MBA at Open University

[starkadder]

*just posted this on "Education" but then realised here was probably better"

I'm considering doing the Open MBA.

I'm currently in a senior management position in a consultancy firm. The other senior people are all lawyers - I'm not a lawyer and don't want to study law but do want to advance in my field (I don't work for a law firm but there are lots of lawyers who practice this area of consultancy). I am concerned that I can't progress in my company much more without being a lawyer/having something extra to offer. My only professional qualification is a normal BA degree - but from a very good university.

Also, I moved to my present company because I thought the senior management here would have something to teach me but I am feeling increasingly disillusioned with them - it's a small company and my suspicions that they're basically incompetent chancers (!!) are growing

So..anyhoo...my main reasons for the Open MBA are:

1. I want to learn something new

2. I want to be able to distinguish myself

3. I'm thinking about starting my own business in a few years and think the MBA would give me the tools and the confidence to do that

4. I am the main breadwinner and I need to be able to study while working

5. I don't want to rule out having another baby in the next few years (would love to but have had some problems in that department so don't know if it will happen or not) and I understand that the Open MBA is pretty flexible

So...my questions are:

• has anyone on MN done the Open MBA and if so:

1. Did you feel like you learned something valuable?
2. Did other people respect it?
3. Was it compatible with working/family life?
4. Was it worth the money? - I'll be paying out of my own pocket.

Hi,

Yes, I did an MBA with the OU, finished it about 4 years ago (took me 3 years to do it).

So to answer your questions:

1. yes, I did learn some valuable stuff - the first year is a good grounding in all aspects of management, the strategy course is excellent, and then its down to you to choose options that are going to be the most valuable, so I did finance as one of mine for that reason (I work in HR).

2. Do other people respect it? Yes.. but.... Because doing an MBA is quite rare in HR, in some ways it doesn't matter where it's done. But if you're in a general management position, I would say there is still some snobbery about it.

In practice, most other MBA course entry is selective, because there are a restricted number of spaces, so employers can make some assumptions about the calibre of those graduating. With the OU, there are certainly minimum standards, but as long as you meet those, you can participate. This is the main reason for differences in perception; the quality of teaching at the OU is excellent, so it's not seen as 'easier'. This also has some impact on the learning experience as you learn a lot from your cohort - there weren't many real 'high fliers' in my groups.

3. Compatability - they say allow 12 hours a week for study, in practice it took me a fair bit less than that (maybe 6 hours?) apart from in the run up to exams. But I didn't have dcs when I did it. I found I needed to find decent chunks of time to get in the zone, rather than an hour here and an hour there.

Also, you do get out of it what you put in - in my third year I was starting to lose the will to live, and probably did enough to get by rather than as much as I could, so that time was less valuable to me.

4. Worth the money? I self funded too, until I changed companies and got them to pay half as part of my negotiations. Overall I'd say yes, but that's more because I was in it for the learning rather than the status. I haven't earned more money because of it, but I want to go into consultancy in the near future and I think it will help to demonstrate that I am not 'just' an HR person.

HTH - will keep an eye out for this, happy to answer any questions!

Just wanted to add you could try posting in 'student parents' lots of OU types on there.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thanks so much for your reply, Schroeder. It helps a lot.

Such a difficult decision...because also, doing the MBA will postpone starting my own business - I don't think I could do it all at once (!) and so that's another consideration - if the time and money might be better spent elsewhere. Hmmmm....!! Need to do some serious thinking.

A few years ago, I taught on the OU MBA, for a few years...

The course materials are excellent. My fellow tutors often regarded the fact we got a complete et as part of teaching as a perk.

From my own knowledge I would be impressed by anyone with an OU MBA because I know the amount of work and self discipline it requires.

It is also very flexible.

Cant comment on value for money as I have no idea what the fees are these days.