By: Robert Barrington, Advertising Editor
I am more than half way through my online MBA program at SLU and I must admit I love the program. Before deciding to obtain an MBA, I did a lot of research, visited universities, and even read books such as; Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, by Philip Delves Broughton. I originally decided to obtain my MBA from SLU mainly because of the accreditation, the convenience of visiting the professors since I live close to campus, and the flexibility the online program offers.
Each course is only eight weeks long, and you’re expected to read two to three chapters a week which is from 70 to 100 pages a week. I read the required chapters and I usually purchase three or more reference books for less than 10 dollars each on amazon.com, so I end up reading about 250 pages per week. Each course also required the student to discuss a different issue every week and comment on other student’s discussions, and this is all done online.
While undergraduate courses sugarcoat some issues, the MBA program from SLU does not. Not only are we told that where there is money involved, there will also be unethical people cheating, defrauding, and doing anything else they can think of in order to take a bigger slice of the pie, SLU’s MBA program teaches you that if you want more pie, you should be ethical, and use moral strategies in order to create a bigger pie. I truly enjoyed learning game theory in my courses, and for those of you that do not understand game theory, watch the movie, A Beautiful Mind. The main character John Nash was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for “Nash Equilibrium Theory” for “Non-Cooperative Games.”
Since it is too expensive and too time consuming to always micro-manage people and make sure they do the right thing in the business world and in life, SLU’s MBA program teaches students to manage, not by force, but by setting up control systems like Nash Equilibrium in which all employees and also competitor companies make choices (their dominant position) that lead to win/win situation. Not only are we taught knowledge from our courses, but we are also taught to think in a different way, and it becomes a lifestyle of thinking.
At first glance it appeared the work load was going to overwhelm me, but after taking a few courses, it became apparent that I had absorbed so much knowledge and my way of thinking had changed. The SLU MBA program is set up in such a way that personal growth becomes a by-product of the program. I’m not surprised by how much business knowledge I have acquired in the MBA program, but I am surprised that without putting effort towards personal growth, I have reached new heights.
It is not the knowledge you learn at SLU’s MBA that makes the difference, other MBA schools can teach the same knowledge, but it is SLU’s program that will transform you and “You’ll Love the Person You Become Here” motto holds true. I look forward to my online discussions, and I also look forward to my homework. SLU’s online MBA program gets two thumbs up.
