Non-engineering courses for Engineers

Surely this needs to depend on the job the person is either wanting to do (or being pushed into) ? 
A finance course is only useful to those who need to understand it, and presumably the same is true of say patent law or a foreign language. (maybe an element of  tautology with those two actually ?).
Knowing german was very useful when I worked for Siemens and their customers for example.

The exam question then is really "what does an MBA prepare you for, and is it a good match to what you are intending or about to do ?
I can't answer that, I don't have one. 
Mike.

I would agree with Mike's answer.

Ultimately it depends on what the person is trying to achieve. If the aim is to gain a pay-rise, then they may be dissapointed. If it is to gie an insight that might allow them to compete for more senior roles, then it may have value. Although be aware that there are dffferent types of MBA from various providers that have different focuses.

Rather than going for the full MBA, you can often find PG Cert's and Diploma's which are the first two years. These cost less and often cover the more management, HR, finance aspects which are more useful for someone aspiring to a management position. The final year of the MBA is usually strategic focus.

I took "half an MBA" many years ago, it was incredibly useful in helping me move into a full time management, and later senior leadership, role. Sadly it's no longer available - it was a modular course with a common first two years which led to a post grad certificate (which was as far as I got), and then a number of other options including two more years to make it an MBA. What I missed in those extra two years was the strategic and finance education which could have led to a director level position in a large organisation, which I wasn't interested in anyway.

Later on I did a research Master's in management which was also very useful as I could study a specific engineering management topic in my field.

And I've done loads of management short courses.

Overall, it was the post-grad certificate that really helped my engineering management career, including signalling to my company (who paid for it) that I was interested in that path. Short courses I've found very hit and miss, they depend so much on the individual tutor (and the motivations of the organisations that offer them!), I think it would be hard work to find a sufficient breadth of courses to gain the full spread of skills in subjects such as law, finance, HF management etc.

As for a full MBA...from my personal experience, I tend to feel that those who are motivated to get an MBA would probably get to appropriate senior leadership role anyway. However, I have known people who've managed to fast track their way to leadership roles (particularly in the finance sector) through getting an MBA. And probably very useful if you want to get into management consulting. 

It all depends whether you want to stay in engineering or move to the dark side...