Career capital accumulation through the Master of Business Administration degree

Abstract

There have been several debates about the value of an MBA. Proponents of the MBA believe that the MBA contributes greatly to the development of general managers, while critics argue that the MBA course is disconnected from reality and does not equip graduates with the skills required to navigate managerial roles. Against this backdrop, the research aimed to establish which career capital components are accumulated through the MBA and what aspect of the MBA contribute to the accumulation of career capital.The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the research was qualitative and comprised ten semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders. The first phase aimed to establish the career capital components that are accumulated through the MBA and the aspects of the MBA that contribute to the accumulation of career capital. The constructs identified in phase one, together with those identified in the literature, were then used as inputs in the design of a self-administered questionnaire distributed in phase two. The questionnaire was sent to a total of 1 129 MBA graduates out of whom 205 completed the questionnaire.The career capital components that are developed through the MBA were identified, as well as the aspects of the MBA that contribute the most to accumulating career capital. The top career capital component identified was the ability to work under pressure. The aspect of the MBA that contributes the most to career capital accumulation was the case study method. Furthermore, the career capital components for which there were significant differences between males and females, as well as between those who completed their studies recently and those who completed them some time ago were also identified. The study found that there were no significant differences in perceived career capital between those who had different types of roles prior to embarking on the MBA. A model that encapsulates the key findings was also developed.