What Should You Study? Finance vs. Marketing MBAs
George Harrison, in his final album Brainwashed, has a line in a song that goes, “We pay the price with a spin of a wheel / with a roll of a dice / Ah yeah, you pay your fare and if you don’t know where you’re going / any road will take you there.”
Kings of the North: Should You Get a Part-Time MBA in Chicago or Toronto?
In many ways, Chicago and Toronto are very similar world class cities: Both are situated on a Great Lake, host an “Original Six” hockey team, and both metros suffer from “second city” inferiority complexes. Both metros also have plenty of competitive business school options for professionals who want to earn an MBA. Continue reading…
The Life and Career of Edwin G. Booz and James L. Allen – Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton is one of the world’s largest and most recognizable management consulting firms. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia in the Washington DC metro, the firm boasts 24,225 employees working in more than 80 offices around the globe.
The firm has gone through several name changes in its 100 years of existence, including: Edwin G. Booz, Business Engineering Service; Edwin G. Booz Surveys; Edwin G. Booz and Fry Surveys; Booz, Fry, Allen & Hamilton; Booz, Allen & Hamilton; and finally Booz Allen Hamilton. Today, we’ll focus on two of those names, and the men behind them: Edwin G. Booz and James L. Allen, both Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management graduates.
Early Upbringing and Education
Born in Reading, PA in 1887, Edwin George Booz obtained his Bachelor’s degree in economics in 1912 and his Master’s degree in psychology in 1914 from the Kellogg School of Management. After earning his Master’s, Booz founded Booz Allen Hamilton in 1914 in Chicago, originally under the name The Business Research Service.
However, he was drafted into the Army as a private due to World War I in September 1917, and rose to the rank of major. He worked with the War Department in Washington DC to reorganize the business methods of its various bureaus.
Booz left the Army in March 1919 and returned to his business, servicing bankers, manufacturers, advertising agencies, wholesalers, sales managers, publishers, real estate operators, and other enterprises. He would go on to lead the firm as its chairman until 1946, and continued to work part-time for clients and to mentor the next generation of leaders until his death in 1951.
Meanwhile, James L. Allen was born November 21, 1904, in Somerset, Kentucky. He was raised on a farm, educated in public schools, and graduated from Somerset High School in 1921. In 1922, he left the small town for Chicago where he worked at several jobs and attended night school. Allen graduated in 1929 with a B.S. degree in Economics from the Kellogg School of Management.
After graduating, Allen joined Booz’s firm, Edwin G. Booz Surveys, in 1929. He was named a partner in 1936, and focused on developing business strategy, personnel, and organization studies. In the early ’40s, Allen and Booz worked for the U.S. Military leading up to World War II.
Allen was named chairman of Booz Allen Hamilton in 1946, and held that position until 1970. During this time, the firm enjoyed steady growth as it increased its number of partners, staff, and locations. He was named honorary chairman in 1970 and remained involved with Booz Allen Hamilton until his death in 1992.
CHECK THIS OUT: How Chicago Business Schools are Helping Low-Income Students
About the Company
Booz Allen first went public in 1970 with an initial offering of 500,000 shares at $24 per share. In 1976 public trading ceased after Booz Allen’s partners bought back stock in the largest-ever leveraged buyout involving a consulting firm. Years later, in 2007, managing director Marc Gerencser explained that being privately held allowed the firm to consider long-range investments that companies beholden to shareholders might not be able to make.
In June 2012, Booz Allen expanded its operations in North Africa and the Middle East, bringing offices to countries like Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Booz Allen specifically helped the Government of the United Arab Emirates a sort of National Security Agency for that country. The New York Times reported that the company “profits handsomely from its worldwide expansion.”
In 2014, Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation was awarded a “Top 2014 Workplace” by the Washington Post.
Legacy
Edwin Booz’s name is immortalized as the only name to remain with the firm from its humble beginnings through today. He believed that he could help companies prosper by bringing them “a human touch” and insisted that “people, not products” were the focus of work. This approach gave birth to the modern management consulting profession.
Meanwhile, Jim Allen’s legacy lives on at the Kellogg School of Business at the James L. Allen Center. According to Kellogg, the Center hosts more than 6000 executives each year for one or more of the school’s 160 executive education programs. Considered “an academic retreat,” the Allen Centers offers living and learning spaces to the Kellogg community. Technologically enabled classrooms and comfortable gathering and group study spaces facilitate peer learning and informal interactions among faculty and participants. Additional amenities include indoor workout areas and outdoor exercise programs along the Lake Michigan shoreline provide opportunities for the occasional (and necessary) break and breather.
How Chicago Business Schools are Helping Low-Income Students
Business school doesn’t come cheap, which often means that prospective students who could benefit the most from the lucrative career opportunities that come with an MBA either don’t end up at top tier programs or don’t end up applying at all.
The flip side is that MBA programs now more than ever desperately need more diverse perspectives in their classrooms—yet it seems the same ol’ folks end up in these slots every year. Many in academia are woefully ill equipped to meet the challenges of a more diverse and inclusive business landscape but there are a handful of MBA programs that have begun to catch up and take strides to make business educations more accessible to qualified low-income applicants.
The Chicago metro just so happens to be packed to the gills with high-ranking MBAs that take initiative to help promising candidates. Let’s take a deeper dive into four of our favorite Chicago MBA programs that have historically lent a hand to low-income students.
Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management
Situated just above the city limits on Chicago’s North Shore (see: John Hughes movies), the Kellogg School of Management is among the nation’s most coveted MBA programs—and among the most generous too. Kellogg offers a variety of different scholarships based on merit or financial need for newly admitted students and rising second-year students, as well as external scholarship resources through the Office of Fellowships for Graduate Students.
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Director of Admissions Melissa Rapp explains that Kellogg understands that funding a business school education can be challenging. “To help students meet this challenge, a variety of merit scholarships are offered, including diversity scholarships, such as James P. Gorter Scholarship which is awarded to under-represented backgrounds in the Two-Year MBA or MMM program, and academic, professional or special interest scholarships, such as the Health Enterprise Management Scholarship which is awarded to an outstanding student interested in pursuing a career in healthcare.”
UIC’s Liautaud Graduate School of Business
UIC Business provides opportunities to empower graduate students with a dynamic, proven, business education, and an immersive city experience that enhances both quality of life and career opportunities. Many UIC Business students have financial need and the school makes a point to acknowledge its dedicated staff of advisors who help every student navigate the financial aid process. Alanna O’Connor, Assistant Dean for Student Recruitment and Sid Balachandran, Program Director, explains:
“As a state institution we strive to maintain costs for students and are committed to providing a world-class business education at a campus nationally recognized for its diversity. We offer our competitive programming at a more affordable value than some of our peer schools. The affordability of our program is an important part of providing a high return on investment. Multiple tuition waivers, scholarships, assistantships—teaching or research—are also are available for students who qualify.”
Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business
The Mendoza College of Business walks the walk when it comes to a socially engaged, community-centered vision of business. Part of that mission entails actively courting and supporting stellar applicants who might demonstrate need, particularly women through the Forte fellows program.
“As a sponsor school for the Forte Foundation, Notre Dame is committed to launching women into successful business careers. Forte Fellows are recognized for their academic aptitude, leadership, and future potential,” the school notes. “Forte Fellows are granted special access to the Forte community, including leadership conference access, mentoring and career development opportunities, and network development.”
It also means that students with deep interests in corporate social responsibility might do well to apply to Mendoza. According to Mendoza, it awards more than 65 percent of one-year MBA students merit-based fellowships based on “academic performance, prior work experience, GMAT or GRE scores, leadership potential, letters of recommendation, and each applicant’s personal statement.”
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management
In its commitment to “attract and develop outstanding leaders who change lives,” Lake Forest has a number of MBA-centric fellowships and scholarships:
- The President’s Scholarship supports “proven leaders who have achieved measurable results, demonstrate a high level of self-awareness and adaptability, and are committed to developing their leadership potential.”
- The Emerging Leaders scholarship supports students who “demonstrate exceptional leadership potential and show the ability and desire to deliver meaningful results, think innovatively, and gain a heightened level of self-awareness.”
- The $3,510-7,000 Leadership Scholarship supports students who demonstrate financial need and “strong leadership potential, verbal and written communications skills, intellectual ability, and motivation.”
- The Yomine Scholarship supports students “are employed in a manufacturing position” who demonstrate financial need
- The $3,510 Tuition Assistance Grant supports “candidates who are not eligible to receive tuition assistance from their employer.”
- The Gariano Scholarship supports “women with an undergraduate nursing degree” who demonstrate financial need.
Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business
The Loyola Quinlan School of Business offers two merit-based scholarships to MBA students: the Dean’s Merit Scholarship, which typically covers 1-2 courses, awards “stellar academic performance” and the $1,000-10,000 Graduate Business Student Scholarship, which supports students “who have proven academic success and demonstrated financial need.”
Round 1 Decision Week is Here: Harvard, Northwestern Invites Arriving Soon
At 12 p.m. EST, Harvard Business School will unveil its round 1 MBA decision invites, leading a busy week for U.S. schools.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13, will feature the first round of invites for Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Berkeley Haas, and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania following on Thursday, December 14. And on Friday, December 15, Rice Jones, UCLA Anderson and UMD Smith will reveal their first round invites.
A handful of notable Clear Admit favorites, such as the CMU Tepper full-time MBA, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Michigan Ross, and Washington Olin, among others, will also be releasing their own first round of MBA invites.
Clear Admit offers a host of valuable tools and advice for those waiting on the edge of their seats, including MBA LiveWire, DecisionWire, and ApplyWire.
Stay up to date with MetroMBA and Clear Admit for more information on the world’s best business schools and upcoming invites.
Facebook Tops Glassdoor’s 100 Best Places to Work List
Employer review website Glassdoor, which allows users to read anonymous employee testimonials about employers, has revealed its annual “Best Places to Work” list, with familiar MBA recruiters Facebook, Bain & Co, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) earning the top three spots.
Why Facebook?
Since 2011, the social media empire has been one of Glassdoor’s most praised companies to work for, earning a top five spot seven out of the past eight years, including three number one overall awards. Facebook employees are often given extensive benefits, including four months of paid maternity leave—a policy often considered a luxury in the U.S., which has no legally mandated paternity leave policies for employers. As well, earlier this year, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced the company would implement paid sick time for employees and family members.
With increasing revenue streams, the company’s hiring numbers have continued to swell, with nearly 19,000 employees as of earlier this year—a 38 percent jump from March 2016 to March 2017. In fact, just this week, the company announced it will be adding 800 more jobs at its new London office.
Data via Facebook, graphic by The Atlas/via Quartz.
Of course, the central pitch to work at the social media monolith may be predicated on the payment of employees. According to Paysa, the average Facebook salary is north of $250,000 annually, combining base pay, bonuses, and equity. Most jobs at the company start at, at least, $70,000 USD annually, with business management roles starting at $135,000.
The company has also made a concerted effort at diversifying its hiring. Speaking with Forbes, Lori Goler, vice president of people, said, “Diversity is critical to our mission at Facebook, because we serve a community of 2 billion around the world, and of course there’s diversity in that community.”
The company, according to Forbes, employs between 33 and 35 percent women, and there has been considerable gains among women employed with computer science and engineering backgrounds, as well as a 500 percent increase in employment among those of African descent since 2014. In the interview, Goler added, “We’re nowhere near where we want to be, but we’re at least hearted to see that at least we can make some progress.”
Check out Facebook’s graduate student recruitment page here.
Consulting Companies Still Reign
While certain statistics indicate a wave of MBA grads may be leaving consulting in favor of tech-centric employers, as evident by the recently released Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management employment report, consulting companies are remain one of the primary targets for MBA students and graduates, and for good reason.
Bain & Co., like Facebook, has been endlessly praised by Glassdoor reviews, ranking among the top four best places to work every year since 2009. Like most of the companies on the year-end list, Bain offers ample benefits, including several months of paid maternity leave, comprehensive vacation and insurance policies, and one of the world’s best 401K offers. Fellow Boston metro company BCG also officers a considerable parental leave benefits package, retirement planning, and lofty salaries.
Inside the New York City BCG office/Photo via BCG.
Like Bain, BCG makes a concerted effort to bring in incredibly comparable MBA graduates, recruiting students from multiple prominent business schools like The Wharton School, NYU Stern, Columbia Business School, and many more.
Some Traditional Companies Remain Steady, While Giants Like Apple Stumble
Tech empire Google, not surprisingly, held its place among the top 10 companies—having never fallen lower than eighth overall since 2012. Just outside of the top ranking companies, McKinsey & Co. stayed within the top 20, while other notable heavyweights like Microsoft (39th), Capital One (69th), Deloitte (77th), Accenture (83rd), and Apple (84th), the world’s most successful consumer company, fell to the lower ends of the list.
Despite having the second most profitable year in company history, falling shortly behind it’s 2015 figures, Apple has been steadily dropping down Glassdoor’s annual Best Of list, posting its worst standing in the history of the ranking—nearly 50 spots worse than last year’s ranking of 36th overall.
Considering, however, that the annual ranking is comprises of over 500,000 companies, this drop may not be as serious as it would appear. The overall Glassdoor rating for Apple was 4.3, in contrast to Facebook, which boasts a current 4.6 rating. The average Glassdoor rating for employers, for context, is 3.3.
Some Surprises
Not every company included in the Glassdoor Best Of list could be considered a traditional MBA recruiters, including beloved U.S. west coast fast food chain In-N-Out Burger (fourth overall), growing athletic leisurewear empire Lululemon (sixth), wine company E. & J. Gallo Winery(14th), Delta Airlines (17th), and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (19th), which provides “Excellent dental and medical coverage,” according to an anonymous employee. Plus, “you work with people who don’t swear.”
For a more extensive overview of the methodology behind the ranking, click here.
