Despite numerous successes and appreciable advantages of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, the reputation of the MBA has deteriorated in the eyes of businesses, as its relevance has been questioned and businesses often fail to see students applying acquired skills practically back at work.While previous research has focussed on the experience and opinions of MBA students themselves, this research sought insights of businesses and business schools, specifically considering the value of collaborative relationships for strengthening the MBA’s impact.This research aimed to understand how collaboration can improve the impact of the MBA, first by affirming the successes of the MBA, confirming its importance to business and then exploring current challenges. Previous initiatives have been unsuccessful in reviving the MBA’s ailing reputation, as they were isolated initiatives, lacking the support and involvement of other MBA stakeholders.<p/>This research, therefore, investigated the requirements for a collaborative relationship to be willingly entered into and sustained, looking particularly at in-house programmes which were successful in encouraging collaboration and involvement of stakeholders.From the research findings, the Collaborative Impact Model was designed to set out how a collaborative relationship can be established and maintained, optimising the impact of the MBA while also minimising its many challenges. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The author's ethnographic study of a professional development program for managers and aspiring managers taught at a distance intends to make a substantial contribution to both the theory and practice of continuing education for professionals. The study focused on a group of Deakin University Master of Business Administration (MBA) participants and their experiences of the final two years of the program. Theorising on the professional development experience was based on data gathered from the direct observation of participants working in their study groups and at residential schools. Moreover, data drawn from end-of-year interviews with participants and discussions with MBA teachers also contributed to the theorising process. Theorising spanned a broad set of interactions encompassing participants' formal educational, professional and personal worlds. The thesis is devoted to two aspects of the professional development experience, namely: participants' interactions in their study groups and at residential schools; and participants' attempts to grow and develop as competent professional practitioners during their MBA studies. Interactions with key learning contexts orchestrated by the teaching institution (i.e. study groups and residential schools) are grounded in an analysis of the changing group cultures observed to accommodate the different educational demands of the program. Group interaction on a broader scale is also analysed in the context of the residential schools. The residential school provided a powerful forum for the development of participant activism over the future development of the MBA program. The analysis of the study groups in action led the author to identify the key characteristics of effective educational work groups. The implications of the success of these essentially egalitarian and leaderless groups for the formation of self-managed groups in the workplace is examined. On the matter of professional development, the author reveals the relationships between the nature of participants' jobs, their search for professional integration, their stage of professional empowerment, the strategies they pursued either to empower themselves or others in their organisations and the barriers which were encountered in the pursuit of empowerment. Dramatic examples of professional disempowerment are analysed indicating that interaction between formal off-the-job learning and professional practice in the workplace is not necessarily a smooth and positive experience. The group of participants studied are seen to be heterogeneous in relation to the above factors characterising professional development The implications of the theorising are considered in relation to professional pedagogies, assessment strategies and distance education. Distance education is seen to socially construct the roles of both teachers and students in the educational process. Specifically, teachers are seen to be somewhat marginalised during the program in use whereas the participants are located at the centre of the educational experience. The primacy of participants in the educational process is highlighted through the growing reliance on self-and peer-group assessment skills as participants progressed through the program. It is argued that the teaching institution should encourage and maintain the development of these skills as they represent a major learning outcome of the professional development experience, i.e. the ability to engage in the process of critical self-reflection and informed action.

There have been several debates about the value of an MBA. Proponents of the MBA believe that the MBA contributes greatly to the development of general managers, while critics argue that the MBA course is disconnected from reality and does not equip graduates with the skills required to navigate managerial roles. Against this backdrop, the research aimed to establish which career capital components are accumulated through the MBA and what aspect of the MBA contribute to the accumulation of career capital.The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the research was qualitative and comprised ten semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders. The first phase aimed to establish the career capital components that are accumulated through the MBA and the aspects of the MBA that contribute to the accumulation of career capital. The constructs identified in phase one, together with those identified in the literature, were then used as inputs in the design of a self-administered questionnaire distributed in phase two. The questionnaire was sent to a total of 1 129 MBA graduates out of whom 205 completed the questionnaire.The career capital components that are developed through the MBA were identified, as well as the aspects of the MBA that contribute the most to accumulating career capital. The top career capital component identified was the ability to work under pressure. The aspect of the MBA that contributes the most to career capital accumulation was the case study method. Furthermore, the career capital components for which there were significant differences between males and females, as well as between those who completed their studies recently and those who completed them some time ago were also identified. The study found that there were no significant differences in perceived career capital between those who had different types of roles prior to embarking on the MBA. A model that encapsulates the key findings was also developed. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The study is a quantitative analysis into the selection process of the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) programme at the Tshwane University Technology (TUT). The selection battery used at TUT to select the MBA applicants is comprised of the Situation Specific Evaluation Expert (SpEEx), the English Literacy Skills Assessment (ELSA), and the 15 Factor Questionnaire (15FQ+). This test battery aims to obtain information on an applicant with regards to his/her cognitive potential (verbal and non-verbal ability), language proficiency, and personality. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the selection battery and the academic performance of those students selected into the MBA programme at TUT by examining the differences between the scores of the psychometric selection batteries and the academic performance of those students selected. Upon analyses and interpretation of the data it was determined that there were no statistically significant differences between the scores of the different components of the selection batteries used and the academic performance of those selected. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted