I am an engineer with more than ten years of experience. It is true that one doesn't need a MBA to run a business or whatever but if you extend it further..one even doesn't need education to become successful. there are lot of examples where people without a Bachelor degree have become successful/rich/happy..just because of their individual capacity and at the same time they were at the right place at right time. Education/Degrees can provide some assurance of good quality of life at minimum, but again, to reach maximum, one doesn't need anything other than hard work, risk taking ability, right time and right place. Some of the qualities are natural and can not be taught in any institution..e.g. leadership, arts, courage, foresight, instinct..etc..however it can be honed further with additional knowledge and scientific practices. THis is true for MBA education and also for all other qualifications.
Just because Dhirubhai, Bill Gates, Mittal don't have MBA that doesn't undermine the importance of professional qualifications. It is always demand and supply, otherwise why there are so many management institutes around the world. Why businesses want to hire MBAs, if they don't have the potential? I have worked for Reliance for 8 years, where Mukesh Ambani believes that he can make an engineer a MBA but not otherwise but still he has an army of MBAs working for him. Also RIL has tied up with IIM-B to train (Exec MBA)few engineers every year, who will be groomed for top level positions. Believe me, professional qualifications can't survive, if there is no demand for those candidates and looking at the current environment, there is a huge demand for MBAs.
One more thing, why MBAs(deserving candidates), get higher salary (Generally) than people in the other profession? It all depends on risk and reward..while working for business, many times (not always) decisions taken by MBAs are irreversible and therefore one would like to have somebody who is capable enough for taking that decision. But then, how to figure out who is capable or not..first thing is professional qualification and after that it depends upon further screening and candidate's ability. By thinking that MBA qualification is not at all necessary to become successfull, we are depriving ourselves from further success. People have claimed in this forum, that they are successful even without MBA degree but then, people are successful without education. One can't generalize and tie success with anything particular.
We engineers also have competition from anyone who can do programming or project management. Any one who is interested in computer, can become a good programmer or project manager, but we all know, what difference it makes to a person once he goes through the college, I mean engineering. Same way, MBA is also package, which would be difficult to understand, unless we go through it. You like it or not, MBA is here to stay,as long as there is demand for candidates with that qualification. Also, good school can give u a head start, but in long run, person with better qualities and abilities would always win.
