MBAs from a different world
By Pilar Junco
Published: July 16 2003 16:26 | Last Updated: July 16 2003 16:26
 
During the strategy lecture, the Insead MBA students sitting in the amphitheatre listened attentively to the story of how Coca Cola was struggling to maintain its leadership position worldwide. A discussion started and soon we were all debating the pros and cons of entering new product markets, using all sorts of management lingo.

 
Titus, the former astrophysicist, did not say much and later told me: "In science you only say something when it is really meaningful: you never state the obvious! Over time, I have learned to appreciate this kind of discussions; it was very strange for me at first."

Thinking about it, he's right. In our MBA classes, except when we learn something such as accounting or finance, we never really do anything too complicated. Mostly we apply educated common sense to different business problems. Compared to a post-graduate degree in physics, medicine or law, we are not required to learn off by heart volumes of data or, for that matter, complicated mathematical models.

On the other hand however, we learn through different examples and cases how varied, intricate and broad the issues in business can be, in the hope that this wide (albeit sometimes superficial) knowledge will allow us to face our future jobs in finance, consulting or industry with more confidence.

During our year at Insead the class content is enriched though the interaction with students from many different backgrounds. While many of them came from consulting, banking, entrepreneurship or other business areas, others have come to Insead to change careers completely. It is their presence that often makes the experience all the more interesting, since their views are often very different from the ones held by students from a business background.

Titus (32), for instance, spent more than seven years before coming to Insead as a researcher in astrophysics in Amsterdam and at the California Institute of Technology. During that time he made a breakthrough discovery: that gamma-ray bursts are the biggest explosions in the universe.

Sometime after this successful event however, he decided to change the direction of his career: "I was offered a tenure track professorship and I wanted a new challenge." His dream is to work in an environment where he can make the most of his scientific and his business knowledge.

Other students also want to narrow the gap between some of the specialist professions and management in some companies. Markus, the 30 year-old German surgeon, for instance, started his medicine career eight years ago with an MBA in mind. His family has a history of entrepreneurship and they run several hospitals in Germany. "It is a growing family business where you need both understanding for medicine and business" he explains.

Charles, a 28-year old army officer, also wanted a change, but for different reasons. He had spent 5 years in the British armed forces, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfathers. Two years ago, he started thinking that he wanted to have a career that would offer him a more stable lifestyle.

During his early twenties he thought little about putting his life at risk on operations abroad, but after getting married he realised that this lifestyle no longer appealed to him. However, when he first tried to apply for positions in the corporate world, he was repeatedly told that despite his leadership and team management skills, he was lacking in business knowledge. He hopes that by acquiring an MBA he will gain credibility in the eyes of corporate recruiters.

Other career switchers hope the MBA will allow them to attain the managerial positions that otherwise they would never reach. Rory, the 29-year-old copywriter from the BBC, expected that an Insead MBA would propel him up the career ladder to one of the higher-paying jobs in the media industry.

But pay is not everything and unlike most of their banking or consulting peers, these students treat salary more like a dummy variable in the equation that determines their future career decisions. "Until now I have worked for everything but money" says Titus, "and it is not a driver for me."

They also feel they have benefited more from the MBA curriculum because compared to most of their peers, they do not have a professional or educational background in business. "Some of us dropped maths when we were 17," says Charles, which explains why some of them needed to spend more time in the library than other students.

Christian (34) is a German lawyer trained in the UK and the US. He believes that they have not only benefited from what the professors teach them: "Some of our careers were pretty specialised. The MBA has broadened my idea of what is possible in terms of a career and opened a lot of doors. It really lets you tap into a very wide network of people and experiences."

For him the MBA was an opportunity to branch out into a different career where he also hopes to make the most of his legal knowledge.

For all of them the decision to change careers represented a challenge. Rory explains that he spent a lot of time explaining to his friends, colleagues and family why he wanted to leave his job and embark on such an expensive venture. "It felt like a giant gamble. Now I am at the end, with two job offers, I can safely say it has paid off. It has been an extremely difficult challenge, but that just increases the personal satisfaction."

Christian agrees and points out that for many people in specialised careers, starting an MBA often means leaving their 'comfort zones'. "I feel rejuvenated by this experience, the challenge was definitely worth it. Change is good." He also explains that some of his peers and friends were actually a bit jealous.

Charles adds: "It takes a certain type of personality to drop everything for a year of studying in France. Despite our different backgrounds, nationalities, and career paths, we all have a lot of things in common."

Despite feeling sometimes like 'the odd ones out', they all agree that the initial self-doubt and fears of failure that come with such a career change were largely unnecessary and that the experience has just enforced their initial reasons for doing the MBA. When asked if they regretted their decision, they all said "No!" almost in unison.

But they also all agreed that one of the things they found hardest was to produce lots of power point slides "with little meaningful value added", unlike their consultant or banking friends.