A MASTER’S degree in business administration (MBA) is valued by many in the highly competitive field of business, although the dizzying variety of degree programmes, curriculums and accreditations available can be extremely confusing. To add to the jumbled mix of commercial tuition-based MBA programmes, the Finnish education system now produces its very own brand of MBAs.

As a result of long negotionations on nomenclature, Master of Business Administration is the chosen official English language name for the second-cycle degree in business obtained from a Finnish university of applied sciences (AMK). On the other hand, many schools and institutions also offer MBA and executive MBA degree programmes with various international accreditations alongside their Finnish MBA programmes.

For example, HAMK University of Applied Sciences in Hämeenlinna offers a degree programme in Business Management and Entrepreneurship, which leads to a Master’s degree in Business Administration. At the same time, the school also co-ordinates a programme in accordance with the University of Wales Swansea Business School, which awards graduates a British MBA.

Despite the similarity in names, the two programmes are different, says Teija Wi-
berg, who co-ordinates the University of Wales MBA programme at HAMK.

“For one, applicants are not required to have prior education in business or economics to enter this programme,” Wiberg notes. “Thus it attracts a wide variety of participants, from more seasoned executives seeking to broaden their educational base to younger businessmen who are just in the process of building their career.”

While one MBA is more internationally recognised and, possibly (depending on the institution offering the course), more respected, the other is officially recognised in Finland. A Finnish MBA is automatically considered a valid second-cycle degree when applying for a job in the municipal or government sector or for further studies at a Finnish academic institution.

Holders of a British MBA, on the other hand, must personally appeal to have the degree accepted as the equivalent of a Finnish Master’s degree, Wiberg says. This does not mean that the teaching is somehow of lower quality, though. Since the content of these other MBA programmes is not overseen by the Finnish Ministry of Education, they must be evaluated case by case.

MATTI KOSKINEN
Lehtikuva  Antti Aimo-Koivisto