proof of the pudding
Do SA MBAs offer good value for money?
MBA providers face multiple challenges: transformation, pricing, expansion, chocolate …
The question is, which offers better value: an MBA or a helping of chocolate pudding? Why do we ask? Because a complete SA MBA degree course costs considerably less than the sweet. True, the latter, offered by an English country-house hotel, is moulded into the shape of a Fabergé egg, contains champagne jelly and edible gold leaf, and is decorated with a small diamond. But at £20,000, or R400,000, that’s four times the cost of some SA programmes, and over 50% more than the most expensive. At £5,000, a signature London cocktail of vintage cognac and absinthe mixed with bitters outprices two SA degree programmes. Of course, to most South Africans earning rands, SA MBAs (see table "Money, money, money") aren’t cheap. But they are bargain-basement to northern hemisphere students seeking an overseas experience. Some come here, but not in significant numbers. That’s why Rhodes Business School director Owen Skae asks whether SA marketers are paying enough attention to the competitive advan...
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