Abstract/Summary

Is the MBA a vehicle for the promotion of global managers, serving to reduce the impact of diversity and “localness,” or do regional differences still prevail? We adopt comparative capitalism theories to analyze career choices, career outcomes, and career satisfaction. Using a survey of over 700 alumni encompassing 27 nationalities across five regions, we explore the influence of regional location upon career outcomes post-MBA. We find some support for the view that a business degree serves to produce a global mindset, for example in terms of attribution for career success, where only alumni from the Caribbean reported different responses. However, taken overall our findings do not suggest final convergence of management career development. We report differences in terms of level of work post-MBA, perceived organizational support, and associated levels of company funding. These variations are in line with what we expected from theories of comparative capitalism. Thus we conclude that regional characteristics still endure in terms of career development post-MBA.