Don’t pick Tier-2 General Management Programs

When I was working with a technology multinational, six years back, a Manager used to come to our desk and ask us one question “What is the Status?” During the initial part of the project, the question seemed cute, but while we were in the middle of a breakthrough, animatedly discussing the pros and cons of a solution, the interruptions began to affect our productivity. After responding to the annoying question in the same way as last time – “We are working on the solution,” my colleague gushed “I would like that job.” He created nothing. The only job he did was reporting. This was during the cusp of the 2008 Financial Meltdown, and General Managers were in great demand. Add to it, he was an MBA. With the Financial meltdown, he was among the first group of Managers who were fired. These rare breeds of Managers, who are valued during a market boom, and looked down upon during busts, are what we call “Middle Managers.”

Zappos move to “Holacracy” – a self-governing, flat organization structure where there are no Managers has been reported with suspicion, for one the motivation to climb the ladder is removed from the career path. When productivity becomes the only metric to measure performance, the workforce might feel disoriented. Over 200+ Employees resigned from Zappos. They didn’t find any motivation to work in an organization where there was no transition in Job Titles.

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos is leading the change in Employment trends, which indicates that from 2014 to 2064, the net Employment rate will grow by just 0.3 percent annually.

The employment rates are already declining in Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia. Companies will have to increase their productivity growth rate to 3.3% per year, an 80% increase from current rates.

Productivity and scheduling tools have aided companies, but eventually CEOs will start investing in information systems that will bypass the chain of commands from Middle Managers. The transition is likely to hit Auto, Healthcare, Retail and IT industries where tools are already in place to monitor performance.

For an MBA Aspirant, this means understanding the risks of investing in a General Management program. An MBA gives you the quick leap from Entry-level hierarchies to middle-level Management. Apart from tier-1 programs, the Harvards and Stanfords, if you are considering any General Management program with investments of over $50,000 per year in tuition fee, think again. There is no point investing 2-years of life to be the jack-of-all-trades unless you can leverage the brand value of the Business School.

Eventually, you will be an industry or functional expert. “The knowledge required to understand how various departments interoperate,” will be a phrase used only in Harvard and Stanford MBA Application Essays. They should not be your real motivation.