Decoding the MBA bias in Marketing

Guest Column: Piali Dasgupta, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities talks about the unhealthy MBA obsession in Marketing “Qualification: MBA from a tier 1/reputed institute”

by Piali Dasgupta
Published - March 14, 2022
5 minutes To Read
Decoding the MBA bias in Marketing

Guest Column: Piali Dasgupta, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities talks about the unhealthy MBA obsession in Marketing “Qualification: MBA from a tier 1/reputed institute” If I made a pretty penny for every time I read that line in a job posting, I could have bought a penthouse in Jumeirah Beach by now.  OK, maybe not. But you get my point.  This article will be about an unpopular opinion. But it’s high time someone called it out. And who better than a non-MBA to call out the severe MBA bias that Marketing as an industry has exercised for decades.  First things first. This is not a “sour grapes” story. So, please don’t treat it that way. Because, you see, “grapes” are “sour” only when you want them and can’t have them.  But, in my case, I never wanted an MBA. I wanted to do my Master’s in Communication because I always knew that I would build a career in the field of Communication. And that’s what I did.  Also, I have absolutely nothing against MBA as a discipline and those that have earned themselves the degree. In fact, I have family members and friends who are MBAs. And I respect them immensely.  But what I do have something against, is the unhealthy MBA obsession in Marketing, because this I believe, is one of Marketing’s biggest problems today.  Let’s start from the very beginning. The most common entrance tests for MBA is designed to favour those with an Engineering/Sciences background. About 2/3rd of the test is about Mathematical skills and Data Analysis.  So, someone with a Humanities background is bound to find it intimidating and is less likely to crack it than the average Engineer. Not convinced? Look at data in any of the top IIMs. A vast majority of their students, even today, are from an Engineering background. A very minuscule (less than 10% on an average) would be from a Liberal Arts background.  So the discrimination starts pretty early.  Now, let’s look at the hiring patterns for Marketing roles across levels and industries, amongst established companies. There is an undeniable bias towards candidates with MBAs. It is not uncommon to come across job descriptions that end with something like this: If you are not an MBA from a premier institute, you need not apply.  What this essentially means is, “If you don’t even have an MBA, you are not good enough to even apply for this role. So, please excuse and don’t clutter our inboxes.” And this obnoxious, arrogant attitude basically eliminates a lot of very meritorious and talented non-MBAs, who may have learnt everything on the job, mastered the 4 P’s of Marketing and have created an impressive body of work, from even so much as applying for a role.  Unfortunately, as a nation, we have internalised this bias so much, that we don’t even realise how detrimental it is to the industry at large. And how it is, in fact, anti-diversity and fuels exclusion. It creates homogenous, undiverse cultures where everyone has the same academic background, and walks, talks and approaches problems in a similar way.  So much for diversity, equity and inclusion.  In my career spanning over 15 years across industries, I have worked with both MBAs and non-MBAs. And my humble observation is that the absence of an MBA degree doesn’t necessarily make you an inferior marketer. In fact, most MBAs I know, including those in the family, would vouch for the fact that two years is not enough to learn about any discipline – whether it is Marketing, Finance or HR, and that they don’t remember much of what was taught in their B-schools. And they learn a lot on the job.   So, if that is indeed the case, what is the rationale behind the MBA bias?  Now, let us analyse the core skills required to flourish in Marketing.  The function is called “Marketing and Communication” for a reason. It is as much about “Marketing” as it is about “Communication.” One cannot deliver results without the other. In fact, I would argue that in today’s content-dominated era of Marketing, “Communication” is actually a little more important, because it is the “communication” you are putting all your precious Marketing dollars on. So, unless you get your “communication” right, you are likely to waste a lot of Marketing dollars.  Having worked with many MBAs from both premier and non-premier institutes, I have to say that while most MBA Marketers are highly skilled in one aspect of Marketing (essentially the data and numerical side of things including pricing), they are not necessarily that skilled on the Communication side of things.  This is not my attempt to generalise and belittle MBAs. But the fact is, one has come across many MBAs who really struggle to, say, write a cogent campaign brief for their agencies. Or give objective, rational feedback on creatives. Or structure a press release in an effective manner. Or solve a crucial business problem by building a powerful narrative/through storytelling.  Often, this has resulted in brands putting out communication that are either tone-deaf and inappropriate or problematic, leading to a waste of crores of marketing dollars and incurring the consumer’s wrath.  Now you may argue that non-MBAs may lack skills in other areas of Marketing that an MBA won’t.  But whichever way you look at it, there is a skill gap.  So, when B-schools don’t necessarily equip you with all the essential and fundamental skills required to be a consummate marketer, why should an MBA be considered a more “worthy” candidate in the job market than one that doesn’t have the degree but may be equally or more skilled than the acronym holder? I rest my case.  The views expressed here are solely those of the authors and do not in any way represent the views of pitchonnet.com

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