===== USEFUL NEWS =====
Specialized MBAs, the wave of the future? This is the topic in a recent Business Week article Specialized MBAs Grow in Number.

What is a specialized MBA? It is a program that tailors heavily to a specific trade or industry. Some of the actual programs out there include MBAs made specifically for: aviation, construction, real estate, hospitality, sports and entertainment.

===== QUESTIONS & ANSWERS =====
Which online MBA program should I pursue? There must have been nearly a dozen such posts in the forums this past month.

Many people are interested in online programs these days. I sense that there is a feeling that such programs are somehow inferior than other MBA program types.

If that were true, I don't think 50+ AACSB accredited B-schools would have online MBA programs. Perceptions are changing and "distance" programs are here to stay.

Paul Danos, Dean of Tuck School of Business said, "Every major M.B.A. program is going to have an alternative way of being delivered in the next ten years."

===== ADMISSIONS CORNER =====
Full-time, post-college work experience is one factor that sets the MBA apart from so many other graduate programs.

What kind and how much work experience is required before you start an MBA? Work experience is one of the most elusive pieces of the admissions puzzle.

Some business schools require a minimum number of years of progressive and applicable work experience. Other schools recommend a certain number or simply tell you the average number of years from previous applicants.

At one extreme, you can go straight through from your undergraduate to your MBA. At the other extreme, executive MBA programs want you to have an upwards of seven to ten years of work experience before you can even apply.

Make sure to check the details of work experience before applying to any MBA program.

===== BUSINESS CONCEPTS =====
What kind of business skills do you actually acquire in an MBA program? An MBA is interesting in that it is firmly housed in academics, but it teaches you about business. In many ways, two worlds collide.

Business schools continually try to balance "theory" and "practice". The purpose of an MBA is not necessarily to make you an expert in one area, but rather to expose you to a breadth of business and management concepts.

An MBA definitely teaches you concepts and skills that can be applied immediately. However, the bigger benefit is your increased capacity to think and solve problems.

In essence you learn how to learn. You learn how to adapt to an ever-changing business world.

===== ONLINE MBA DIRECTORY =====
I have completed the details for all the programs listed on the online MBA directory. Phew! I have also grouped the online programs by accreditation type.

I have decided to take the password off of the online MBA directory. From this point forward it be available without a password.

===== HUMOR =====
This is taken from the workjoke.com website.

Three Envelopes

A new manager spends a week at his new office with the manager he is replacing. On the last day the departing manager tells him, "I have left three numbered envelopes in the desk drawer. Open an envelope if you encounter a crisis you can't solve."

Three months down the track there is a major drama, everything goes wrong - the usual stuff - and the manager feels very threatened by it all. He remembers the parting words of his predecessor and opens the first envelope. The message inside says "Blame your predecessor!" He does this and gets off the hook.

About half a year later, the company is experiencing a dip in sales, combined with serious product problems. The manager quickly opens the second envelope. The message read, "Reorganize!" This he does, and the company quickly rebounds.

Three months later, at his next crisis, he opens the third envelope. The message inside says "Prepare three envelopes".