Hi!

I’m looking for some advice on whether go for an MBA degree or specialized MsC in supply chain management.

As a context, I have been working on Supply Chain for a pharmaceutical company over the last 6 years, I’ve reached a managerial role but now I’ve been given the opportunity of a leave to do my post graduate studies starting in sept. 2020. I will have 12 months to get my degree.

Being January of 2020, I am fully aware I’m rinnnjng out of time to apply to the different programs starting this fall, but this is an opportunity I can’t let go, so I am doing my best to find the program that best suits on my career goals, budget and timing.

I want to be a subject matter expert on Supply Chain Management. Thus I started looking for specialized masters in supply chain. However, the most I read on the internet, the most I feel that in Europe and in order to continue growing up in managerial roles in the industry, it’s more well seen to have an MBA than a Msc. Also it seems that Msc are designed for students who just got their bachelor degree or professional with 1-2 years of experience. This makes me doubt if considering my experience, I should pursue and MBA instead.

On the other hand, I’ve seen that MBA programs In well-tanked schools are more expensive than masters and the entry requirements are more extensive. Here I also have some constraints since my budget is around 25-30k USD and I’m running out of time to prepare and get a good GMAT/GRE score. My budget and time constraint do not allow me to apply to the top-ranked business schools for MBA and even some Msc programs.

I have seen MBAs within my budget and without GMAT/GRE required in some schools such as: EAE (Spain), PBS (France), GBSB (Spain), Nottingham Tren U (UK), but I have read these schools are not very well-known.

On the other side, I can see Supply Chain Management Masters programs still within my budget and in better ranked schools like KEDGE (France), WU (Vienna) or Erasmus Rotterdam.

What is your opinion on this? Will an specialized masters program on a better-ranked school give me more professional opportunities than an MBA degree in other kind of school?
Do you have any good recommendation on a program focused on Supply Chain, in English, in a well-know (or at least acceptable) school in Europe, within my budget?

Many thanks for your help!

The MIT Scale programme in Zaragoza is the obvious choice. It's alumni are experienced and earn more than most MBAs. You can take a MIT micro master's this year to reduce the cost substantially.

MIT Zaragoza will be suitable for your needs. I believe Rotterdam from your list of schools will check all boxes as well.

Hello!

Many thanks for your reply. I was looking at the MIT scale program in Zaragoza last night and I agree that the alumni profile fits better with my professional experience. The curriculum looks very good also, and of course, the possibility to assist to the MIT and get a certification from there for a few weeks is very attractive.

I just had doubts about how well recognized and paid would be the degree obtienes si ve the Zaragoza Center of Logistics and the University of Zaragoza are the entities providing the Masters degree and they seem not to be accredited schools/institutions....do you have any further Insight on this?

Many thanks!

If you review the site you will see that the salaries are high. MIT does not partner with weak schools. Given that this leads also to a MIT qualification and membership of the MIT alumni network, I think this is a strong option.

Of course Zaragoza is accredited as a European university. But, yes, as it is not a business school and is not, and cannot, be accredited as an MBA. They do have dual degree MBA options, with IE and EBS, if you also need an MBA. I don't think you do.

In order to have the possibility of getting a job in Europe after getting my degree, do you think the chances of getting it and the ROI will be higher with the MIT program in Zaragoza than any MBA degree in a university such as Durham or Birmingham or Lancaster in UK?

Well, the salaries are higher, aren't they? But I guess that matters is which is the better fit for your career goals rather than the RoI.

Hi.. How are the MIT SCALE centres at Luxembourg and Malaysia rated as compared to that of Zaragoza? Can we opt that MIT SCALE Masters from these network centres instead of an MBA?

The last time I looked these were all strongly tied into the Scale curriculum and lead to the same affiliate alumni status with MIT.

[Edited by Duncan on Feb 08, 2020]

The last time I looked these were all strongly tied into the Scale curriculum and lead to the same affiliate alumni status with MIT.

[Edited by nkme2007 on Feb 08, 2020]

They all place regionally, no there is no point trying to rank them. ZLC is the the best know, but their age is a good proxy for how well established they are. But to find work in China, Chinese will help and in KL, Bahasa, and so on.

How are these SCALE Masters compared to MBAs in Europe?

They are much better for supply chain roles and much worse for general management roles. But that's obvious, surely? On the basis of the schools that report salaries, Scale graduates get higher salaries than most European MBAs, but I am sure you saw that from your own research.

They are much better for supply chain roles and much worse for general management roles. But that's obvious, surely? On the basis of the schools that report salaries, Scale graduates get higher salaries than most European MBAs, but I am sure you saw that from your own research.

[Edited by nkme2007 on Feb 09, 2020]

Take a look at my profile page.