The New York Time has an interesting article about whether or not business school matters.
There is a rising reaction against management theory, according to The Economist. A new book by the management expert Gary Hamel, "The Future of Management," notes that several well-known executives of hot companies – among them, Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google and John P. Mackey of Whole Foods Market – did not go to business school.
I think the primary reason people go is for networking anyway. What do you think? Are MBAs really necessary?
I haven’t read Gary’s new book yet but I don’t think anyone would challenge the thinking that an MBA is a mandatory prerequisite to business success. I think the more interesting debate is on the relative value of the various types of MBAs available. In my mind the “right out of undergrad” MBA is more or less an academic theory and case study exercise that leaves you book smart (hopefully) but still street dumb. On the other hand, I see a lot of value in the “executive-style” MBA. The value here comes from applying the thery/cases to real personal experience. You also get the value of networking with your experienced peers in the program.
I haven’t read Gary’s new book yet but I don’t think anyone would challenge the thinking that an MBA is not a mandatory prerequisite to business success. I think the more interesting debate is on the relative value of the various types of MBAs available. In my mind the “right out of undergrad” MBA is more or less an academic theory and case study exercise that leaves you book smart (hopefully) but still street dumb. On the other hand, I see a lot of value in the “executive-style” MBA. The value here comes from applying the thery/cases to real personal experience. You also get the value of networking with your experienced peers in the program.
While I have to admit that more-often-than-not an MBA provides a ticket into a job class rather than the skill set required to do that job. However, the same can be said for just about any advanced degree you might choose to pursue. A organization populated with freshly minted MBAs, Doctors, Lawyers, etc… will always be of limited value. Simply put, successful organizations need more than smart people with credentials and limited life experience.
The real contribution value of an individual is not instilled in a classroom. Rather, it is developed in the world of life experience where mentoring combined with the thrills of success and the agonies of failure teach people how a given organization works within the abilities/limitations of a give set of players trying to achieve success in a given market.
While the founders of Google, Whole Foods Market and Microsoft don’t have business degrees, and hang their success on their talented and creative people. I’ll bet more than a dollar that they were smart enough to hire MBAs and other business school types with solid performance records and the experience required to professionalized and manage their entrepreneurial startups.
An interesting spin on Hamel’s book (which I’m currently reviewing myself). From what I’ve read so far I get the impression he does believe in what business schools teach and his book is arguing that by applying these theories businesses have achieved a competitive advantage. He also argues that they need to continue to develop their management technology to stay ahead of the competition.
The strategic thinking aspect of an MBA is worthless. Why? Because it is EXACTLY the same strategic thinking that your competitors are using.
Think of business like a poker game or trading the stock market…if most people are playing based on the same set of strategic rules, then it is going to be the “maverick” who changes the dynamic of the game and can exploit the weakness of ALL competition with a single strategic difference.
I read this on Laura Reis’ blog that makes the point that would characterize MBAs as being taught to tend away from intuitive holistic reasoning.
http://ries.typepad.com/ries_blog/2009/03/mbas-helping-or-hurting-your-brand.html
I don’t understand why MBAs are ever hired. MBAs generally were born with a silver spoon in their mouths and they haven’t got a clue how to do hard work. They want to make lots of money, sure. But they don’t actually have any skills to build anything. So the only way an MBA can do anything is to team up with someone that actually has skills. Then, the MBA’s job is to let the business grow and hang on for the free ride. Frankly, I want people with skills to build things and do hard work, not to theorize about “we should make a profit!” (duh!)
Finally, the only thing worse than an MBA is a Stanford MBA.
These guys top off their lack of skills with an ego larger than life. If you hire these guys, they’ll give you “brilliant advice” which most people call “common sense” and then steal your money.
Thinking of hiring an MBA? Don’t.
I agree to what Mitchell has commented. I am pursuing MBA and have a MS in Economics. I am about to graduate and I still wonder what is the extra thing that I have learned over the past 1 year. I agree that MBA s are highly over rated and trust me you do not have to do a MBA to build up a company like Microsoft/Google. All I have done so far is to provide useless solutions to some Harvard Case Studies. I really wonder if at all I am going to take any theoretical strategy when I will run my own business. I belong to a business family and my father has not done a MBA for sure!
MBA is only good for people who have absolutely no business background. It teaches you the language of business so that you at least know the basics. Some students in my class are delusional that they will automatically receive a significant wage raise upon graduation. You still need to prove yourself to be more useful than someone without an MBA. Is such an education worth the current price tag? I think not. Also, MBA students tend to be the least entrepreneurial bunch. They take the least risk thinking they have a lot to lose.