Editorial
mba
More ethical, more managerial,
more bureaucratic, more Asian?
Is this the future of the post-credit-crunch MBA?
David Williams looks into the possibilities.
T
he present economic situation is going because sustainability offers a direction which means critical reflection on personal change and
to have some kind of effect on the MBA; many businesses and industries can take during development, not just on the smart suits,
that much is for certain. But whether it the downturn. These are still buzz areas and they cleverness and technical tricks.”
is short- or long-term, state ownership of financial represent exciting opportunities for people.” “I think there has already been a shift
institutions in Europe and the US, along with a Far from being disposable, it seems likely towards a more managerial emphasis on the
decline in employment opportunities in financial that the environmental arm of CSR is only going MBA,” adds Slaughter. “There was a time
services, it is bound to affect the ethos of MBA to become stronger. Leading economists such as when people went to MBA schools to become
programs. And while it might not yet be clear Geoffrey Sachs are among those suggesting that specialists in finance, but I think the reality is
what will happen, business schools are already the green agenda could in fact provide the that most organizations aren’t looking for
thinking through the implications. pathway out of the recession - particularly if the specialists. You can hire skills, but you can’t
new US administration breaks with the laissez hire leadership. People today need better
More ethical? faire attitude of its predecessor and creates a leadership skills. They need a better
The emphasis on corporate social responsibility visionary energy policy for industry and business understanding of how the parts of the
(CSR) has been growing from strength to strength to follow. organization fit together. What I think you
in recent years, both inside organizations and on will see are more integrated programs leading
business school curricula. However, the big More managerial? towards general management, while schools
question is whether or not the current concern There is also an argument that the deeper the might also spend more time teaching people
with being greener and more ethical can downturn, the more important managerial skills how to influence and persuade people,
survive the bottom line pressures of a become. In an upturn, achieving growth is easy; rather than utilizing the command and
downturn? Was it simply a nice-to-have when it is the ill wind of recession that sorts the wheat control style.”
times were easy? Or might it actually point the from the chaff.
way back to the good times? Oliver Westall is MBA director at Lancaster More bureaucratic?
“I think there is actually going to be a lot University Management School, a leading Another possible element in the make up of post
more talk around ethics, good business practices business school which places considerable credit-crunch MBAs is that the current
and CSR,” says Professor Katherine Slaughter, emphasis on practical management skills. “There orientation towards risk taking and the
associate dean, entrepreneurial might
Asia at the shift subtly towards a
Richard Ivey
“If one of the consequences of this downturn is a shift in economic influence
c o n c e r n w i t h
School of c o n f o r m i n g t o
Business. “It’s not
towards Asia, then it may be that the characteristic closeness of Asian government
governmental and
just about the
and businesses could change the mood music of the MBA globally.”
international
bottom line now; regulations.
the more the “I think there will
economy has a be more regulation,
negative effect on people’s lives, the more will be more demand for good managers in the maybe even as an overreaction,” says Gerry
attention is paid to the effects of corporate downturn than in the boom,” he says. “Over the Kime, associate dean for the W. P. Carey MBA
decision making.” last decade, people have been sucked along in at Arizona State University. “Government
“I don’t see interest in CSR falling as times the slipstream of growth and have called it often overreacts to issues such as this so we may
get tough,” agrees David Simpson, associate success. The crunch is going to call for real have more regulation than is optimal. I think
director, marketing & admissions for the full time management skills: sustained responsibility for there will be a bit less risk taking by all players.
MBA Program at London Business School. building and maintaining organizations and However, in terms of the objective of trying to
“Partly it’s because society is changing and the leading change. This can only be provided by create value through the management of
millennial generation has a different view on the those who are prepared to engage with the real private sector resources, I don’t see that
responsibilities people should accept. But it is also issues of high-performance management. This fundamentally changing.”
44 TopMBA CAreer Guide
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TopMBA CAreer Guide
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MBA_SPR09_pp_001-051.indd 44 17/2/09 15:39:32
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