A Master of Business Administration degree in Finance will not only provide you with the basic foundations of business, but also a special focus on finance, which will prepare you for a successful career in the financial sector of the business world. Such a degree program will give you advanced skills in assessing financial risks and rewards, and best practices – all essential things to know if you want to embark on a high-powered, management level career in finance.
Gain MBA Value and the Benefit of an MBA in regards to Networking Resources
While studying for your MBA you'll be exposed to a huge opportunity for Networking. The benefit of an MBA Business school course affords the chance to engage in teamwork, and over the course of such an MBA program, you'll undoubtedly develop significant relationships that should and will serve you well throughout your business career. And no matter which school you opt for, a network of alumni working at a wide range of companies are always at hand. This is useful for mentoring, job searches, and professional contacts.
One more benefit of an MBA for Executives programs and Executive Education sessions is that they let you tap into this network even as a successful business executive without holding a prior MBA degree
During the MBA Studies you and your colleagues form bonds that will most probably stay forever, the outcome being, on top of everything else: "speaking the same language". This network will be fruitful throughout your working life and beyond, and often you will find your colleagues from the least expected corners of the world.
Recession-Proof Degrees
· The analytic rigor, problem solving skills-based electives and specialized courses of an MBA program ensure that various work-based scenarios, corporate turnarounds, crisis situations and so on, can be handled competently by most MBAs. MBAs with years of experience, honed expertise and proven capabilities, are often sought during recessionary and economic downturn periods, too
Skills imbibed through MBA are-
Ability to think strategically-Here are some skills that the very best strategic thinkers have, and use, every day.
They Have a Vision
They are great at both thinking with a strategic purpose as well as creating a Visioning process. They have both tools in their kit and they use both to complement each other. This form of supportive thinking and seeing the future, creates a way of thinking and evolving strategy that is focused and yet broad.
Make Time
In a busy businesses and organisations, be they small or large, making the time is vital. At the top of their game key strategic thinkers take time out. Maybe a retreat (maximum points!); maybe a day in a hotel foyer; maybe an afternoon somewhere/anywhere, with a blank sheet and a thinking hat on. Whatever works for them - but they do it.
Are Not Hasty
The clue is in the description, Strategic Thinking is not about today, tomorrow or next week. In close partnership with holding a clear vision for the business future, these two create the tomorrows of the future. But not tomorrow! This is shaping, coaxing, tuning for a quality business performance in the years to come. Great exponents take time to fine tune, revise and engineer quality futures!
Absorb and Notice
They are truly aware. In any business, there are clues, often subtle, both internal and external, to help guide future direction and realize opportunities. Great Strategic Thinkers take all of this in, so that as they set aside time to think, they have a full deck of information to guide them. Sometimes, it's an 'aha' moment on vacation, when they observe something that resonates; it might be on a morning walk out in the country; it might be what someone says as they serve them coffee. Making links, however tenuous, is what makes this work so well.
Review Often
The best Strategic Thinkers check that their thinking has been validated. Is it going to work, against a world of regular, consistent and yet sometimes volatile change? This activity is a moving target, so to build a better understanding, snapshots; benchmarks and regular stocktaking are all very useful to confirm the quality of the thinking - and absorbed into the skillset for their and their organizations future.
Learn from Experience
Over time, these folk use their experiences, small and large, to think better on strategic issues. This makes their use of this time really efficient and particularly effective. There are learned short-cuts to the perhaps more formalized strategic planning process and experience is a huge, valuable added bonus.
Use a Team
By utilising more than just their own brain (though this is vital for some of the process!), those great at Strategic Thinking bounce ideas off others in the workplace and encourage their input above and beyond their delivery of the day job. The old adage that 1+1=3 in the input of thinking is hugely valid. And 5 people make a much more significant contribution than 2 - and so on!
Realism Rules (A Little!)
Although they create ideas very openly, key strategic thinkers have a sense of realism and honesty about what is achievable in the longer term. This is not to hold them back; more it is to deliver success. They underpromise and overdeliver, whilst also ensuring that the day to day business of the organization - the 'now' - is served adequately too. That's what gets the business paid today, whilst building the future of tomorrow.
Have Clear Milestones
By creating checks in their thinking, to review progress, they have the opportunity to tweak. They have an innate ability to spot the twists and turns necessary. A 5,000 mile journey by a jet plane reaches the destination only by regular and consistent course checks and adjustments.
Are Non-Judgemental
Because the route to a successful future is not bounded by judging their, or others, thinking as they get creative - that is for elsewhere - better ideas flow. Open minds are encouraged and the detail tested later. Open minded thinking needs real checks and balances - but AFTER the openness has stimulated the breadth of imaginative ideas only such freedom can provide.
In the most successful organizations over the years and decades, where the test of time has shown them the excellent businesses they are, the Sony's, Coca Colas, Nokias and Toyotas of this world think ahead and encourage great Strategic Thinking at least somewhere in their busness plans.
Ability to make decisions with imperfect information-A significant part of decision making skills is in knowing and practicing good decision making techniques. One of the most practical decision making techniques can be summarized in those simple decision making steps:
- Identify the purpose of your decision. What is exactly the problem to be solved? Why it should be solved?
- Gather information. What factors does the problem involve?
- Identify the principles to judge the alternatives. What standards and judgement criteria should the solution meet?
- Brainstorm and list different possible choices. Generate ideas for possible solutions. See more on extending your options for your decisions on my brainstorming tips page.
- Evaluate each choice in terms of its consequences. Use your standards and judgement criteria to determine the cons and pros of each alternative.
- Determine the best alternative. This is much easier after you go through the above preparation steps.
- Put the decision into action. Transform your decision into specific plan of action steps. Execute your plan.
- Evaluate the outcome of your decision and action steps. What lessons can be learnt? This is an important step for further development of your decision making skills and judgement.
Final remark. In everyday life we often have to make decisions fast, without enough time to systematically go through the above action and thinking steps. In such situations the most effective decision making strategy is to keep an eye on your goals and then let your intuition suggest you the right choice.
Implementation / project management skills
Leadership skills
Initiative / risk taking ability
Ability to integrate information from many sources
Oral communication skills
Cross cultural awareness and sensitivity
Quantitative skills
Creative problem solving skills
Ability to think analytically
Ability to adapt / change to new situations
Written communication skills
Interpersonal skills
Ethical awareness
