The cost of a MBA could run you between $1.6 – $3m depends on where you do it ie in Jamaica or some university overseas, but what is the real value that one should see coming from someone who possess an MBA.
Apart from landing you a better job which pays more than someone with a First degree, what value does an employee with a MBA adds to the organization. Such a person should be in a position to bring new management skills to the organization and should be in a position to implement best practices to ensure the organization flourishes in terms of efficiency improvements, ethical practices and conduction, increased levels of productivity etc.
MBA graduates are said to be equipped to take the organizations to the next level and have all the tools so so do, so what has gone wrong in Jamaica.
Why have we not seen an improvement in the way we do business, an improvement in productivity, greater employee engagement, improved ethical practices here in Jamaica ?
Are we therefore simply equipping people to be able to earn more without any increased levels of efficiency to support the “more”.
One of the first steps most senior managers take to control or cut cost is to get rid of low paying jobs in what is called restructuring or cost containment. So we hire these new high paid managers and what they end up doing to terminating employees to give the impression that the organization is earning more, with no real improvement int he fundamental operations of the business.
I am not trying to lay the blame at the feet of the MBA people, but I am suggesting instead that if we are to use education to move this country forward, then those who possess this higher level of education MUST begin to contribute more and in a meaningful way.
I would like to see however more technical and competent people being trained in our educational system, so this country can start creating wealth.
I am beginning once again to see the very same things that led to the financial meltdown in the 1990’s as our major banks are swimming in billions of dollars in cash, but no real wealth is being generated in the country. This means this is situation unsustainable and will led to a fallout in the coming years as one cannot keep on making profits, for which their is no sound base on which this is being generated.
What ends up happening is staff are made redundant to “cut cost”, increase user fees, charge for even “free service” so as to improve the bottom line in order to continue to show improved profits, but as I said, this is unsustainable .
Jamaica has to manufacture its way to prosperity, there is no other way !
Warren's Blog 
I am beginning once again to see the very same things that led to the financial meltdown in the 1990’s as our major banks are swimming in billions of dollars in cash, but no real wealth is being generated in the country. This means this is situation unsustainable and will led to a fallout in the coming years as one cannot keep on making profits, for which their is no sound base on which this is being generated.
What? I can not believe what I’m reading here. Base on you many comments on your blog, that it was the high interest rate regime of the PNP during the early 1990s and the derelict duties of the Finance Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, that led to the collapse of the Financial Market. Now, base on the highlighted text above, you are placing the blame solely at the feet of the Banks/Financial Institutions. Say it ain’t so Jay?
Are we to believe that you have now seen the light and your position has now matured and you are prepare to place the blame where it rightfully belong all along? You do know that given your Blog Admin privileges, you can go back and change the aforementioned text to properly contextualize your true feelings on the matter. This will prevent others from calling you a hypocrite or labelled you as “wishy-washy” or prone to take positions with varying degree of time dependent variability.
At any rate, it is comforting to know that you have finally come to the same [rightful] conclusion as I have. Maybe 15-years too late?
What is the common thread between the two periods.
* High interest rate polices(Less than in the 1990’s). Currently interest rates have been trending up once again and are relatively high given international rates.
* The dollar is running away as it did back then
* The same party is back in power .
* Manufacturing is declining due to bad government policies making it easier to make money shuffling paper than putting it into manufacturing.
Essentially the dynamics are very close and thus the end result of the very same government policies is most likely to lead to similar results unless something changes very quickly.
So my position has not changed at all, poor governance by the PNP government once again as it did in the 1990’s.
Essentially, you are saying that the statement you made in this thread was irrelevant and without purpose? That is, the Banks/Financial institutions played no appreciable role in the collapse of the Financial market back in the mid-1990s. If that is the case, why waste precious bytes writing nonsense? Explain to me how what you just wrote is any any coupled to your original statement that I highlighted?
As hard as I try to understand your logic and way of thinking, I get stumped at every turn. I can understand you need to wormed your way out of a situation backs you into a corner, but trying to worm your way out of that predicament by writing nonsense is inexcusable. Labourites, they just don’t get.
Oh, BTW, most MBA program in the US (at the least the top 20 B-Schools) will run you in excess of JA$12M (Tuition & Fees – no Living Expense included) for a two-year program.
What percentage of MBAs actually run or are integral part of manufacturing operations in Jamaica? They seem to be oversubscribed in the Financial Sector. How many of these have true Operation Management/Strategy backgrounds?
I wonder if Jay is anti-MBA as he is anti-PNP? Somehow I think you are just envious of people with MBAs? Yes? 😀
Actually i have one but still trying to figure out what new value it has afforded me. Yes a salary increase but not much new skills above what i already had.
When i lived outside if Ja i could definitely see the difference but not so much in Ja. In fact its a good “status” symbol here but not much above that.
Yuh have one? From where, the University of Phoenix? Boss, there are MBAs and there are MBAs. Most of the people in Jamaica walk around with MBAs from Diploma Mills or from Schools, such as Nova Southeastern. B-Schools which accepts anyone that applies and curriculum that are very suspects in terms of how rigorous they are and whether they meet any international “accreditation” Standards. I sure you know what I mean, since it is highly likely you graduated from one of these Online Business Schools. Willing to wager here Jay……
You are now sounding like an elitist , which I am sure is not your intent.
What is wrong with a online MBA, is the world not moving away from the true class room setting.
I do not live in the USA and has not factored the cost of a MBA from any of these top universities.
I am not anti PNP or anti MBA, all I am saying is, there must be a link between higher education and development and that is seriously lacking in Jamaica and needs to be looked into.
You are correct in terms of the number of MBA folks in the financial world, as that is where the real “money” is made, but like I said, there is nothing to support that ” real money” .
The payrate for an MBA holder in manufacturing is not very great I must admit, which maybe what is keeping many of them away, but there is no shortage of these in government and have been the main contributor to policies which only work in the graduate text book.
I am suggesting that more emphasis be placed in the technical areas as that is where I see the most pressing need at this point in time.
The country needs to start paying these technical folks a lot more to encourage more to enter this field, which is were I believe our future lies.
If you completed a MBA late on in life/career at a time when you already had copious amount of experience in managing people, corporate america/jamaica & a undergraduate in economics or finance; the MBA was most likely a confirmation of what you already knew innately and a brush up on your finance skills particularly in the area of breaking down a financial statement. Besides that, you know have the letters backing increased salary demands which allows your manager to make a positive appeal to HR for that raise you have been longing for. If you decide to sell your self elsewhere you have the appropriate leverage to demand a decent raise and if you come back to Jamaica, you will have the chance to make a livable wage akin to North America standards.
As for the banks sitting on tons of cash now as then, at issue was they instituted extremely poor loan standards, which over inflated an already large property bubble and complicating matters was supposedly smart business folks taking loans out at indexed rates rather than fixed rates. They did not know when to fold them nor when to run; and ultimately they paid the price as they should. This nonsense about a high interest rate environment causing FINSAC should be donkey fodder but as it has become political, the propaganda stain will remain. I hold Davis responsible for not improving the regulatory environment so that we had enforceable loan standards & for not balancing the budget and the BOJ for not requiring higher deposits/higher quality bonds because thats what Finance Ministers/BOJ ought to do. Ministers do not control the forex market. They do not control the interest rate market. If you do not collect enough taxes to balance your budget you either have to raise funds domestically (Davis) or externally (Shaw)- if you think either one is a panacea or good for Jamaicans you ought to just jump in traffic.
This is an idle discussion, the issue is not that one is not properly trained or even that the MBA is inferior, but ethics. Several emiment people in Jamaica have studies at elite business schools, yet they do not display an ethical behaviour and their companies are not innovative and the lack of innovation in Jamaican firms have been confirmed by the World Bank. I can only think of a few companies that actually innovation like GraceKennedy, Lasco and a few others
You are spot on. We are not seeing the translation of what is learnt into business practices.
This is an idle discussion, the issue is not that one is not properly trained or even that the MBA is inferior, but ethics. Several emiment people in Jamaica have studies at elite business schools, yet they do not display an ethical behaviour and their companies are not innovative and the lack of innovation in Jamaican firms have been confirmed by the World Bank. I can only think of a few companies that actually innovate like GraceKennedy, Lasco and a few others