Does a masters in management plus an MBA add up?

This year, 40 to 60 masters in management graduates are expected to enrol in the new one-year MBA at London Business School, a streamlined version of the flagship programme, which can be completed in 15 to 21 months.

This new, shorter MBA, with tuition to cost £75,000, targets those who graduated three or more years ago, normally with a pre-work experience masters in management (MiM) from an accredited institution.

The one-year LBS MBA was introduced in response to market demand, says Graham Hastie, associate dean of degree education. The MiM, which started out in Europe, has grown in popularity globally, raising questions about its impact on conventional-MBA demand.

Despite targeting different audiences, there has traditionally been little motivation to obtain both degrees, given the overlapping content. Hastie notes that many MiM graduates seek further education, but prefer not to repeat material. “We’re hoping our new product will bridge that gap,” he says. “It’s a stackable product. It gives them a second bite of the cherry.”

Masters in Management Ranking 2024

This story is from the MiM report publishing on September 9

LBS is not alone. Several business schools are creating new ways for MiM graduates to earn an MBA in a streamlined timeframe, reducing the overall time and cost. The trend reflects the growing emphasis on life-long learning — the idea that business education is no longer a one-time pursuit but a continuous process of upskilling and reskilling.

It also reflects the concern that the two-year MBA may have passed its peak. “The MBA market has matured in some world regions, while MiM degrees have seen rapid growth,” says Alfons Sauquet, director of quality services and Equis accreditation at EFMD Global, which accredits schools.

For decades, MiM and MBA programmes have been seen as mutually exclusive, but the trend of combining both is growing. The MiM targets recent graduates with little or no work experience to provide foundational business knowledge. The MBA, established by Harvard Business School in 1908, is aimed at professionals with several years’ experience — often preparing for senior management roles.

This year, alumni from the MiM at Iese Business School in Spain are joining its new MiM-MBA dual masters degree. In this programme, the MiM counts as year one of Iese’s 15-to-19-month MBA, so graduates can go directly into the second year of the MBA, skipping the business fundamentals that would have comprised the first year. To qualify, alumni need to have three years’ professional work experience.

“This move reflects one way we are responding to the changing needs of aspiring and current executives, who are looking for ways to stay updated amid periods of rapid change,” says Paula Amorim, Iese’s MBA admissions director.

Students on the dual-degree programme pay half the standard MBA fees, which are €105,000 for those starting in September 2024, on top of €47,700 for the MiM.

Jakob Gebendorfer is among five of Iese’s MiM graduates who will join the second year of the MBA this month. After graduating in 2021, he spent three years in the consulting industry; he felt returning to business school would build his leadership abilities more quickly than continuing to work.

“I have seen throughout my career that MBA holders usually advance quicker and further,” Gebendorfer says, adding that the option to skip the first year of the degree made his choice “a no-brainer”.

These changes come as the demand for business masters degrees, including MiMs and excluding MBAs, dropped by 3.4 per cent last year. Demand for MBAs fell 4.9 per cent in 2023, following a boom during the Covid pandemic, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council. GMAC’s data shows, however, that full-time MBAs remain the preferred business degree among prospective students, while MiMs rank second.

Starr Marcello, deputy dean for MBA programmes at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, says gaining a MiM offers students an early entry into the business world, while a subsequent MBA prepares them for leadership roles.

Chicago Booth introduced an accelerated MBA in 2020, allowing graduates of its specialised masters programmes (including the MiM) to put six business courses towards an MBA, completing it in 15 months instead of the usual 21. There is no work experience requirement.

According to business schools, candidates with both degrees can fast-track their career development. Keith Bevans, executive vice-president of global consultant recruiting at Bain & Company, says MiM graduates are relatively rare at the firm, comprising only 5-7 per cent of applicants. Most are hired at an undergraduate entry level, while MBA graduates move into higher positions with larger starting salaries.

Students may take a MiM as a first step towards a future MBA. It’s no longer an either/or decision

But Bevans reckons that having both qualifications would signal a strong commitment to a business career and enhance a job candidate’s credibility. “I think it is a positive development, as it gives us a deeper, richer pool of talent to choose from.”

Ayushi Saxena, who earned her MiM in 2021 from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, then enrolled on the school’s accelerated MBA, graduating in 2022. The programme enables MiM alumni to skip the business fundamentals and go straight into MBA electives — specialised courses — and hands-on projects, graduating in just 10 months. 

“The MBA opened doors to more senior roles and increased responsibilities,” says Saxena, currently a senior project manager based in San Francisco at Schneider Electric, the French software and automation company.

GMAC chief executive Joy Jones expects more MiM alumni to make the same move. “With these types of programmes becoming more popular, we might see more business-school aspirants being more confident about taking a MiM as a first step [towards] and an investment in a future MBA,” she says. “It’s no longer an either/or decision.”