Is an undergraduate degree a must when applying for a GMBA program?

When my dear colleagues from S P Jain School of Global Management required me to elaborate on this question, my first response was, “Well, the answer seems quite obvious”. Let me start from there: yes, the paper confirming that you have completed your undergraduate studies is a must for enrolment into proper and academically recognised MBA programs. However, the second thought made me realise that the point is somewhat deeper. Hence, the elaboration follows.

In many cases, an undergraduate degree is a certificate of persistence and perseverance rather than a certificate of skills. In each cohort we work with, one-third of S P Jain Global’s GMBA students come with an engineering or technology background. Once they start their careers in the corporate world, they realise that managerial skills were not the highlight of their studies. Thus, the Global MBA program appears as a logical upskilling tool for those whose undergraduate studies that were not focusing on business acumen. I am a live example of this kind of career shift: my bachelor’s major was chemistry – my studies had absolutely nothing to do with management skills. Even from the soft skills perspective, there was no effort to enhance communication skills, teamwork, common sense, or global understanding. When life took me to the avenue of a business career, I completed my master’s and doctorate in business administration and “patched” my skillset with this decision. Thus, I fully understand why students whose undergraduate degrees are in engineering, technology, or science opt for global MBA programs at certain stages of their careers.

However, the vast majority of students coming to S P Jain Global’s Global MBA still have an economics, finance, or business administration background. The real question is: why do they decide to proceed with the Global MBA program, when they are, from the formal perspective, equipped with a basic skillset that should enable them to survive (and possibly thrive) in the corporate world? This leads us to the essential question: does undergraduate business education tick all the boxes when it comes to the development of skills and mindset required for the future? Let me try to address this.

Throughout my career, I have interacted with hundreds of colleagues from America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. I am under the strong impression that undergraduate studies nowadays do not offer a real match with the requirements of the business. Moreover, most business schools localise their programs and contexts: if business is global nowadays, how can business education remain local? Even further, undergraduate studies should be a door opener for the upcoming 30 or 40 years of business careers. If the focus of the programs is on local phenomena, repetitive manual work, and hard-core material knowledge, undergraduate studies do not serve the purpose of developing the global mindset and soft skills required for the future.

In the 21st century world, where the technology innovation cycle is measured in months, the requirements and expectations are changing constantly and rapidly. In addition to the need for the development of global understanding, and an open and culturally sensitive mindset, embracing technology and innovation becomes a must. Fulfilling this is strongly intertwined with continuous unlearning and re-learning: those who are not ready for dynamic changes will likely have difficulties adapting to the new market circumstances. Recent developments in the BANI world – brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible, resulted in twists and turns for many old-fashioned “powerhouses”. Under the pressure of unexpected events, non-agile ones who were stuck in a fixed mindset were not quick enough to embrace the change. If such a phenomenon is visible on the macro level, it is easy to understand how flexible and adaptable one needs to be on the micro level. In most cases, the undergraduate degree does not enhance agility and adaptability. Thus, a global MBA provides soft upskilling even to those who are carrying a bag of hard-core business skills from their undergraduate studies.

Let me conclude the topic and get back to the starting point of the discussion: an undergraduate degree, coupled with certain business experiences and exposures, is a technical must for enrolment into a global MBA program. However, the openness of mind to face new experiences, readiness to be exposed to global challenges, and readiness to embrace technology is an even bigger must. Formal compliance is required: however, essential compliance is more relevant.

About the author:

Dr Marko Selakovic is multi-awarded and globally recognised manager, consultant, and scholarly academic who currently serves as Deputy Director and Assistant Professor at S P Jain School of Global Management. Resident of Dubai since 2015, he is also Chairman of Serbia Business Council, Advisor to the Mayor, and member of numerous global organisations and bodies.