From: mcmahon@wharton.upenn.edu
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.mba-l
Subject: Re: m.p.a. or m.b.a. (PhD?)
Date: 13 Oct 92 17:04:16 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

In article <MAILQUEUE-101.921012172213.256@mces.msstate.edu>, STEVEC@MCES.MSSTATE.EDU (Stephen P. Cohen, m.s., m.b.a.) writes:
>> from richard zink:
>>
>>  my main goal is to teach at the college level in accounting. my
>> question is the following : would it make more sense for me to get a
>> m.s. in accounting or get a m.b.a. in accounting or a m.b.a in another
>> related field like finance, in order to expand my knowledge.
> 

It depends on what you want to teach and at what level. I really don't think
that an MBA ia appropriate preparation for a teaching career. If you want to
teach at a community college, a small local college, or in a small MBA program,
the MS in accounting would seem the best bet. Teaching in a large program or at
a major research university would virtually require a PhD. 

Our Accounting Department at Wharton has 16 professors with PhDs. There are
also two practice professors (CPAs) who don't have PhDs. They teach more of the
nitty-gritty of accounting: courses in fundamentals of accounting, federal
income tax, basic tax law, etc. Though the 16 teach regular courses in
financial reporting, accounting in capital markets, etc., their research
interests tend to lie in the design of executive compensation contracts, the
economic impacts of accounting policy, and portfolio theory. 

> It has been my experience that accounting majors are not interested
> in expanding their knowledge as it is their opinion that the
> accounting degree encompases all of an m.b.a. and more.  Therefore,
> accounting has a m.p.a. degree program (master of professional
> accounting).  If you want to teach accounting, and if you want to do
> it with a minimum of coursework, you should not care about expanding
> your knowledge and simply follow the narrow accounting path (b.p.a.,
> m.p.a., and finally d.p.a or d.b.a with accounting major)
> 
> On the other hand, if you do not mind taking a few extra courses and
> earn a well rounded education with an m.b.a., then by all means go
> for the finance major.  You will have to take extra courses should
> you go on to the doctorate, but if you wash out of the doctorate
> program, at least you will have a marketable degree in the general
> workplace (as opposed to having the m.p.a. which is useless without a
> c.p.a).
> 

Very few MBA students tend to major in accounting here. They have core courses
in the subject and may opt for accounting electives. In terms of MBA placement, 
those students hired by Big Six firms tend to go to the consulting, rather than
audit staff of those firms. 

> In re-reading my post, I find it very confusing.  Hack though it, if
> it makes no sense, email
>  me.----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Stephen P. Cohen, m.s., m.b.a.            |SteveC@MCES.MsState.Edu
> Manager, Systems & Networks               |Post Office Box 5446
> Agricultural Administrative Computing     |Mississippi State, MS 39762
> Mississippi State University              |601-325-3227


IMHO, a DBA is not a research degree and not the equivalent of a PhD. It is
more of an advanced MBA. We return to the question of what kind of institution
you want to teach at. 

Tom McMahon
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 
mcmahon@wharton.upenn.edu