The Value of an MBA in Product Management

Several months ago a marvelous question about the value of an MBA in Product Management was posted to the Silicon Valley Product Management Association email list. If you subscribe to this email list, you will no doubt lovingly recall the Cranky Product Manager's response, rehashed word for word, below. No doubt, it was the highlight of your inbox that week, and you forwarded it along to you mother in the form of a chain letter (i.e. "forward this to 10 people or your will most certainly overdraw your credit card balance").

Note: You are well within your rights to be disgusted by the CPM's shameless, lazy attempt to pass off an old email as a spankin' new blog post.  Feel free to rate her negatively on Yelp or eBay or something...

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Q: Is an MBA necessary to advance in Product Management to the Senior level, Director level, or beyond? Or can one compensate for the lack of a Masters with strong analytics and high-level strategy and presentation skills?

A: The Cranky Product Manager specializes in cynicism. Thus, her answer: it depends. It depends on whether your boss and boss's boss have MBAs.

If yes, then advancing your career will likely require this illustrious degree. If the big cheeses thought an underling could do an adequate job without forking over $100,000+ for the MBA designation, then you might force them to regret their own education investment. And we can't have that!  No sireee.

If your higher-ups don't have the degree, then they probably pride themselves on their own awesomitude: their innate, genetic business prowess - the kind of natural aptitude and raw talent that would only be hampered by book learning. This kind of uneducated boss regards the MBA as a huge waste of money and time, and MBA holders as ungifted, inexperienced, intuition-challenged, unimaginative  drones.

So, the Cranky Product Manager's advice to you: if you think the LEARNING will be worthwhile for you and will help you become a better product manager, then go for it. Because the piece of paper itself, etched with that marvelous "M.B.A." designation, does not yield any automatic benefits in software product management.  In management consulting and investment banking it does, but not in software.

Yours as a fountain of useful career guidance,

The Cranky Product Manager

Comments

[Chris Scruggs]

What a wonderful blog I have just tumbled to. I couldn't agree more that the reason to get the MBA is for the knowledge you will gain. I recently became a product manager after spending many years in an operational management role. Having just a bachelor's in physics I survived as a manager basically on gut instinct and a bit of wisdom. Pursuing the MBA led to my studies of best practices in strategic marketing, finance, leadership and being able to find my way around a balance sheet without a map and compass.

I have met plenty of business professionals without MBAs that I would have on my team, but I have met surprisingly few MBAs that I wouldn't want on my team.

The MBA catches the eye of employers, but its the solid business knowledge gained through study that keeps 'em coming back for more and paying the big bucks.

[Vikas Bansal]

I think an MBA certainly helps in product management role. My view is that it's utility depends upon one's level within the product management team. For example, the director of product management in my company needs to understand the views from different organisations (sales, marketing, corporate, professional services etc) of a company. In such scenario, having an MBA is of help.

[Gopal Shenoy]

I personally don't have an MBA and have 11 years of software product management experience. In my career, I have met so many folks who have an MBA and my encounter with them makes me wonder what exactly they learnt in the business school. Most of these guys think markets live in spreadsheets and nice looking graphs on a powerpoint slide. I have wondered if they had to let go of their common sense when they got through business school.

Personally, I think to be a good product manager, more than any degree, one needs three important skills
1) Listening skills so that you can listen and empathize with your customers so that you can understand their needs
2) People skills to lead cross functional teams by influence.
3) Communication skills so that you can communicate the benefits of your product to your customer base in a language that they understand

If one masters these three skills and have the willingness to learn other skills you need such as managing the financials of your product, I think one can really succeed as a product manager. My two cents.

[Rick C.]

"In management consulting and investment banking it does, but not in software." In the 8 years since I've earned it, I would agree wholeheartedly. Hasn't yielded any obvious benefits, automatic or otherwise. But I enjoyed learning what I had to learn to obtain it.

[Therese]

MBA's posses a certain 'Je ne sais quoi' when it comes to product management. I'd agree with Leslie that MBAs and PMs are very similar; a little knowledge about different functions goes a long way.

I've known a lot of great product managers without an MBA (myself included). However, I find when I am faced with a question on tactics, I go to a textbook for MBA's.

If you have the time and money, get the degree. But if you want career advancement, learn the fine art of persuasiveness.

[Leslie Osborne]

I'm a Dir. of Product Management who recently got an MBA, but I don't know that my career will necessarily be any better off for it. It was just something I'd always planned to do, so I did it.

I think whether or not you should get an MBA depends on a few things: (1) the political reasons mentioned in your post, (2) what kind and quality of undergrad degree you have, and (3) whether or not you've been a Product Manager for a while (say, 5+ years).

Further on (2), if you've got an undergrad degree in Underwater Fire Prevention, then getting some formal education in the ways of business can be enlightening and useful. And on (3), the Product Management role is a lot like an MBA in and of itself -- you have to know a little about each function within a company to truly be successful -- and that's really all an MBA teaches you anyway.