The pressure is on for IT practitioners in Kenya to prove their business savvy, and job advertisements for ICT Directors are asking for an MBA. Do IT practitioners need an MBA to make it as ICT Directors?

Majority of the Kenyan ICT Directors interviewed by SU's Director of School of Graduate Studies, Dr Freddie Acosta, 52% of whom possessed post-graduate qualifications in various disciplines, said that knowledge of business precedes technical knowledge.

Dr Acosta further  asked IT graduates of Strathmore University with 2-3 years work experience and are aspiring to become ICT Directors their views on the issue. Below are the views he gathered from a sample of 71 graduates.  11% are self-employed, 3% are in top management, 20% in middle management, 39% in lower management, 35% are at support level.

Reasons Why IT Graduates Should Get an MBA

1. MBA is universal and many employers recognize and credit it highly. And an MBA makes it easier to get a management job unlike other Masters degrees.
2. IT professionals need an MBA because the world needs not only technical skills acquired in the undergraduate degree. IT professionals need to think like managers. So yes, an MBA is necessary.
3. One needs an MBA to get into management. You won't get a boardroom seat if all you are good at is opening CPU boxes and clipping cables.
4. MBA holders often have better salaries. My boss got her position because  she had an MBA. Her salary is almost four times mine and it seems I am doing all the donkey work in the products and software that we produce.
5. MBA holders are more trusted to hold managerial positions than non-holders. For an IT person who wants to scale the corporate ladder, it is an absolute must.
6. An MBA gives individuals greater 'business sense' - especially where s/he is from an IT background.

Reasons Why IT Graduates Should Not Get an MBA

1. The entry requirements for a good MBA are very high i.e. you need to have a lot of experience and sometimes to have worked at management level.
2. In our Kenyan way of doing things most management level positions will always are highly priced: a few years experience and some well known referees because a management position is a sensitive appointment and many companies will not dish out such positions to just anybody.
3. Most of those who have made it as entrepreneurs have not done an MBA. They go for classes after their businesses are stable and running. The bottom-line is for an entrepreneur, an MBA might not be necessary as his zeal and passion for what he does might be sufficient.
4. A good MBA is pricey
5. I guess the challenge for any formal education program is to produce people capable of innovation that will better themselves and their employers. Very many people have MBAs and they are not in management positions. This can be frustrating and could lead to under-performance in current position.
6. People pursue 'careers' that fulfill them. Some may find fulfillment in looking after babies at a children's home. MBA may not be necessary for that.

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