In his 22 years in business, Professor Bones recently commented, “At their best, business schools are critical friends who hold up the mirror, they provide thoughtful, talented people who do the right thing not just for themselves and their organisations but also for the wider communities in which these organisations exist,” he says. “Too often however, perhaps in the face of the economic pressures we all face, they act as cheerleaders for organisations who represent poor business practice and the people they produce are self-centred, egotistic and over-confident in their own abilities.”
At the heart of all good business schools is the MBA. Now I do not believe or indeed claim that the UK or US MBA model with a common set of foundational elements is at the centre of the global crisis in business, but I do think it’s dam close to it.
The needs of MBA students and global business leaders are all quite different, and the skills necessary for success are subject to evolution, organic change, passion and human messiness. A criticism I constantly aim at all business schools, has been their inability to change from teaching 'stuff' which is at best outdated, and at worse downright wrong for the 21st century, rooted in an undifferentiated, outdated core curriculum, delivered in a staid, stiff academic style separate from the real world.
That being said, yes there is a need for a foundation in business skills, such as profit/loss accounting etc. However at the core of all educational programmes should be ‘critical thinking’ ...and I would argue that in addition to this, we need to emphasize creativity, agility, and, above all, context to show how most of the systems are based in serendipity not strategy.
It used to be that most MBA students would be in their late thirties, experienced and in employment. The MBA program should focus on fusing the art, thinking, and technology of businesses full of human ‘mess’, who can think systemically, rather than functionally, and who are adept at just one thing... leading people...
The problem is today that most business schools or MBA’s, as its quality product, do not help industry or key members to sustain their organisations. To be honest, I would question whether an MBA is even seen as the pinnacle of management education in the US let alone the UK.
I’m sure programmes such as the Harvard MBA hold greater kudos, but clearly in the US the MBA is the established management qualification, unlike in Europe, where there are undergraduate and masters programmes as well as MBAs and executive education. But all this is simply ‘image’ and PR spin. The elite schools don’t necessarily offer elite education, and indeed I have seen a number of small programmes from supposedly ‘lesser’ institutions provide immense educational value to its students.
Over the past couple of years, and even more so the past few months, I have seen the manufacturing arm of the economy not on its knees but now flat on its belly, crippled and begging for mercy. We now need risk-takers and risk-accepters, not planners, analysts or structure creators or tool heads.
An MBA education should be an experience, a way of unique thinking, that changes the way one addresses problems and develops solutions. It’s an experience that teaches a person about themselves more than anything else. Indeed good business schools don’t build character, they reveal character. A leadership character which allows each individual to use their way to communicate values, how to gain consensus, how to give and accept constructive criticism, how to appreciate and support various talents and enable those talents to shine, how to understand one’s own limitations and encourage democracy at every threat, turn and success.
This learning is difficult if not impossible to “teach” in individual technical courses. Properly educated MBAs should deal with all of life’s issues in a more complete way. So indeed, should the business school itself. Times are changing... business schools need to alter their ways now, or they will be doomed.
At the heart of all good business schools is the MBA. Now I do not believe or indeed claim that the UK or US MBA model with a common set of foundational elements is at the centre of the global crisis in business, but I do think it’s dam close to it.
The needs of MBA students and global business leaders are all quite different, and the skills necessary for success are subject to evolution, organic change, passion and human messiness. A criticism I constantly aim at all business schools, has been their inability to change from teaching 'stuff' which is at best outdated, and at worse downright wrong for the 21st century, rooted in an undifferentiated, outdated core curriculum, delivered in a staid, stiff academic style separate from the real world.
That being said, yes there is a need for a foundation in business skills, such as profit/loss accounting etc. However at the core of all educational programmes should be ‘critical thinking’ ...and I would argue that in addition to this, we need to emphasize creativity, agility, and, above all, context to show how most of the systems are based in serendipity not strategy.
It used to be that most MBA students would be in their late thirties, experienced and in employment. The MBA program should focus on fusing the art, thinking, and technology of businesses full of human ‘mess’, who can think systemically, rather than functionally, and who are adept at just one thing... leading people...
The problem is today that most business schools or MBA’s, as its quality product, do not help industry or key members to sustain their organisations. To be honest, I would question whether an MBA is even seen as the pinnacle of management education in the US let alone the UK.
I’m sure programmes such as the Harvard MBA hold greater kudos, but clearly in the US the MBA is the established management qualification, unlike in Europe, where there are undergraduate and masters programmes as well as MBAs and executive education. But all this is simply ‘image’ and PR spin. The elite schools don’t necessarily offer elite education, and indeed I have seen a number of small programmes from supposedly ‘lesser’ institutions provide immense educational value to its students.
Over the past couple of years, and even more so the past few months, I have seen the manufacturing arm of the economy not on its knees but now flat on its belly, crippled and begging for mercy. We now need risk-takers and risk-accepters, not planners, analysts or structure creators or tool heads.
An MBA education should be an experience, a way of unique thinking, that changes the way one addresses problems and develops solutions. It’s an experience that teaches a person about themselves more than anything else. Indeed good business schools don’t build character, they reveal character. A leadership character which allows each individual to use their way to communicate values, how to gain consensus, how to give and accept constructive criticism, how to appreciate and support various talents and enable those talents to shine, how to understand one’s own limitations and encourage democracy at every threat, turn and success.
This learning is difficult if not impossible to “teach” in individual technical courses. Properly educated MBAs should deal with all of life’s issues in a more complete way. So indeed, should the business school itself. Times are changing... business schools need to alter their ways now, or they will be doomed.
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