Write:Gamze Gönen, Illustrasyon: Necip Şahin

A Magic Touch For Your Career

Providing answers to the question of how to manage a business, MBA(Master of Business Administration) programs call out to the CEO inside you.

“I’m a mechanical engineer. I worked for two years at a public institution previously. The limits of engineering are clear careerwise, there isn’t a very long road ahead of you, actually. Some time later I started to wonder what else I might do. Observing other programs or fields of business, I learned to ask the right questions for my career.

What is it that is really needed?

I, on my own, sought the answer to this question both for myself and for the industry. When researching, I saw that the most satisfying response to my own and the industry’s demands was provided in MBA programs. My priority was to understand fully the subject in which I was lacking. I noticed that because I was an engineer, I was a stranger to many issues in the administrative stage. And so I applied to the MBA program of a private university. I can say that I underwent an educational process more intense than I had imagined. But afterward, it definitely is worth the toil. It’s been two years since I graduated. In these two years, I transitioned from the public sector to a management position in the private sector.

My MBA changed not only my position, but also my perspective on the work I do. I learned to see multidimensionally in each stage of the work I do,” says Metin. His own experience paints part of a much larger picture. The new holders of positions once passed down from father to son in business are now being determined through MBA (Master of Business Administration) programs. Established in the 1940s to turn American engineers into managers, the program today opens the door toward becoming CEO for millions of people around the world. We put together a beginner’s road map for this program in which you can find answers to all your questions regarding the management and decision-making process.

The cost of the first step
You will take toward becoming an MBA is quite variable, ranging from 4,500 to 40,000 Turkish liras depending on the kind of MBA (e-MBA, Executive MBA, and/or MBA with and without a thesis requirement), the language of instruction (Turkish or English, for example), and the university in question.

MBA in Five Steps

1. The Program Content

The purpose of an MBA program is to raise managers able to adapt to changes in the field of business,who are experienced and entrepreneurial, and well versed in such matters as finance, marketing, and human resources. Will such a program give you the chance to develop yourself in the areas of your professional life in which you feel you might be lacking? Your feelings upon seeing the program content will give you the correct answer.

2. The Program’s Duration

If you have responsibilities to take care of—like work—besides focusing on the program alone, you would do well to select a program that won’t interfere with your daily tempo and will allow you to use the time you set aside productively.

3. The Presentation of the Material

Even in the case of programs incorporating nontraditional learning methods, you should find out whether you are part of an online, one-on-one, conference, or project group so you don’t find yourself unprepared.

4. Networking Benefits

The institution at which you will study for an MBA must have a university partner abroad, where the same education is provided simultaneously. Visits you make to the partner institution or teleconferences can open windows for you in other countries.

5. Program Tuition

Worldwide, tuition for students in MBA programs can be paid by the institutions employing them. Although this may not be a widespread practice in Turkey, there are indeed examples of it. If your company won’t pay for your tuition, you should research scholarship options or apply for educational loans.

An essential step for management positions, MBA programs change not only your lives, but also the classical conception of them.

Green MBA
The Green MBA is a program aimed to further financial capacity, ecological sustainability, and social rights in the workplace. It draws a roadmap for students geared especially toward nature and also for the productivity of human and financial capital and the sustainable utilization of it, as well as adapting to current global changes we now face. It raises conscious individuals on behalf of the business world for sustainable development, the popular economic model of the twenty years ahead of us and afterward.

Food Management MBA
In this program, which is aimed to develop international agricultural product marketing methods and retailing concepts, students are involved in the economic aspect of the food industry. Food safety, risk management, and international food policies are subjects you will encounter frequently in this program.

Health Care MBA Specialization
This program combines the concepts of ethics, globalism, and leadership. In addition to examining the health care industry with its own internal dynamics, it questions the role of the sector within the global economy, presenting a multidimensional point of view to those who wish to professionalize in the health care field.