Execs head back to school

Johannesburg - Many business professionals are using the economic downturn as an opportunity to upgrade their skills.

Graduate training schools - particularly those offering masters' degrees in business administration (MBAs) - are experiencing an increase in enrolments, say experts.

"MBAs appear to be counter-cyclical," says Lance Stringer, MBA director at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. The course was recently ranked as the best value for money MBA in the world according to the Financial Times.

The type of people applying to MBA programmes are often consultants, says Stringer. "You find that consultancies lay off people in leaner times. These employees are high achievers and they can afford to take a year or two off to study."

"When the economy is booming, business professionals find themselves extremely busy. The opportunity cost of studying is higher. When the economy is down, opportunity costs decrease and more people may choose to re-skill," says Simon Tankard, director of executive education at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.

The cost of doing an MBA in South Africa is around R100 000. Over the past five years, companies have become increasingly reluctant to spend on the general management degree. Instead, they are requesting corporate training programmes tailored to the specific needs of their operations.

However, it appears as though the total cost, including time taken to complete the degree, is lower to employees. "There's enough evidence that individuals feel an MBA is a worthwhile degree in terms of job opportunities and salary progression," says Stringer.

Talent searches are becoming skewed towards innovation and creative thinking, say experts, and that may be another reason why professionals are choosing to pay for MBAs out of their own pockets.

"There's shift in skills needed. Skills with a practical orientation are important," says Tankard.

- Fin24.com