Hi everyone,

i would like to have your opinion regarding the possibility to pursue an online MBA and if it can be a good idea

Background
I'm italian, in my early thirties, i have almost 7 years experience all in management consulting. Right now i'm a manager in a management consulting firm with offices all around europe and in constant growth

Reasons to pursue an MBA
- Improve my business knowledge (i studied hard engineering) and my managerial profile
- Build entrepreneurial skills
- Keep growing in my industry. I like my company and my job, i would change only for a significantly better option (e.g. strategy boutiques)
- Don't want to relocate
- Personal goal to achieve an MBA in a leading not italian business school

Right now i'm in a very advanced stage of application for IE global online MBA (IEGAT passed and all other steps fulfilled, only one last interview remaining) and also doing other application (e.g. Warwick). But IE would be first choice

Is it in your opinion an Online MBA the right choice? What is your take on the IE program?

Regards
Alessandro

Your objectives are not very specific. Can you connect up for us entrepreneurship skills and growing in your own company? Why take a foreign MBA if you want to stay in Italy? 

Hi Duncan,

Thank you for your reply



Regarding entrepreneurship skills, they are a conditio sine qua non to progress and make a career in consulting. Obtaining a partnership in a consulting firm, to the further extent of the career, means creating and running a various milions € P&L. This requires not only to have the soft skills and hard skills tipycal of the consulting roles, but also to have pure entrepreneurship skills. At the state of my career, i think to have already a solid consutling toolkit, but lack of Entrepreneurship (i can say that working both with MBB and Big 4 partners in different experiences through out my career)
The foreign MBA is due to absolutely personal goals. I made most of my education in Italy, and i want to obtain also a title abroad (let's consider it something in my "to do" list)

Hope this clears my intents

Why not take an EMBA? Something like ESCP in Turim, IESE in Munich, CIMBA in Veneto, EMLyon...

Regarding the format, for me the difference between an EMBA or online MBA would be only the amount of in presence time needed 
If we talk about intensive weeks, it is something i can deal with (i'm opting infact for a blended experience). But i can't invest one or two weekends a month to the school (in particular if abroad)
Regarding the single schools, IESE is one of the school i'm considering (still to find the right program, even the triweekly Munich program can be challenging) and it is actually the one that appeals to me the most didactically


ESCP has indeed an online\blended program, but do you think would it be worth the extra cost? Do you think that would be a significantly better option?
I'm asking since i don't see it as a completely different world compared to the ones like IE, Warwick, etc.

What's the point in doing an online MBA? I do not think it is worth the money. Why don't you do it in person? The MBA should be a transformational experience with the people you meet and you can hardly get that online.

[Edited by Andy776 on Oct 24, 2021]

Thank you for your thoughts Andy
It goes with the reasons why i want do it in the first place

I don't want to do it to drastically change my actual situation. I like my job, i can grow with it. I'm not stuck in a dead end job, for me a year off would be a trade off
I would gain the chance to meet (better than in a blended format) tons of new people and invest more in my education, but i would lose a lot in term of working experience (i already work on a large number of complex projects, with different big european clients, managing a couple of teams). My job provides me a lot of growing opportunities, something i would miss spending a full year doing "only" the MBA

For me the MBA would be a plus, not the only chance i have to change my situation
This is why i'm looking for a online\blended format. Please let know what do you think about it

Well, in this specific context, then it makes sense. I agree that having an international school on your profile is important for future development. Well, why don't you look at Warwick (or Imperial)? 
In general, UK schools have a wider reputation worldwide (due to them being in the UK).

Online versus executive is not only a different modality. It's also about the cohort and the better learning experience.  

@Andy: i'm actually evaluating them. Only i see IE right now as a better option as a school per se (better ranking, more selective, etc.). Off course the UK factor could play a good role

@Duncan: could you please argument this a little bit more? i don't see particular differences in terms of costs, admission requirements, teaching modality... why do you think the EMBA would attract a better cohort and provide a better learning experience?

Looking at the FT-ranked schools, the average salary is $150,000 for online MBA alumni and $250,000 for EMBA alumni. That is also generally reflected in a large difference between the average tuition fees for those programmes, and in the quality of the work experience of the applicants. 

This is a bit of a silly advert. If you wanted an MBA from an Indian university, then Amity comes at a lower price than UPES, has US regional accreditation and benefits from Amity's partnership with the Open University in the UK.