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MBA
programs generally allow students to test their ideas in a
risk-free environment, suggests educators at the
Harvard
Business School, which has offered courses in
entrepreneurship for more than a half century.
Such
programs are increasingly being recognized. Harvard, for
example, has won the top award for MBA programs nationwide
from the United States Association for Small Business and
Entrepreneurship (USASBE).
"The judges were
impressed with the breadth and depth of our entrepreneurship
program, with 31 faculty in the Entrepreneurial Management
unit and another 30 in other units whose work is directly
related to entrepreneurship," says Michael J. Roberts,
senior lecturer and executive director of the School's
Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.
But if you thought such entrepreneurship efforts were only
for small businesses or start-up companies, think again.
"Entrepreneurship
is really more than just business start-ups and high-growth
small businesses. Big companies are looking for people with
an entrepreneurial mindset," says Thomas E. Moore, dean of
Babson College's F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.
Typically, the Olin program's entire
first year of the program is driven by an entrepreneurial
model. Questions include: how do you assess business
opportunity? How do you develop a business plan? How do you
sell the idea? How do you bring the opportunity together
with the right people and the right resources to create
value?
"After
the first year, I think all of our students have an
entrepreneurial mindset," says Moore.
"In the second year, we offer students a host of
electives that range from courses in basic entrepreneurship
– where they put together a business plan and learn how to
sell it – to courses on entrepreneurial finance and
entrepreneurial marketing."
The same principles of
basic business dealings that entrepreneurs use to be
successful also apply to corporations, says Wharton School's
Cieri. So the bottom line is that getting an MBA is a
valuable pursuit for just about anyone – whether
you consider yourself an entrepreneur or not – in today’s
business world.
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