To get an MBA or an MA in communication?

And, as Hamlet learned the hard way, there is no single or simple answer to such a seemingly plain question.

In almost any profession these days, a graduate degree has become standard fare. Expected. Like a bachelor's was 25 years ago. Prospering in today's increasingly complex, cross-functional, internationalized work place demands more of an individual than ever before - more skills, more knowledge, more wherewithal, more everything. So which is best for a professional communicator who wants to grow, an MBA or a master's in communication? It comes down to two unavoidably frustrating words - it depends.

On what? Mostly your professional aspirations. But also on your educational and work background, your skills set and your perseverance.

Looking Beyond Today

The MBA or M.A. question can't be answered before addressing several other questions first. One such pivotal question is: What skills and knowledge will you, as a communication professional, need to be successful in the future that you don't have now? (Interpretation: What competencies do you need to boost your credibility?) And closely aligned with that question is this one: Do you see yourself as primarily a business person who's also a communication specialist, or a communication specialist who just happens to work in a business setting? (Interpretation: What role do you want to play in your organization or with clients?)

How you respond to those questions will go a long way toward determining whether an MBA or master's in communication is right for you. In other words, before you can know how to prepare yourself for the future, you have to first figure out what you want to be when you grow up. Simple enough.

Yeah, right.

Communication and business, once viewed as separate and unequal, have become uneasy partners. An odd couple, perhaps, each increasingly dependent on the other. This raises a dilemma pervading the work place and the college campus: Communication people need to become more business savvy and business people need to become more communication savvy. How savvy is savvy enough may be the critical issue. Which, of course, immediately launches another parade of sub-questions about how best to educate communication - and business - folks. One thing's for sure, though. Neither group gets enough information about the other.

MBAers Coming Up Short

Take the business side. Consider a statement that appeared in the October/November 1996 Communication World: "About 98 percent of the MBAs take at least one workshop [in communication] during their time at Stanford."

The words - spoken with unabashed pride - are those of Barbara Kent of Stanford University's management communication program. They appeared in an article by Indiana MBA student John Williams titled "Top Business Schools See Value of Communication Skills," which looked at nine prominent MBA programs' attempts to teach communication to wannabe managers.

The statement raises the hair on the back of my neck. One workshop. One "whole" workshop in a two-year program designed to prepare the next wave of business leaders. That's got to be, what, several hours or maybe a full day's worth of exposure to communication. Plenty, right? It's not the words themselves that rankle me. They are factually correct: More MBA programs today, particularly top-tier programs like Stanford and Dartmouth, are offering something communication-wise. A workshop. A module within a course. Maybe even a full-fledged course.

What fries my mind is the article's tone, its unspoken, misleading and alarming message: What's being taught in MBA programs today, while more than it used to be (something is better than nothing, especially when nothing is the norm), represents ultimate victory. The most we can hope for.

I couldn't disagree more.

As I see it, we're barely halfway up the mountain. Way too early to hoist the flag and sip champagne. The truth is, according to many business employers and research, MBA graduates today are unprepared to enter a work place where the manager's role is fast shifting from order-giver to team-builder. Take, for example, findings from a 1995 U.S. nationwide study (by Donn Silvis, ABC, of California State University, Dominguez Hills; Bob Rayfield, Ph.D., APR; graduate student Mu-Chen Chang of California State University, Fullerton; and me) of 215 MBA programs' use of communication education. It revealed that only half require any type of communication training. As disappointing and disturbing as such results are, the survey, which replicated a similar one we did in 1991, nevertheless represents an improvement over five years earlier when 70 percent said they required no communication training whatsoever of MBA candidates.

On a higher note, our study uncovered the emergence of tangible signs that contemporary MBA administrators and faculty have glimpsed the light of communication and are stirring to its warmth. But it's far more promise than discernible trend at this stage. Yet, there's no denying that today's MBA students tomorrow's CEOs? - are getting more and better communication training than their predecessors did. New realities begin with realistic hope.

But are communication professionals getting enough about business?

Communicators Lacking, Too

Not even close. If I said it once, I said it a thousand times to public relations majors seeking advice about elective courses during my 12 years on the communication side of academe: "Take courses in marketing, economics, finance...learn the basic concepts and language of business so you can be part of the decision-making discussion." Communication schools teach students to be communicators, period. Not business communicators. And certainly not business professionals.

Year after year, employers of communication majors, whether public corporations, agencies or nonprofit organizations, demand students better prepared to make it in business. That lament caused me to change the way I taught. For example, in my Principles of Public Relations course, I developed an annual report module in which students - usually for the first time - were forced to see an annual report as more than pretty photographs and euphemistic copy, but as a strategic business tool requiring them to confront terms like ROI and brand management. Rare is the public relations major who can overcome the "fear of numbers" and minor in business administration (e.g., 18-21 units); more typically, it's a single course in marketing, if a seat can be secured.

Upon arriving at the University of Arkansas last year, I was struck by the irony that the B-school and C-school buildings were 20 yards apart. Yet, it didn't take long before I realized they might as well have been 20 miles apart for all the collaboration between the schools and faculties. Sadly, a version of that scenario is played out on most campuses - programs that need what the other offers remain strangers. To their own, and their students', detriment. Why? Regrettably, it usually has more to do with politics than academic imperatives. Things like turf protection. Discipline snobbery. Fear of contamination. Stuff like that.

Is it no wonder, then, that most communication professionals today continue struggling against senior executives' long-held perception that they are little more than message mongers, wordsmiths, who lack basic business knowledge and know-how? Which brings me back to the original question - an MBA or master's? - and my flip answer: It depends. In large measure, it depends on whether you want to be a business manager first and foremost or a communication specialist first and foremost. Both types are needed. The skills required of each role differ and, therefore, so does the preparation. But - and I can't stress this "but" enough - regardless of your answer, take steps to bolster your business knowledge and competencies.

There's No Business Like "Real" Business

On first blush, you might think this question blatantly obvious. What's to think about? You're a communicator, so logic dictates you learn more about communication. Get the master's. After all, that's your field. Case closed. Well...

You're a communicator, yes, but who in the work place isn't at one time or another? But aren't you also a business person? Too often, communication people view themselves as segregated from the so-called "business" people, the suits upstairs wearing black hats. The profit mongers, the budget slashers. And never the twain shall meet. A big mistake that does nobody any good, especially the communicators who're already on the short end of the organizational power continuum.

My advice - be a business person. Or, if that shoe doesn't quite fit, be more of a business person, whichever graduate degree you seek. Learn to act like a business person, talk like a business person, think like a business person. That's where much of your value-added lies. Why is it that those who specialize in finance or accounting or operations are considered "business" people, virtually equal in status in each others' eyes, yet those who specialize in communication are considered "communicators," the word-gurus, perceived as less than equal? It's all about being one of those people - the business people.

To repeat, be a business person. After that, be a communication specialist to whatever extent you prefer and/or your organization needs you to be. This may seem like a subtle distinction, perhaps even an insignificant one, but it isn't. It, in essence, will define you and shape your mindset, your priorities and your organizational role - thus revealing your best advised learning path.

In this Corner: the MBA

Why even consider the MBA? Well, in the business world, it is the recognized "union card," your entree to membership in the club. Aside from the business knowledge and skills you accumulate, it anoints you with instant credibility. Not fair necessarily, but true. It's the first step toward gaining acceptance as a bona fide business professional.

But is the MBA for you, given where you're heading? Graduate degrees are like writing styles; one is never exactly like another. A fundamental difference between an MBA and master's is this: an MBA is a generalized, professional degree and a master's is a specialized, research-driven degree. MBA curricula may differ among competitors, but none stresses research, as master's programs do.

From university to university, masters' in communication vary in the degree to which they balance research and theory vs. professional orientation. That difference in emphasis is worth checking out, depending on your needs. As advanced degrees, both MBA and master's programs assume students possess a certain fundamental knowledge of the field coming in. For those who don't, it can mean going back to basics before going forward. Which can take time.

Typically, communication folks entering MBA studies face 15-30 units in prerequisite coursework (e.g., accounting, economics, statistics) before qualifying for MBA-level courses. Meaning you may be looking at a semester or two of prep work before qualifying for the one-to-two-year MBA program (full-time, that is). MBA curricula usually are comprised of a common core content (ABCs of business) followed by a package of electives constituting a concentration or specialization (e.g., retailing, international business).

And in this Corner: the M.A.

The MBA isn't for everybody, however. You've weighed the options and prefer being a communication specialist. So now you face investing a year or two (fulltime) in obtaining an master's in an area of communication. Here are several points to consider. First, if you're just finishing your bachelor's forget about a master's for now - go work for a few years. That experience will give you a richer context and sharper focus, both of which are likely to change over time, through which to decide about which graduate degree is for you. You'll know better why you want the degree and what you want from it to propel your career forward (e.g., mix of courses).

Second, study an area of communication other than the one you majored in as an undergraduate or specialize in now. In other words, expand your scope rather than retraveling the same road. Avoid duplication. Take elective courses outside of communication - in business or other cognate areas such as psychology or sociology or political science. If an internship or volunteer on-the-job experience is part of the program, grab it; if it isn't, pursue it on your own. Most nonprofit organizations can be superb proving grounds and welcome student consultants with open arms.

Third, whatever communication niche you choose to study, mix in some business education. Take elective courses in organizational behavior or marketing management or investor relations. Do your research assignments on, or in, business organizations. Get familiar with the expanding business databases and body of literature. Read Fortune and Business Week and Forbes.

Make it your business to be a "business" person.

So, What's the Answer?

An MBA or master's in communication? Yes.

Like most career decisions, this one has no black or white answers. It depends. For my money, it comes down to discovering the communication-business mix that best fits your career ambitions. But one no longer exists without the other. Communication and business are increasingly viewed by those who matter as comrades, not adversaries. Joined together, each becomes stronger.

At a recent meeting of our Dean's Executive Advisory Board, I asked a room full of company presidents what they most want to see in an MBA graduate. "Somebody who's articulate, persuasive and can read a balance sheet - in that order," piped up one among them.

All heads nodded.

Another quickly added, "Actually, that goes for any graduate student entering the business world."

That's when my head started nodding.

MBA

PROs

* business' "union" card

* instant credibility

* learn to speak and understand "business"

CONs

* "catch up" time (15-30 units of prerequisites)

* dealing with "numbers"

* limited emphasis on communication and research

MA

PROs

* develop communication specialty

* enhance research skills

* limited time commitment (few, if any, prerequisites)

CONs

* limited, if any, exposure to business topics

* restricts future professional options

* primarily research-focused

J. David Pincus is MBA director and research professor of communication, college of business administration, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He served as a faculty member in the public relations sequence of the communication department at California State University, Fullerton, from 1983 to 1995.

COPYRIGHT 1997 International Association of Business Communicators
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group