The qualification titled Master of Business Administration, simply known as MBA has always been a sought-after qualification by managers local and global alike. Though it deals with management than administration, the much-accepted popular term is MBA than MBM. This article is an attempt to ponder the nature and features of a preferred MBA with the Sri Lankan context in mind.
Overview
The evolution of MBA is an interesting one stemming from the much-criticized scientific management advocated by Henry Taylor and others. It was a response to growing industrialization where the need arose to equip managers with higher knowledge and skills. The conventional approach was to “learning by doing” with more hands-on focus. Yet, the requirement of a formal approach of managerial development was much felt.
It was first a “Master of Science in Commerce” from the Tuck School of Business of Dartmouth College, USA, the predecessor to the MBA.It was in 1908 that the first MBA programme emerged from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, USA. The term Executive MBA (EMBA) came to front in 1943 when the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago offered it for working professionals as opposed to full time students. The first MBA outside the USA emerged in Canada in 1950 where the Ivey Business School of the University of Western Ontario started offering it. It was soon followed by the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 1951. The first MBA offered in Asia is known to be at the Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Business Management (IISWBM) in Calcutta in 1953. This is even before Europe, which, as the first MBA there, was begun in 1957 at the INSEAD, France.
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