MBA Brands During Recession
So what does a brand mean during a recession? That is the real question. Does your brand gain or lose value in a recession? Have you positioned yourself to be seen as a “luxury” that can be done without, a “value” brand that everybody needs, an “affordable luxury”, or as a brand that “is worth the price” because your customer doesn’t have to repurchase every week?
Certain companies have stood by their luxury brand – such as A&F – and that has not yielded the greatest results. On the flip side you have Wal-Mart that is doing very well because of how they have positioned themselves from day one. Both brands are sticking to what they feel their brand stands for, which makes sense for Wal-Mart and takes guts (and deep pockets) for A&F. It is interesting to note that Wal-Mart has tried to position itself as more like a “Target” in recent years and now they are back to the basics.
How does all of this relate to what I term “MBA brands”?
With the economy as it is companies are going to hire “Smart people who get things done“, not just anybody. They are focusing the available resources so that every dollar is well spent. Efficiency is key when resources are limited. These are basic statements that I think everybody should be on board with. That leads me to my next point:
MBA brands, the school you are attending for an MBA, become more important as the economy declines.
Let me break it down how I see it.
When everything in the economy was good, companies loved to hire the MBAs and were basically going under the assumption that a certain skill set was going to come with somebody that had an MBA. There was, and is, a premium placed on the top schools and companies were not always willing to fork over the extra money. Companies, overall, had the school of thought that an MBA is an MBA. Sure one may be slightly better than another, but not all that much.
In a down economy there is much talk of people going back to school because they no longer have a job. Clearly this will saturate the market with MBAs. How does a company filter out people? There are many criteria, but I think that the brand of the MBA will increase in importance. The brand of a top MBA program tells a company that this person is, in essence, “guaranteed” to be a quality candidate for the job – at least in terms of experience and skills gained from an MBA.
I think this is interesting because it is fundamentally different than how people spend their money during a downturn. They tend to do away with the brand they normally pick in favor of the store brand or “Sam’s Choice” sort of goods. They are willing to sacrifice a little quality to get more with the money they have. The “Great Value” peanut butter is basically the same as “Jiff” but costs less. Why not get it?
With a company, the company is going to put an increased focus on the quality of the MBA more so than in the past. The brand, both your individual brand and other brands you carry with you, such as an MBA, will make or break deals.
This has been a Thought From The Cake Scraps.
I’m not confident that companies necessarily see “top MBA programs” as the primary indicator of “smart people who get things done”. I tend to think that your educational credentials (school, GPA, major, etc.) are key in getting you considered, getting “in the door”. With other credentials equal, will a MBA from a “top school” be significantly more effective in getting you considered than an MBA from a “good school”? I don’t know the answer to that question…just would muse that perhaps in lean times, a firm might be more inclinded to take a look at a “good school” candidate who might be available for $10K a year less salary than a “top school” candidate.
@Al I don’t disagree that there may be downward pressure on compensation, salary and otherwise, in the current market conditions. That said, if a candidate from a ‘top school’ will take the lower salary then I still think that a person is in a more competitive position. The main point being that the brand of the MBA may matter a bit more in lean times.