The Online MBA Post

Interesting article just posted over in Yahoo! Education found via @gmatlinks…

Online MBA Facts And Fictions
The real scoop on earning your MBA online.

Frankly, given the tagline, I was skeptical that the article would be of any value.  However – I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had some good and well-reasoned claims.  Most notably is the below – notable because I think the author hit the nail on the head with both points:

TRUE OR FALSE: There are benefits to a campus-based MBA program that can’t be matched online.

TRUE – No matter its advantages, online learning simply cannot replicate face-to-face interaction with your instructor or in-person networking in a classroom with your peers.

Yet career networking does exist in online MBA programs, albeit with a different format.

This aligns very squarely with the advice written of here – in short, that an online MBA program is not the same as a full-time MBA program – they are distinct products for different consumers.  However, that they are different does not subjugate one to the other – it’s just important to understand the difference between the two relative to which product you’re in the market for – which this article does a great job of highlighting.  Go read it.

North Carolina State University (Jenkins)  just announced the launch of an online MBA option, targeting launch in the fall of 2011.

At brief look, it looks like an intriguing addition to the market.  The online option will be AACSB-accredited, and the  full-time program at NC State is ranked #66 by US News & World Report – so it comes with decent name-value.  They don’t appear to be breaking new ground with their teaching technology:

…using mostly asynchronous methods, including podcasts linked with PowerPoint, tools such as Camtasia and Elluminate, streaming video files, and online discussion boards.

This is fine – but somewhat surprising, as one might expect a larger school such as NC State that’s launching an online program “just now” to take advantage of their later start by building out a more advanced platform for delivery.  Also of interest is that they differentiate their tuition for in-state (~$30K) vs. out-of-state students (~$58K).  Without data to back it up – “most online programs” seem to not differentiate tuition  - so it will be interesting to see how this fits into the online MBA market for those outside of North Carolina.

All in all, though, it looks like a good option – and great for the online MBA market to have another quality option available.

The WSJ went on a bit of a roll in early July, with several very excellent reads around online MBA’s…. We’re woefully behind, here, so here’s a write-up on the first one:

Hybrid M.B.A.s Offer Flexible Option
Brand-Name Schools Attract Students With Programs That Mix Online Instruction With Limited On-Campus Time

The kicker of the article is around personal interaction, and how the personal interaction in an online program is (in the article’s conclusion) lacking as-compared to a traditional full-time program:

Still, for students hoping to network with their peers or get the career guidance typical M.B.A. students receive, hybrid programs might disappoint. Since upward of 70% of class time is online for most programs, there is little face time with faculty and fewer opportunities for personal interaction between other students, something many b-school graduates say is the most valuable part of an M.B.A.

My opinion on this breaks down into two key points:  a decent level of personal interaction can occur online, and its faulty to directly compare “typical M.B.A.” programs with “hybrid M.B.A.” programs.  At least without caveating that they’re two different products for two different consumers.  ;-)

Personal Interaction – Online

First, let’s discuss the question about “little face time”.  Is there less opportunity for “face time” in a online MBA as-compared to a traditional, full-time MBA?  Absolutely.  Not, however, by definition of the fact that “online is not in-person”.

Yes, it’s true – if your classmates are online, you see them less often.  However, if people were unable to connect via the internet, the internet probably wouldn’t be the internet; it’d still be ARPANET or what-not.  While nobody would argue that “online interaction” is the same as “in-person interaction” – it’s also hard to argue that “online interaction” is ineffective or doesn’t have it’s place in the world – witness Facebook, MySpace, E-mail, Instant Messaging, ad infinitum.  Moreover, particularly in today’s global economy – a tremendous amount of professional and business interaction occurs online – even solely online, in some industries or functions.

So if we let “online ‘face-time’” and “in-person face-time” be rough equivalents (with acknowledged differences) – then why is there less opportunity for face time in an online vs. in-person program?

Simply put: By definition, students in part-time programs have less available time to commit to the program than those in full-time programs.  And while most online programs bill themselves as – and rightly qualify as – “full-time enrollment” – it’s hard to argue that they are accelerated part-time, as most students still attend to full-time jobs and families.  Which – just like a “traditional” part-time programs – means less time for face-time.  Online students don’t have time to meet over a coffee between classes at the student union, or go grab a beer & pizza after the last class of the day.

None of which is to say it can’t be done – online students can & have formed groups on social networks to informally interact “outside of class” (try searching them on Facebook), in addition to any school-provided medium (forums, etc)- it’s to say that to make the comparison is to compare apples & oranges.  Or Corvettes & Cadillacs.

“Typical M.B.A” vs. “Hybrid M.B.A.”

Don’t compare a “hybrid MBA” with a traditional, full-time MBA as if they are the same product. They are different products for different consumers.  It’s fine – and appropriate – to help consumers figure out what kind of consumer they are – but don’t compare a luxury sedan to a high-performance sports-car on the basis of 0-to-60 performance.  It doesn’t make sense – or rather, the result is a bit of a foregone conclusion – and not realizing it’s being done can cloud your decision-making.  First, figure out if you’re in the market for a comfortable-cruising luxury sedan or a performance sports-car first.  Then you can compare Corvettes to Porsches, or Cadillacs to Rolls-Royce’s – not Corvettes to Cadillacs.

So by all means, figure out the different metrics you need to evaluate, if you’re not sure what kind of consumer you are, or what you’re in the market for.  0-to-60 acceleration, handling, gas mileage, cost.  Timeline & goals for career change, elective course options, career & familiy life continuity, cost.  Once you’ve decided what market you’re in – then compare apples-to-apples.  Should YOU consider an online MBA? is a great place to start, as well as a user-post, Why Online?

What’s it mean to online education providers?

Returning to the point of how online interaction compares to in-person interaction – the successful online MBA programs will be the ones who foster online interaction.  The ones who do not will wither on the vine, or be perceived as lower-quality.  This means three non-trivial investments for those schools & universities:

• Providing – and constantly enhancing – a modern technology infrastructure or platform that facilitates & encourages online interaction
• Training and incenting faculty & staff to be active participants in creating & maintaining the online community
• Recruiting and incenting students who can & will be able to thrive in an online environment, and not just “come watch videos & get a degree”

Hopefully, an AACSB-accredited program will satisfy these, as there is a certain level of group work (and thus interaction) in an AACSB program (see AACSB Standard #13 basis for judgement, p.56:”The school’s programs involve collaboration and cooperation among participants in the educational process”).  And certainly, the last point is as much an onus on the students as it is on the school – as with many things, “it will be what you make of it” – but the schools have a responsibility to ensure that the students they are recruiting are both able & aware of what it means to learn online.

The WSJ posted an interesting read a few months back on the Upside of E-Learning.  While decently legitimizing online degrees, as well as generally focusing on some of the “execution” benefits of online degrees for the student (lower cost, flexibility, work-at-your-own-pace, etc) – it has a lead-in that I do take some issue with:

“In the old days, you’d often have to travel and serve as someone’s apprentice if you wanted to change careers.

Now, e-learning makes getting educated about something new a lot faster and simpler.”

Frankly, I would be very reticent to recommend anybody to pursue an online degree if immediate career change was their ultimate goal.  Gradual career change?  Maybe.  However, if you’re like “most people”, when you say “change careers”, you’re talking about “changing your primary functional area” – sales to finance, for example, or accounting to marketing – and your ultimate desire is to get a job in that functional area.  And that may take a job-hunt or new employer.

Put yourself in a hiring manager’s shoes – let’s say a Marketing manager – who are you going to hire?  The accountant who took a 2-year break to go & get their MBA with a focus in Marketing, and did an internship in marketing?  Or the accountant who took a generalized MBA part-time (online or otherwise), while working as an accountant?

Sure, you can close that gap, by finding one of the relatively few online MBA programs that may have the desired concentration, or by taking an additional mini-course that is focused in that certain area.  You can close it yet further by “maneuvering” within your current job role towards your target functional area – continuing the accountant-would-be-marketer example above – you could volunteer to be accounting’s main liaison to marketing for a project, or similar.

As to any rule, there are exceptions.  Two come to mind immediately – firstly, if you have good & strong sponsorship within your existing organization to help grow you and move you into your new target function – so no job-hunt is required.  Secondly, the case of the would-be entrepreneur – someone who’s looking at going on their own, who either has the money, or the appetite for risk, to hang it all out there.  That person just needs to get the fundamentals of broader general business operations as a compliment to their existing functional expertise, and perhaps grow their skill-set in another less familiar functional area to help enable their new venture – they don’t need to “convince” a hiring manager of their qualifications.

At the end of the day, though – generally-speaking – if your primary driver for an online (or traditional part-time!) MBA is as a means to change careers – I would strongly urge you to either reconsider, or at least think through very clearly and without any rose-colored glasses on about how you will actually make the move to your new career area – because it will take more work than simply completing the MBA.

Via the Ventura County Star: Serviceman takes online classes from CLU while serving overseas gives an interesting overview of one lieutenant colonel’s experience in earning his MBA online from California Lutheran University – even taking a few courses from places like Saddam Hussein’s former palaces!

This is an important, but often overlooked, benefit of online MBA programs (and indeed online education in general) – they provide our servicemen & servicewomen an incredible opportunity to prepare and enhance their own careers – either within the service, or for their lives after the service.

Particulary-interesting is this snippet (emphasis added):

“We know that in the past 10 years, because online enrollment in general has grown, service members are taking more online classes than they have in the past,” said Carolyn Baker, chief of continuing education for the U.S. Department of Defense. “However, overall enrollment has not increased.”

So of the servicemen enrolled in continuing education – more & more of them are turning to online programs, as opposed to (presumedly) traditional programs, or other “non-online” correspondence or distance programs.  Generally-speaking, anyone in the military has less access to traditional programs (see: Should YOU consider an online MBA?) – so it may seem an unremarkable observation to some (“Well, DUH they go online more…”).  However, if you consider that servicemen can spend their GI Bill dollars in lots of places – while in or after the military – and they are choosing online more – that’s an interesting trend.  Extending that, I’d argue that it continues to add some level of additional credibility to online MBA programs, for two specific reasons:

• They are gaining more & more share of the GI Bill dollars.  While not an inherent qualifier of a “good school” – one would at least like to think that the GI Bill would only fund “good, accredited schools”.
• Military personnel (including officers) are increasingly selecting the online programs over other alternatives – and they do have other alternatives.

Lastly, a point on marketing:

The MBA program at CLU is recruiting servicemen and servicewomen making the transition out of the military

It’s not shocking, but well to note that online MBA providers are positioning themselves toward the niche market of transitioning servicemen seeking MBA’s, by specifically marketing to & recruiting that segment.  Outside of the aforementioned benefits for the servicemen, it’s a reasonable win-win for the school, as well – they get disciplined, motivated students (more likely to be successful & drive up their stats) – who typically don’t have a huge problem paying the tuition (thanks to the GI Bill).  ;-)

The recent issues highlighted with cheating on the GMAT – see Crackdown on China GMAT Cheating – could raise some interesting questions for online education – both for the positive and the negative.

On the negative side, it illustrates the relative ease of cheating – if there are problems with “proxy” test-takers on the GMAT, it’s hardly a stretch to wonder about “proxy course-takers” or even “proxy degree-earners” in the online MBA realm.  While I’d find it unlikely that anyone would sign-up to take an entire degree for someone else – it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility for a person to take a given test for someone else.  This presents a clear anecdotal example of just that situation.

On the positive side – it illustrates that “cheating by proxy” is not a problem strictly limited to online MBA’s.  I think a lot of people’s “perception problems” with online MBA programs is the notion that “… but they could get anybody to take their tests for them!” Clearly, this occurs for aspiring students of potentially all MBA programs – traditional full-time, part-time, and online/distance.

Moreover, I’d think that it’s more likely the GMAT cheaters were targeting traditional full-time, “big-name” schools (e.g. top 5 or top 10) – the risk/reward just isn’t nearly as high for cheating on the GMAT to attend an online MBA.  Applying a little more (albeit perhaps twisted) logic on top of that assumption – can you actually have more confidence in the relative integrity of a random student graduating from an online MBA that requires the GMAT, as compared to that of a random student from a traditional MBA, because of the smaller cheating risk/reward ratio for the online MBA student?  ;-)

So how is this “positive” news again?  I’m not sure that it is – I think it’s pretty well “neutral” – It doesn’t disprove that cheating (on the GMAT or otherwise) could happen with online MBA’s – rather, it shows that cheating is an issue for traditional MBA’s just the same – a prospective employer isn’t necessarily getting a “did-not-cheat” guarantee from a traditional MBA candidate any more than he is from an online MBA candidate.

Hat-tip to eLearning Technology, where I came across this -

I suppose that given the topic, the general theme of the skit shouldn’t surprise anybody, but SNL did a sketch (“University of Westfield Online”, Season 35, Episode 3; air date 10-Oct-2009) poking fun at online education:

Before I get into my usual tear-down – Pretty good skit!  ;-)  Now, on with the fun…

“Not mentioning I went to an internet college”

The bulk of the skit deals with the “reputation dilemma” facing online degree-holders.  It’s well to note, though, that though it might be taken as-such – it is not a “blanket” indictment of online education.  Rather, it focuses on a hypothetical internet college that is implied to be a diploma mill.

The distinction I’ll make is that an internet college is a subset of the online education marketplace – or in other words, they are not directly equatable, as there are other facets to (or competitors in) the online education marketplace.  Moreover, it’s also unfair to categorize all internet colleges as bad.  Nonetheless – there are some pretty “bogus” internet colleges that are the bad apples ruining the bunch, and accordingly – those thinking of pursuing “legitimate” online MBA’s (from an internet college or otherwise) still need to consider the reputation dilemma.

So should you be worried about “the reputation dilemma”?  Is it something you need to sweat?  That, of course, depends on your goals – To thine own self be true!

• Yes
  • If you’re planning on directly levering your MBA for a job or career/industry change, particularly in the near future
  • If you’re planning on continuing your education beyond an MBA
• No
  • If you’re more likely working for yourself or a smaller employer who knows your value
  • If you’re truly more concerned with the material you’ll learn than the name on the piece of paper
  • If you’re enhancing or complimenting your current career-track

My own advice for anyone worried about this – but still wants to pursue online – is to strongly consider a “traditional” school (e.g. “brick-and-mortar”) that happens to offer an online MBA program.  That’s not to discredit or downplay the educations from pure online schools – however, it is a legitimate concern for some.  If it’s something you’re concerned about – consider a traditional school’s online program.

Within this approach, I’ll offer two main options:  You can select as “big” a name of a school as you can afford – e.g. perhaps one that has their “traditional” full-time program ranked by US News & World Report, or the Financial Times, or BusinessWeek – etc.  This typically offers more “flexibility” on where you can take your degree without “reputation concerns”, but at the expense of higher cost.  Alternatively, select a smaller-name school, but that is reasonably-known as “real” to the market in which you may eventually be job-seeking (this might be known to a certain geographic area, or to a certain industry – etc).  This may limit your options some as to “where you can take it” that will recognize it as “real” – but if you’re okay with those limits, it can offer lower cost.  Neither is a complete panacea to the reputation dilemma – but it should drastically reduce the scenario portrayed in the skit; that of having to perform an uncomfortable tap-dance to dodge the name of your dubious alma mater.

A few other interesting quotes:

“I earned my degree, sittin’ at home in my pajamas!”

Frankly, this is an honest benefit of going online.  Many critiques can be made (rightly or wrongly) of online education – but the convenience factor is not to be doubted!

“In just 4 months, when it’s time to graduate…”

If this is the case for any school – walk away, and don’t look back.  No real school offers a full-blown degree in 4 months.  It screams degree mill.  Check out the Diploma Mill Police at GetEducated.com.

An interesting read in the WSJ, from a few months back:

In Search of Cachet
Online programs from top-notch schools gain, as students look to add luster to their résumés

As usual, there’s a number of excellent points to be observed with this article.  First & foremost – legitimacy.  Having an article about online education in the Wall Street Journal that is not only “not scathing” – but actually highlighting many of the positives – should be taken as a reasonable sign of “increasing acceptance” of degrees earned online.

One critique I’ll offer on the article – or “caveat” – is that it really spends most of it’s time covering online certificate programs, less than online MBA programs.  The lead-in would have you believe it’s about the latter; however, just about all of the article is spent discussing the former.

Then there’s the main premise of the article: Can you really “get some of the benefits of an M.B.A. degree from a top-flight school but at a fraction of the usual cost”? Can you really get “more name” for “less buck”?  Can your beer really have great taste, but be less filling?  Can you really have your cake and eat it, too?

All jokes aside, is it so unreasonable? Selfishly, I hope it’s at least somewhat plausible, as that’s the path I took, and a large part of the reason I took it – I went online largely because my resident part-time options were good schools – AACSB-accredited – but not well-known outside of the area I was living at the time.  Trying to withhold as much bias as possible, I do think it’s reasonable – if nothing else due to the prima facie evidence of more and more “big name” schools entering the online education market – Cornell, Boston, Northeastern, etc.  Sure, there’s some high-margin money to be made – but these are also schools that eat & breathe by their brand names – diluting their brand by conferring sub-par degrees is not in their self-interest.

At any rate, an excellent point made in the article is a small quote near the end, by none other than the head of the AACSB:

Students should have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve, he says. “You need to do your homework. Ask yourself, ‘What is this course yielding for the starting point of future employment?’ “

This is a sentiment I’ve expressed myself numerous times (and one I will continue to express), but there’s the benefit of brevity & conciseness with the way he puts it – “nothing like a sound-bite”.

I cannot emphasize enough the criticality of really asking yourself what you want to gain from your (potential) online education experience, and strongly evaluating how a given program meets that criteria.  It sounds pretty simple & basic, but it is imperative that you be honest with yourself with what you want to get out of the whole experience:

• an immediate career move, or a later one?
• a change in industry, or continuing in the same industry?
• a “dramatic” change in job functions (e.g. developer/engineer to marketer), or continuing in the same path?

These things (and more) will impact how you should weight different criteria, such as education quality, cost, name/brand value, network strength, etc.  There is no “one size fits all” online MBA, any more than there is a “one size fits all” traditional MBA – so it’s important to really be honest with yourself about your goals, and carefully scrutinize what criteria you need to consider.  As always – to thine own self be true!

So this is not a “recent” article, but it is one that inspired me to try & re-start blogging, so I wanted to give it a little write-up, now that I’m a few posts in. It’s about Billy Cundiff, a kicker in NFL that earned his MBA from Arizona State Univerity’s online program…

NFL kicker earns degree from ASU

There’s a few interesting considerations with this article. First – at some level or another, valid or not – it adds a degree of credibility for online MBA’s. Second, it highlights the strength of an online or distance educational option when your line of work has you travelling and/or working odd hours. Third, it gives at least one instance of a professional athlete recognizing that there is “life after the field”, and preparing accordingly – which is refreshing, if nothing else.

I find the fourth to be the most interesting or insightful, however:

“Believe it or not, my online MBA team was a lot more functional than some of my NFL teams,” he said. “The online program also really helps you work on your communications and interpersonal skills, since you’re not dealing with people on a face-to-face basis.”

I’ve often said that one of the strengths of an online MBA can have relative to a traditional MBA is the communications aspect; particularly “remote” or “virtual team”-related communications. While I’ll take it as face-value substantiation, I also find it interesting that he actually found his MBA team “more functional” than some of his sports teams – having been on one of those MBA teams, I’m not sure I can fathom what horror must then exist in modern-day sports teams!

In all seriousness, there’s some interesting comparisons & contrasts, that – while having never played on a football team – I’ll dare to make.

I’ll wager that the difference occurs in the parts of the team’s work that are not cleanly segregated by role – namely around decision-making and problem-solving. On a football team, each player has their position, and they each have relatively defined scope for that position that they train for, day-in and day-out. Most decision-making & problem-solving is delegated specifically to a few of those roles (coaches, quarterbacks, etc).

Your average MBA team, though, may indeed organize into some loosely defined “positions” (either assigned or self-organized) – the “team leader”; the “analyst”; the “writer” – etc. On the surface, it seems not dissimilar from a football team.  However, where I think an MBA team differs is that every team member will typically attempt to (and should!) have some level of participation in the problem-solving and decision-making process. While “good and proper” – it’s typically where conflict will arise, as you have a group of individuals each trying to assert their expertise over the problem at hand.

At any rate – that’s all the parallels I’ll try to draw between MBA teams & sports teams at this point, but maybe there’s a good theme there for future musings.  A good article, and a belated congratulations to Billy Cundiff on his achievement!

Disclaimer: The author earned his MBA from Arizona State University’s online program.

I don’t mean “do you have the intestinal fortitude of Chuck Norris“ – I mean, do you have the “basics” required for being successful when pursuing an online education?  A number of skills will play an important part in the pursuit of almost any distance or online degree – The requirement that a (good) online MBA program will add is for group work.  Nobody is a master of everything, or innately comfortable with everything – but for anyone considering an online MBA, here are at least a few of the things that I would recommend as important to at least evaluate your honest skill or comfort level in.  To thine own self be true!

Technical Aptitude

Let’s face it – no matter how “user-friendly” the Internet is becoming – we’re still talking about attending school online.  If you don’t have at least a decent grasp of modern computing and working on, with, around, or through the Internet – you might want to bone up on those skills before proceeding.

In general, most online programs use reasonably stable and user-friendly software to run their programs (something you should certainly verify & evaluate when selecting a school!), so this isn’t to say you need to be a “computer whiz”, or even a “nerd”.  However, if the Internet scares you, and you call your own, personal “resident geek” at every hiccup – you may want to reconsider.

Self-Motivation

One key difference that an asynchronous online program has with either traditional part-time or full-time programs is this:  Schedule.  If you’re the type of person or student that needs significant structure to learn or review material – such as a “set class meetings” or an instructor peering at you to make sure you’re not falling asleep – you may want to reconsider.

When it comes to group-work, if you require a set group meeting to work productively, and often procrastinate when left with a task to complete independently – you may want to reconsider.  A good MBA program will foster & require no small amount of group work – you don’t want to be the one who routinely doesn’t deliver.

Virtual Teamwork

If there is one distinct advantage that an online or distance MBA program has over traditional part-time or full-time programs, it’s this: The “remote work & collaboration” skills you must possess – and improve – to complete an online or distance MBA are tremendous.  In today’s global workplace, virtual teams are (or can be) quite commonplace.  Working with colleagues and teams from all over the country – or world – is taken for granted at many workplaces.

There are two important skill-sets that you have to combine – there’s working remotely, there’s working in a group – and then there’s working in a remote group.

Written Collaboration

Chats.  Instant Messages.  Forums.  Blogs.  E-mails.

This might be seen as a sub-set of Virtual Teams, or otherwise “taken for granted” as part of an “online MBA” – but it bears it’s own elaboration.

“The written word” will play a large part in your online MBA experience.  This doesn’t just refer to the obvious, such as papers & reports – but it’s communicating and collaborating via any number of text-based formats with your instructors & peers.  It probably goes without saying that being at least a decent typist is important, but that doesn’t cover it – you need to be comfortable with working with others in that medium – in both synchronous (“real-time”; instant messaging) & asynchronous (“non-real-time”; e-mail, forums, etc) formats.

In summary…

So, there you have it – Things important to have a level of comfort with before seriously considering an online MBA – Technical Aptitude, Self Motivation, Virtual Teamwork, and Written Collaboration.  Is that complete and exhaustive?  No way – But, it’s a start.  I’d love your feedback on what those are, and will otherwise try to add more to the list as they come to me.