How well-regarded and useful is the Certified Business Manager (CBM) credential?

May 27, 2008 9:24 AM

How well-regarded and useful is the Certified Business Manager (CBM) credential?

I've been looking at information on the Certified Business Manager credential (created and administered by the Association of Professionals in Business Management) and would like to get some feedback from those who have it, have knowledge of it, etc.

How well-regarded is it? How useful is the material covered? Does it help either in regard to getting a job or in terms of advancement?

Basically, I'm not finding tons of info about it (which may already answer my questions) other than about the credential itself. I'd like to get some real world feedback on it.

A few background details... I currently work at a Director level in logistics/operations/quality. I'm thinking along the lines of ultimately maybe working toward a COO-type position. Going for a MBA *is* a consideration, but it may be a bit further down the road. I see that the CBM can count for some credits toward a MBA, so that's where I'm kind of headed with this. This is all just brainstorming at this point, so that's why I'm soliciting some feedback.

Any light anyone could shed would be greatly appreciated.

posted by MrToad to Education (4 answers total)

Most Business Schools today offer a certificate option based upon a subset of the full MBA programme. Usually called a "Diploma in Management", it (I teach at a University part time, and I'm speaking about our programme) requires that you sit four courses rather than the complete MBA curriculum. You can typically complete it part time in one year.

I hope I'm not sounding like an academic snob, but I'd suggest that you look at such a Diploma rather than something offered by a professional body. The cachet of a certificate awarded by a degree granting University will count more to potential employers. By the way, this isn't true of all certificates - for example, a CFA is widely known and highly regarded.

And, you'll be able to use credits earned while getting your diploma towards an MBA, should you decide later to pursue one.
posted by Mutant at 10:10 AM on May 27, 2008

I do not recognize the credential, and moreover I have never seen it on a resume that I recall. And I see a lot of resumes. This makes me dubious.

I'm a tad skeptical that reputable MBA programs would award any kind of credit in lieu of coursework for this kind of credential, given that I'm not aware of (for example) any such credit being awarded for the significant work and test hurdles required to get the CPA or CFA.
posted by MattD at 11:46 AM on May 27, 2008

I've been working for Uncle Sam for almost 20 years. I have several co-workers who have Master of Science in Administration degrees. I'd never heard of a MSA until I started working for the feds. MBA MPA, MFA, yes. Along with what MattD said, never heard of this one.
posted by fixedgear at 2:15 PM on May 27, 2008

Thanks for the input, folks. This tends to agree with the feeling I was getting about it. Take care.
posted by MrToad at 6:16 AM on May 30, 2008