What are the differences between MBA and MDes students?
1. MBAs make decisions quickly and march toward a known goal, while design students allow answers and direction to emerge from the research they conduct. As a result, design students have a higher tolerance for ambiguity than MBAs. Designers spend more time figuring out what the core human-related issues are, which takes time and is rarely clear-cut. MBAs spend more time developing and executing strategies that point toward a specific direction.
2. Design students understand how stimuli affect people and can identify what motivates customers. Design students turn this into concepts that fulfill needs or achieve certain reactions from customers. MBAs turn this knowledge and these concepts into ways to make money. In essence, designers keep MBAs informed as to what people actually want or need.
3. The social environment of a design school shapes students differently than the social environment of business school. Design school fosters a culture of understanding and improving while business school builds a culture of winning. I've seen a change in some of my best friends since they started b-school last year. They seem to have switched their brains into an "always win" mode, which I am guessing stems from the fact that they're surrounded 24/7 by people who have pretty much mastered the art of winning at everything they do. I remember watching a football game over winter break with my buddies and wondering, "why are they trying to win at watching tv?"
2 comments:
Well said.
What do you think about programs that combine the MDes and MBA?
Post a Comment