Pakistan does not need more BBAs & MBAs

Republished with permission from the lootmaar blog.

Last time I was in Karachi, Jehan invited me to a bloggers meet-up at t2f to honor Self Exile’s adventurous motorbike exploration of Pakistan. Other than Jehan and I, there about 4-5 other bloggers on the table – and as is usually the case with our generation, each one of them had a burning desire, veiled by light-hearted jokes and banter, to make the world a better place. Not necessarily in a touch-feely, NGO-type way, but by doing cutting edge work, fostering entrepreneurship and empowering others.

As the conversation veered towards education, one of the guys on the table asked me if one needs an MBA to be successful. To be sure, I’m only qualified to answer that question, not by any illusions of success, but the clarity of failure. That afternoon I gave an uncontroversial answer: it depends. If you want a career in management consulting or investment banking or brand management (i.e. In Pakistan: selling soap at Unilever), then an MBA might make sense. But you don’t NEED an MBA to be a successful entrepreneur: some would say its quite the opposite.

At the macroscopic level MBAs (and especially BBAs) do not significantly contribute to the competitive edge of a nation. That responsibility lies with engineers and scientists. It also rests with artists, writers and other cultural leaders – not MBAs. For any country, especially one like Pakistan, to be competitive, we need to build stuff to solve pressing problems in the world. Energy efficient water purification, pest resistant crop, natural language search, portable micro-labs, AIDS vaccines, implantable insulin pumps – that’s the kind of stuff we need to build. Paintings, movies, novels, calligraphy, ceramics, architecture, fashion – that’s the kind of stuff we need to export.

MBAs can help you re-engineer business processes. They can teach you about talent management. They can do a Porters 5-forces to help you understand the obvious. They can charge jaw-dropping amounts to underwrite your IPO. But they can only do that if you, mr. entrepreneur, set up a billion dollar business around patented technology that helps you solve real problems. We need more engineers, not MBAs.

An MBA is not a futile degree. If are you are a sitar maestro who has never read a balance sheet, an MBA can open a new world rich with business possibility and ambition. If you’ve spent 4 years researching the nuances of micro-biology, an MBA can accelerate your career through the business ranks. An MBA gives you the opportunity to build a network that spans the globe. But to derive real value from an MBA, you need to have substance going in. In Pakistan, however, this substance is often missing.

Most kids I come across want to study business management to take a “managerial position” right after undergrad. Often, you have a thousand kids competing for 4 odd MT positions at Unilever or P&G so they can push pre-formated marketing campaigns to the unwitting Pakistani populace. And the 996 who are the unable to get in then return to business school to learn more of what they will never need.

We need our smartest kids to take up engineering and science so they can solve the world’s problems and not squander their potential by enrolling into BBA/MBA programs.

- Adnan

Republished with permission from the lootmaar blog.