Beyond convenience: The disruptive high-quality, high-impact online MBA

Abstract

A select few top-tier OMBA (Online Master of Science in Business Administration) programs have disrupted the conventional MBA market, now offering comparable—if not superior—value to students compared to many in-person, full-time MBA experiences. Utilizing data collected from interviews with 36 admission staff and administrators representing 24 OMBA programs, as well as a large-scale study of 135 students and alumni of one top-tier OMBA program, we apply Kim and Mauborgne’s Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create framework to highlight the emergence of a new value curve for the very best OMBA programs. The article explores the importance, relevance, value, and mechanisms for how some OMBA programs have successfully repositioned. These high-quality, high-impact OMBA programs have sought to reconcile traditional tradeoffs between OMBA and full-time MBA programs and may pave the way for a transformation of the OMBA marketplace from a focus solely on convenience to programs designed to provide the highest value to students.