Why MBAs Need More Than Business

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  1

  mbmattis@...

  02/22/08 | Reported as spam

  MBA = Trade School

  Interesting points. I think that, even though one may get one's MBA at a prestigious university, it's still essentially a trade school education, no more ennobling, in the end, than dental assisting college or welding school.
  
  That said, I'm not sure the liberal arts have much of a place in the official MBA program. Rather, I think they should be a larger part of one's undergrad experience.
  
  What's silly to me is the idea that one can go to what is supposed to be a university and get a degree in, say, marketing or advertising and spend very little time on what you're supposed to go to university to become in the first place -- a well rounded, erudite and informed individual with an understanding of what makes the culture tick.

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  oakye

  02/22/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  The Trade School / Heald College approach to an MBA definitely cheapens the brand and seems a bit dated. Employers get so-so performers and then blame the degree.
  
  It is true that the core curriculum that thrived in the past 3 decades or so no longer is enough. (Who was the Stanford Business School professor who dared to say that the MBA is really a signal to employers that the person with that pedigree is a smartie pants or masochist because they dared to make it past the application process and actually get in?) We no longer need to mint worker bees to enter the upper echelons of McKinsey or Goldman Sachs. Most of the big name b-schools understand the need to evolve...and have changed their own tune to better market themselves to the new way of things.
  
  Stanford recently made over its program - smaller courses & seminars, less vocational ivory tower discussion of theories, and more debate about gray realities of business and their students roles in it.

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  HumZ2

  02/25/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  I tend to agree with the article. I'm on my the last stretch (semester) of a 2-year MBA degree at the University of Windsor, and in subjects such as Negotiation and Marketing, they largely focus on North American style and cultural norms. Perhaps it's due to the time limitation and the practicality of spending it on anything else, but as the world gets more interdependent and interconnected, an MBA graduate will need to hit the ground running with the nuances of international cultures; something liberal arts studies would help achieve.

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  wisdom.chitedze@...

  02/26/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  I do agree. An MBA is a general degree meant to broaden perspectives. They should build both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of our minds and competencies.
  
  I do believe that just as with any education program, the MBAs are still evolving and it is a learning process for the designers too. Some years down the line, we may see all these concerns addressed

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  renzxl

  02/26/08 | Report as spam

  Stop depending on others for your education

  I agree many people need more exposure to other cultures. It's interesting that the common thread mentions that "they" should expand the program.
  
  We homeschool and I over the years, I have learned that education is about knowing where you have a gap in knowledge and then You actively fill it. There are a number of books, courses, and seminars that any student can take to fill in a culture gap.
  
  You are responsible for your own education. Any degree/diploma is just a start. Formal education is training wheels of knowledge. It gives you the tools you need to go deeper.

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  webzine@...

  02/26/08 | Report as spam

  Liberal Art

  I have always felt that MBA has not covered many of the things which THE MBA should have, one of those being a lot of practicality and application of theories.
  
  The liberal art inclusion in the MBA is something new for me but how you relate it with your education of journalism, it makes me interested in knowing more about it.
  
  Why don't to share little more of nuts and bolts of it with the readers, please?
  
  Thanks.

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  minsulan

  02/26/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  I work in a consultancy with lots of clever people and I can honestly say that colleagues with an undergraduate or non-MBA post-graduate in economics and finance are better equipped to do our projects than many of the top-tier MBA School graduates.
  
  I suspect 'perspective', as you say, is tremendously important - especially if you're dealing with clients of a different mindset.
  
  Personally I believe in eclecticism; it tends to subdue arrogance.
  
  M.

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  sundiver2000

  02/26/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  What they need to do is immediately construct and deploy courses in carbon finance, carbon trade, and carbon mitigation. In the next two years, the entire business community will have to understand and deal with their carbon output. And hardly anyone has a clue. Not even us current MBA students.

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  oceanstorm

  02/26/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  That's all great and I agree with the variety - but hey, how do you get this across to Big Consulting, Bulge Bracket Investment Bank who only hire at Top MBA school?

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  El Guapo

  02/27/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  I received my BS at a liberal arts school, albeit it was a science degree. The core curriculum consisted heavily of philosophy courses, theology, literature, classic thought, and other courses that really wouldn't bring in the big bucks if you majored in them.
  
  It's basically useless for MBA programs to adopt liberal arts courses in their curriculum. I believe it is better that you take liberal arts courses before you get an MBA.

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  profmohan2003@...

  02/28/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  There is little doubt that MBAs need more than business. But do they need Liberal arts? I am not sure. What they do need is a wider global perspective and appreciation of differences among peoples and cultures. All men may be created equal but certainly they are not identical! In stead of more formal lessons in classrooms, international tours and attachments to foreign owned companies during breaks can serve the MBAs better.

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  tubi neebi

  02/29/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  in my opinion,MBAs are providingf hteir worth in business field.it means ther is some more other than finance & economics and no doubt i.e liberal arts & many other knowledges, but not as much necessary as it is said above.

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  DoYaThink

  03/03/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  Balance, Balance, and more Balance of knowledge is required for any manager, administrator or leader to be truely effective. A MBA degree concerns much more than being a Master Business Administrator. He or she must be a student of people as well as business, economic and managerial theory.

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  GregJensen

  03/04/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  I am currently enrolled in an MBA program aptly titled as a Renaissance MBA...essentially what this means is they teach you the finance and accounting parts as well as law etc, but they also integrate some classic materials as well. Additionally, they take some offshoot material and apply it to business concepts. For example we spent a semester studying the effects of 9/11 and how it affected business. This was an eye-opener because one does not necessarily see the ripple effect of such a catastrophe...and how much it cost in dollars.
  
  Some grass roots are necessary, and I think that an MBA program should be reserved for those with at least 5 years of post bachelor's work experience...it doesn't make sense that kids barely old enough to shave or apply make-up come out of their undergraduates, move into MBA programs and then out into the workforce. Managers should be ashamed to hire them....."what skills do you bring to this position?" Gee um,, I had a newspaper route.....

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  thrashjt

  03/05/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  Are you using the right vehicle to get you where you want to go? I thought a MBA is geared for a specific concentration whereas a MA takes several appraoches on a concentration? That said, if someone is looking for an advanced degree focusing on several view points; a MA is the way to go.

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  apparao_pb

  03/05/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  I do agree with the opinion expressed by the author. But is it possible to possible to teach something about everything in the class? Hence instead of either including something about every thing in the curriculum it is better to select those who either know or have zeal to know something about every thing through an entrance examination.

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  cirving

  08/12/08 | Report as spam

  RE: Why MBAs Need More Than Business

  Very interesting points are in the article, but as I see it we are talking here about something that B-School are unable to give and this is real world - hands-on experience to deal real life problems and challenges of a more complex biz world. Having an MBA fits you with the knowledge and tools to do a better entrance to the biz arena, but only thru actual managing experience one is able to master the complexities of leading, negotiation and communicating with people from all over the globe. And no matter what BS do to their curriculums - experience, character and drive to excell, are and will always be the difference between a very good and average manager.