BSBM-->MBA-QM or MSQA

I posted this also in the ASQ discussion boards. I wanted to get as much feedback as possible. Also, not many people frequent both boards. Except maybe Wes, Bill P. and others regualrs here.

I recently graduated with my BS Business Management degree. I'm now at an impasse as to where I should take my graduate degree direction.

I have a technical background 10+ years from the military, aerospace, and power generation industries respectively. Although I'm not an engineer, I've worked along side them for a number of years now all the while serving in a quality role... (inspector, technician, engineer tech/aid and associate). I'm taking my CQE this year as well as other ASQ certs later on down the road.

Having said that, many similar posts I've read here and on the ASQ boards are mostly by people with engineering/statistics backgrounds. I however have a business management degree with a number of years in industry as a quality professional (non-management).

The question I have is with my background and a bachelor's degree in business management, should I pursue a MBA with a QM core, or pursue the MSQA? I have figured out a direction career wise I want to go in, but I would like some outside input and experiences from others familiar with this that might help me see more than I would on my own in this regard.

Rob

Do the MBA thing. It allows more versatility and more lateral/verticle potential. Focus on the finance end with a background in quality.

Ask yourself the question..."How many "Quality" professionals are CEO's and COO's of major corporations?" You answer will be zilch.

The world and business revolve around finance/profit and quality is just one of the mechanisms involved in the equation.

Do you want to be in the wings playing a support role or do you want to be in the forefront playing a true leadership role?

I agree with Randy-get the MBA, with that the Business Management and the CQE you can pick you direction and go to thetop if you want to do it.

I vote for MSEM: masters in engineering management. You get all the MBA classes, with a great focus on starting or running a business AND the more techie stuff like project management, quality management, ops management, etc. Most of these programs have a specialization track that allows you to specify a more technical program like project management or quality management.

Try www.msoe.edu or Marquette University, both in Milwaukee. I am an MSOE grad, and have been very happy with my training and education in the program, especially when I started my own firm.

Forgot to mention that with the MSEM at MSOE, about 30% of the people in the program had undergrads in business.

--QG

Decisions Decisions

Thanks everyone,

Did I mention that the program would either have to be commutable from my house, or online?

Goddess, the MSEM look interesting but I didn't see any other forum but on campus.

Rob

The MBA has more value to business in general than almost any other degree. The average starting salary for an MBA is in excess of $100K. There aren't too many quality or engineering folks that can do that out of the box.

Randy said:

The average starting salary for an MBA is in excess of $100K.

Click to expand...

Not quite. Have a look here: http://www.collegejournal.com/salarydata/mba/mbas.html

MBA graduates from the top business schools have median starting compensation (including benefits and signing bonuses) of over $100K, but those folks are probably in the top 10% of all MBAs:

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/compensation.asp

OK...I didn't qualify the statement to include the bennies.

Anyway, compare the salary for an MBA to the salaries from the last survey in QD or QP and you'll see the difference.