good understanding of how to facilitate corporate growth, particularly if you want to secure top roles and the most lucrative opportunities. 

When you study for an MBA, choose a program that gives you the opportunity to complete a module or course in strategic leadership. This will ensure you’re able to study an area that elicits significant demand in real-world environments. By choosing strategic development as your specialty, for example, you’ll gain the knowledge and skills you need to help companies achieve their commercial goals. In turn, this will ensure that you’re recognized as a talented leader among businesses that are eager to optimize their performance and scale their operations. 

7. Social Responsibilities

Ongoing environment issues, such as climate change, are having an increasing impact on commercial entities. Businesses are facing pressure from governments, shareholders, and consumers to minimize their environment impact and operate more sustainably, for example. 

Due to this, the next generation of business leaders will need to have greater awareness of social responsibilities and ethical issues within a business management setting. Similarly, business executives will be required to balance the seemingly competing interests of profitability and sustainability. 

As the business landscape evolves, MBA program providers are updating course content to reflect the changing needs of today’s businesses. As a result, you’ll find that most MBA programs now feature more content on social responsibility, environmental issues and ethical management. Some MBA courses even offer specialisms or concentrations in this field. 

While the need for social responsibility is certainly nothing new, it is becoming a more critical factor in business management. As sustainability becomes more prominent within society, it is only going to become more important in upcoming years. For aspiring leaders, this makes knowledge of social and ethical responsibility essential and completing an MBA will ensure that you have the theoretical and practical experience you need to govern in a sustainable way. 

Is an MBA Right for You?

If you want to reach the top of your profession, an MBA can help you to achieve your goals. Before you enroll, however, you’ll want to ensure that you’re making the right choice for you. If you’re worried about taking time out to study or balancing your responsibilities, for example, an online MBA could be just what you’re looking for. 

When you complete an MBA online, you get the benefit of learning from highly respected tutors combined with the flexibility that online study offers. With the potential to complete your MBA from any location, at your own pace, an online program can enable you to balance your interests, achieve your potential and advance your career at a faster pace.