What Is an MBA? FAQs Answered

The MBA remains a hugely popular choice for those wishing to gain crucial strategic and leadership skills and adapt in a fast-changing business environment. Globally, 67 percent of graduate management programs, which include full-time MBA programs, reported an increase in applications in 2019–2020 – up from 41 percent growth in 2018–2019.¹

The competition to gain acceptance into these programs is, understandably, fierce. As a result, aspiring MBA students are increasingly turning to preparatory and bridging courses to round out their applications, or as alternatives to a full MBA program.

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has developed the MBA Essentials online certificate course. This 10-week certificate course focuses on equipping participants with the necessary hard and soft skills to achieve success as a leader in the contemporary business environment. It focuses on the financial and strategic skills imperative to business management, as well as how your influence can be expanded in an organization to drive new strategies successfully.

Before diving into a course, you may have some questions about the full master’s program. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions:

• What does ‘MBA’ stand for?
• What is an MBA?
• What are the MBA requirements?
• Why should I study for an MBA?
• What are MBA rankings?
• What are ‘MBA Essentials’ courses?
• Why should I do an MBA Essentials course?
• What are the MBA Essentials course requirements?

What does ‘MBA’ stand for?

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration.

What is an MBA?

The MBA is an internationally recognized graduate degree in business leadership and management. While most master’s-level qualifications offer deep, specialized learning into a single topic or subject matter, the MBA core curriculum focuses on an array of business fundamentals typically including:²

• Accounting
• Finance
• Economics
• Leadership
• Operations
• Marketing

Students can choose to keep their scope broad or specialize in a particular area. The most popular specializations include:³

• General management
• International management
• Strategy
• Consulting
• Finance leadership
• Entrepreneurship
• Marketing
• Operations management
• IT or technology management

What are the MBA requirements?

The entry requirements for a full MBA program differ from one institution to the next. Usually, they include a certain level of education combined with a minimum amount of work experience, in addition to achieving desirable results in aptitude and/or placement tests. These tests include the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), or program-specific entrance exams. The more prestigious the business school, the higher their requirements – Harvard Business School, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, for example, require GMAT scores of 730, 732, and 734, respectively.⁴

Research by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) shows that more than half the applicants for full-time MBAs have more than six years’ work experience.⁵ However, there’s no set rule for the level of experience required to enter a program. Business schools are increasingly focusing on candidates’ quality of work experience as opposed to just the quantity. In addition, increases in responsibility during their work experience will reflect well on candidates.⁶

However, meeting the minimum requirements may not always be sufficient to gain entry into the MBA program of your choice. As demand grows and competition increases, applicants need to stand out from the crowd in any way they can.

Why should I study for an MBA?

Career development

Having an MBA qualification indicates to prospective employers and your current managers that you can effectively manage all aspects of a business. MBA graduates are often placed on accelerated leadership paths in companies, as employers expect them to have the interpersonal, leadership, and academic skills needed to deal with complicated business issues.

The diversity of peers, case studies, and faculty offered within an MBA also make it ideal for those wishing to change career paths. For example, a plethora of engineers, project managers, and IT professionals use their MBA qualification to break into the finance and investment industries. The fundamentals of a full MBA degree can be applied to almost all industries, and students can probe these further through specializations if they want to.⁷

Networking opportunities

Expanding one’s professional network is one of the greatest draws of MBA programs, offering students the opportunity to rub shoulders with other professionals on top of their game. Institutions can facilitate networking opportunities by connecting students with their vast web of alumni.⁸

Salary increases

The MBA is an expensive, highly demanding commitment, yet it continues to increase in popularity. One of the main reasons is because, despite a job market with more and more MBA graduates, these individuals earn a median salary of $115,000 – 77 percent more than employees with a bachelor’s degree and 53 percent more than those hired directly from industry.⁹

What are MBA rankings?

Each year, institutions, business publications, and educational blogs rank business schools globally and by region based on various factors, such as employability scores and academic reputation. The latter is based on the faculty as well as the quality and quantity of the school’s academic research.

While these factors often differ from one MBA ranking source to another, they offer potential MBA applicants the opportunity to gauge the institution’s quality against the program’s price and content, helping them to make the right choice.

What are ‘MBA Essentials’ online courses?

MBA essentials courses are designed to help candidates prepare for an MBA program. They also represent an alternative to a full MBA, arming working professionals with some of the key technical business skills gained in a full-time MBA.

An MBA essentials online course allows you to gauge your appetite for the demanding master’s program and gives you a head start in some of the more challenging subjects of an MBA program, should you choose to pursue it.

LSE also offers an MBA Essentials online certificate course. This 10-week course equips participants with hard and soft skills required to lead organizations, as well as the financial and strategic skills necessary for effective business management. Read what past participants had to say about their learning experience.

Why should I do an MBA Essentials course?

If you’re preparing for a full MBA, an MBA essentials course doesn’t negate any of the entry requirements for the program, but it’s likely to strengthen your application.

Accounting-, economics-, and statistics-based courses are often found to be the most challenging MBA subjects. By studying them beforehand, you’ll be able to better manage these subjects during a full MBA degree, allowing you to focus more on the soft business skills. These subjects will also help elevate your existing skills within your current job.

Other benefits of an MBA essentials course include:

Career-advancement opportunities

If you’re not considering an MBA program, or unable to partake in one, an MBA essentials course offers an opportunity to gain some of the more technical business skills acquired within an MBA.

If you’re aiming for a promotion, have recently been promoted, want to become more competitive, or wish to manage your company better, a short course like this arms you with the managerial business skills you need.

Building your professional network

MBA essentials courses offer networking opportunities, just as full MBA programs do. For example, although these courses are presented online, the people-first learning model facilitates constant interaction and collaboration with the Success Adviser, the head tutor, and other experts and students.

While you’ll be gaining technical business skills, you’ll also get the opportunity to practice those all-important soft skills through these interactions.

Earning a certificate from a top institution

Upon completion of the course, you’ll earn a certificate from a top-tier institution as verifiable proof of the skills and knowledge you’ve gained. Course completion of the USB-ED MBA Essentials course also grants students 20 short course credits, applicable in the USB-ED domain towards other courses, including a full MBA. The LSE MBA Essentials online certificate course is certified by the United Kingdom CPD Certification Service, and may be applicable to individuals who are members of, or are associated with, UK-based professional bodies.

What are the MBA Essentials course requirements?

The MBA essentials courses have less stringent entry requirements than a full MBA. However, students require secondary school-level (high school) mathematics knowledge and need to be familiar with Microsoft Excel if they wish to participate in the courses.

There are many reasons to enroll in a full-time MBA, yet the cost and time commitment aren’t suited to every working professional. Both the USB-ED and LSE courses offer participants an accessible and realistic way to upskill for the future. These courses provide comprehensive business skills, no matter your industry, and will ensure that you meet the demands of your current role, advance your career, and expand your professional network.

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Hone your business skills with an online MBA Essentials course