“They’ll then realise they want to be a general manager, and to do that they need a set of ‘tools’ and an exposure to how things are done in other industries. That’s what an MBA gives you.”
Because the MBA has been around for longer overseas, it is more commonly held by overseas-born leaders: of the 20 CEOs with an MBA, 10 were born overseas, our research found.
Most of the ASX100 chiefs were born in Australia, meaning foreign-born CEOs on the ASX100 are far more likely to have completed an MBA.
Over time, Mansantivongs says he expects the prevalence of MBAs in our top corporate ranks to grow. More Australians are studying MBAs, and while they tend to be young, some of them will in the next few decades come to comprise the ranks of our corporate leaders.
Globalisation also plays a role in driving the popularity of MBAs, says Pete Richards, the marketing director at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, which has two ASX 100 leaders as graduates of its MBA program.
“Increasingly, it’s important for CEOs and senior professionals to make sure that they’re good leaders with a global mindset,” he says. Many MBA schools, MGSM included, pride themselves on the diversity of their cohort. Tomorrow’s executive is more likely to have to manage in a country different to the one they grew up in, and this can be helped by an MBA. And as Australian companies employ more and more foreign graduates, those senior executives are likely to hold MBAs, leading to increased acceptance of the qualification in Australia.
After the GFC, MBAs are back with a vengeance
Australian business schools experienced a drop in interest for the MBA during the global financial crisis, but this has since rebounded.
Richards says at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, interest in the program is as high or higher than it was in 2007.
This is borne out by the data.
The General Management Admissions Test, or GMAT, is a standardised computer-based test used by most business schools worldwide as part of their admissions process into an MBA. The body which administers it, the Graduate Management Admission Council, has since 2007 published statistics on how many students take the test in each country. Compare the Australian figures over several years, and there’s a clear upward trend.
In 2007, 753 students undertook the GMAT in Australia. In 2011, that figure was 1,113 – up nearly 48% on just four years earlier.
Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
