Martoma: What Makes An MBA Go Wrong?

The Next Big Thing at B-Schools: Big Data

It’s the next big thing, they say. It will revolutionize everything from marketing to voter turnout. Call it what you will: “Big data,” “analytics,” or “number crunching.” Forget making rush decisions with incomplete information. Instead, combine mountainous data with the ability to quickly slice-and-dice from nearly any angle? Now, companies can identify emerging trends to design better solutions and target the most profitable markets. If you’re an ambitious graduate student, you can easily see that big data means big money.

And business schools have taken notice. Programs like the University of Southern California, Arizona State University, and Michigan State University are already offering master’s degrees in big data. And the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will soon be following suit. It’s a huge draw, as evidenced by Arizona State, where 300 students applied for 87 spots in the school’s business analytics master’s program. And it can be popular with employers too, with MBAs and M.S. degree holders who went through the school’s Business Analytics program earning $90,000 and $75,000 respectively.

So which employers are looking for data jockeys? Try all of the big names. For example, USC’s corporate advisory board includes senior executives at Boeing, Disney, Ford, and General Electric. For example, Melissa Lora, who heads Taco Bell International for Yum Brands, Inc., tells the Wall Street Journal that her organization is looking for data jockeys who can synthesize, sort, and pinpoint patterns related to restaurant service speed and product quality. Similarly, Nate Bruin-Slot, a customer-experience manager at General Motors, needs help in mining “vast quantities of information, and look for trends in customer and dealer behavior.”

In other words, there’s no shortage of work in the field. Question is, are graduates ready to step in and take charge?

Florian Zettelmeyer, who oversees Northwestern Kellogg’s Program on Data Analytics, has some doubts. While Kellogg offers courses in data analytics, it hasn’t established a program around it – and for good reason. “These one-year masters programs are creating a type of person who is neither fish nor fowl,” Zettelmeyer warns. “We fear they’re neither as competent with data as real data scientists, nor have the leadership skills that you really need to drive change in analytics.”

Just don’t tell that to students, who are rushing in to fill the void. “I want to be at the forefront,” says Ayushi Agrawal, one of the lucky 87 students to earn a spot in Carey’s business analytics program. Until this bubble bursts, expect more students like Agrawal to follow her lead.

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Source: Wall Street Journal