Is an MBA Necessary for a Successful Career?

Introduction
The importance of having an MBA for a successful career has been greatly debated since the first time it was introduced in 1900. The aim of this essay is to determine whether an MBA degree is essential to a successful career in business or perhaps there are other factors such as experience that is more important than mastering the business degree. The price of getting an MBA is increasing every year while the return of investment (roi) is dropping significantly at the same time. (Byrne, 2012) Although obtaining an MBA is becoming more expensive, MBA degree is still vital in today’s competitive world because not only it can potentially improve one’s management skills it can also boost confidence which cannot be expressed in the form of currency. MBA serves as a stepping stone to a successful career.
Experience Versus MBA Degree
Some people believe that having a good job experience is better than having an MBA degree certificate. According to a Qantas spokeswoman, “We think of executive development on the basis of 70 per cent coming from on the job experiences… and only 10 percent from formal type development” (Financial Review, 2013).
Job experience is important but mastery is also as important. Without the theories and knowledge the experience is limited. Experience cannot be expanded when theories are not applied. But theories without experience are also futile because one can know about all the theories about management but might not be able to apply it in real world. Both experience and theories are equally important. (Gosling and Mintzberg, 2004)
Experience cannot be measured hence it is hard for employers to judge the qualification solely based on the experience. It is possible to record experiences but it can...

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...ew, 2013) Alumni network can open up to new opportunities such as starting up business venture.
If MBA is measured in monetary term, people argue that getting MBA is not worth it anymore because the return of investment for getting an MBA is very low. But factors such as confidence and networks cannot be monetized. To some people the benefit they get from confidence and networks outweigh the cost of getting MBA
Conclusion
In conclusion, to some extent mastering the business degree is essential to a successful career in business. MBA might not significantly improve one’s chance of getting hired or job performance but it can significantly improve confidence which to some people is invaluable. Working experience is important for a successful business but it is not more important than having an MBA degree. Both working experience and having an MBA degree is essential.