MBA Enhanced By Social Work Courses, and Vice Versa

On the surface, business administration and social work might seem to be worlds apart in terms of interests and motivations.

Corporations have a fiduciary duty to make money for their shareholders, whereas nonprofits are expected to serve the general public.

However, as social issues rise to the forefront of public consciousness and nonprofits continue to need funding from the corporate world, an increasing number of educational institutions are adopting degree programs that draw connections between Master of Business Administration degrees and more social-oriented master’s degrees. 

MBA student Kristen Raney is in her final year of a concurrent degree program between the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas and the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock. 

The program included a year of study at the Clinton School and a summertime service project for Heifer International in Nepal, in addition to her MBA requirements — although several credits counted toward both degrees.

Upon graduation, she will also have her master’s in public service, a discipline that combines public administration and social work.

Walton College and the Clinton School, a branch of the UA System, have offered the concurrent program for seven years now. However, a more intertwined social work and MBA program, a joint Master of Social Work/MBA degree, could be an option for Walton College in the future.

Other universities are doing it, according to a recent story published by Fast Company magazine.

A number of colleges have begun to offer the joint degree — while the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work recently launched a business concentration for its students — recognizing MBA students’ potential to benefit from the skills social workers are trained in, and vice versa, according to Fast Company. 

Although there is no immediate plan in the works for the UA, MBA faculty director Vikas Anand and MSW program director Marcia Shobe are both on board for a joint MSW/MBA program.

In separate interviews, the two had identical responses when asked what they thought about the trend: They both said, “It’s wonderful.”

However, the implementation of such a program at the UA would take a while. The schools do not yet have the faculty for such an undertaking, and it would take a lot of time to set in place all the new iterations, Shobe said. 

In the meantime, the social work program offers classes that aim to prepare students for the business side of nonprofit, and the Walton College has the Clinton School partnership, and the goal of both programs is to produce well-rounded graduates who see the big picture.

 

Valuable Skills

Raney’s interest in business was spurred in high school, when she joined the Future Business Leaders of America club. She thoroughly enjoyed competing and had her business certification when she graduated.

She knew going into college that she intended to get her master’s and her decision to go into the MBA program had a lot to do with her figuring what kind of return she could get on the degree, she said. “I guess I’ve always been business-minded.”

Growing up the oldest of five children in a household she says had little money, Raney was attracted to the practical benefits of MBA. She was driven to find a career path that would earn her a comfortable living, and possibly afford her the ability to help support her family.

However, at the same time, Raney felt a need to make a difference in people’s lives. “I want to do something I feel good about,” she said.

That’s when she began considering the Clinton School.

“I started the program to keep my sanity,” she said, “to give me more of a purpose.”

Through MBA, she is learning a valuable set of hard skills, Raney said. And while the skills learned through the Clinton School are just as applicable to a career, they are harder to define, for example, on a job application.

But that doesn’t mean they are not significant assets to MBA students.

“For businesses, understanding social issues of the society they draw upon is very important,” said Anand, who took over leadership of the MBA program about two years ago. “They must try to understand problems and if at all possible provide some sort of solution.”

 

Social Awareness

He believes the need has always been there to cross-train the students, but it is just now getting attention.

“Sometimes, it takes a shock [of scandals] like Enron and MCI to serve as reminders,” Anand said. “You might be in the corporate world, but if it’s all about the numbers and profits, there’s a problem.”

Anand said the MBA program works to promote a socially aware and ethical attitude in general.

Each year, the students have an experiential project, where they work with nonprofits on real issues. Last year they partnered with NWA Women’s Shelter and this year they have a tentative plan to work with a group that helps women coming out of prison, Anand said.

“I take this very seriously,” he added. “This is a subject that is very close to my heart.”

And the same goes for Shobe. As the head of the social work graduate program, Shobe also appreciates the mutually beneficial possibilities of the two disciplines.

“It’s great for our students to get to use the skills in social work in a different context through the MBA program,” she said. “The social worker mentality offers a more holistic approach, a systems view, not just external with clients but also internal and meeting your employees’ needs — not just the bottom line.”

For Raney, the public service/MBA program has widened her perspective. “It really helps you see things through a different lens,” she said.

She considers the two curriculums complimentary to each other. “Anything that can be seen as a weakness in one can be made up for in the other.”

 

Nonprofits Benefit

While bringing a social work angle to business education could be beneficial to those students, the advantages of having business know-how in nonprofit — not to mention the hefty pay increase that would likely accompany an MBA — are perhaps more immediately obvious.

Nonprofit organizations need to be able to function properly, and they must engage in the corporate world in order to earn money for their cause.

 “Having an understanding of the logic and motivations of a corporation is so important in order to be an effective nonprofit,” Anand said. “Also, bringing business objectives to nonprofit organizations will help them work better.”

And it’s not just business educators who think this is a good idea, those in social work academics agree.

“People who go into nonprofit still need to have a business acumen,” Shobe said. “CEOs and directors of social agencies need to be able to run the organization effectively.”

If you ask Raney, the two worlds are not as different as one might think they are. 

 

Bridging the Gap

During her time at the Clinton School, Raney met other students who wanted to distance themselves from anything that seemed “corporate.” These students who felt business executives had opposite objectives from their own.

Raney, however, coming from Walton College, said the people she had met from the corporate world were not all that different from those in public service. “Many of the CEOs and executives do really care about what they’re doing and helping others,” although their hands are sometimes tied because they have a duty to raise money for shareholders, she said. 

But, with an increasing demand from customers that brands contribute to social causes, the chasm between the interests of corporations and society seems to be closing in.

“Traditional businesses are more interested in social issues,” Raney said. “Most companies have a corporate responsibility division and a sustainability division.”

And at the convergence of nonprofit and corporate is where Raney wants to be. “I really like what’s going on in that world. If I can be a part of that, that would be great.”