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Hendrik Mansvelt is the University of Stellenbosch Business School’s top MBA student of 2013 and gives his view on the question about the value of doing an MBA or not:
My answer to the question about doing an MBA or not would be "it depends".
It really is quite a commitment, so you have to ensure you have the support of your family, employer and business partners before you embark on the journey.
An MBA is really what you make of it. If you are chasing a piece of paper purely to have MBA on your CV then you are doing it for the wrong reason in my view.
My advice would be to really understand why you are considering doing an MBA and to pro-actively ensure you achieve this while you are in the process of obtaining your MBA.
I personally did an MBA to develop as a leader, learn as much as I could and to build my all-round understanding of what it takes to build a successful and sustainable business.
I believe I achieved that.
I am a goal and action orientated person and, while this was great for getting things done early on in my career, as I progressed I found that I needed to further develop the skills required to really connect with people.
Doing an MBA at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) helped me develop the required soft skills.
I believe I am now a much better equipped leader, able to combine my action orientated nature with the ability to motivate and lead.
The USB’s MBA programme offers you the opportunity to apply much of what you have learnt to your workplace through assignments.
I am currently working for Dimension Data and as part of my MBA I developed an IT Outsourcing strategy for Dimension Data’s Middle East and Africa region.
This was well received by the relevant executive and helped raise my profile within the company. So that was great.
Closer to home, it was also nice to apply what I have learnt to my everyday work environment to make things better for the team.
These were not big interventions, but rather small, practical improvements, which added value.
The USB’s MBA programme gave me a well-rounded, contemporary view on business.
It covers all aspects from the dreaded statistical subjects, to leadership, strategy and corporate social responsibility.
Apart from the coursework, you get to meet people from all walks of life and build out your personal network.
The teamwork activities raises your awareness of team work dynamics and forces you to find ways to ensure every team member is feeling valued and adding value to the team, regardless of differences in style, approach and personality.
The international study tour will expose you to how business is done in different parts of the world and the electives enable you to customise the MBA to an extent around your interests and requirements.
Looking back, the stand-out aspect of the USB’s MBA programme for me was without doubt its leadership program.
While theory was shared, this was integrated and relevant to a parallel process of self-reflection through which you, in a sense, study yourself.
This helped me to understand myself better, understand my strengths and weaknesses and, more importantly, address these weaknesses.
- Fin24
Ever been scammed? Share your experience and you could get published.
* Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
My answer to the question about doing an MBA or not would be "it depends".
It really is quite a commitment, so you have to ensure you have the support of your family, employer and business partners before you embark on the journey.
An MBA is really what you make of it. If you are chasing a piece of paper purely to have MBA on your CV then you are doing it for the wrong reason in my view.
My advice would be to really understand why you are considering doing an MBA and to pro-actively ensure you achieve this while you are in the process of obtaining your MBA.
I personally did an MBA to develop as a leader, learn as much as I could and to build my all-round understanding of what it takes to build a successful and sustainable business.
I believe I achieved that.
I am a goal and action orientated person and, while this was great for getting things done early on in my career, as I progressed I found that I needed to further develop the skills required to really connect with people.
Doing an MBA at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) helped me develop the required soft skills.
I believe I am now a much better equipped leader, able to combine my action orientated nature with the ability to motivate and lead.
The USB’s MBA programme offers you the opportunity to apply much of what you have learnt to your workplace through assignments.
I am currently working for Dimension Data and as part of my MBA I developed an IT Outsourcing strategy for Dimension Data’s Middle East and Africa region.
This was well received by the relevant executive and helped raise my profile within the company. So that was great.
Closer to home, it was also nice to apply what I have learnt to my everyday work environment to make things better for the team.
These were not big interventions, but rather small, practical improvements, which added value.
The USB’s MBA programme gave me a well-rounded, contemporary view on business.
It covers all aspects from the dreaded statistical subjects, to leadership, strategy and corporate social responsibility.
Apart from the coursework, you get to meet people from all walks of life and build out your personal network.
The teamwork activities raises your awareness of team work dynamics and forces you to find ways to ensure every team member is feeling valued and adding value to the team, regardless of differences in style, approach and personality.
The international study tour will expose you to how business is done in different parts of the world and the electives enable you to customise the MBA to an extent around your interests and requirements.
Looking back, the stand-out aspect of the USB’s MBA programme for me was without doubt its leadership program.
While theory was shared, this was integrated and relevant to a parallel process of self-reflection through which you, in a sense, study yourself.
This helped me to understand myself better, understand my strengths and weaknesses and, more importantly, address these weaknesses.
- Fin24
Ever been scammed? Share your experience and you could get published.
* Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
