A fascinating analysis of business schools, written by a professor, has appeared in The Guardian. It describes how business schools operate and their impact on society in great detail.
From the article:
“The problem is that business ethics and corporate social responsibility are subjects used as window dressing in the marketing of the business school, and as a fig leaf to cover the conscience of B-school deans – as if talking about ethics and responsibility were the same as doing something about it.”
Nonsense. Ethics are something you are born and raised with. We have seen many cases of cheating in scientific research, testing in schools (by teachers), politiians, and on an on. Business people are neither better nor worse.
Nonsense? Did you even read the article? The professor gives a pretty good critique IMO.
Another excerpt:
"But in the business school, both the explicit and hidden curriculums sing the same song. The things taught and the way that they are taught generally mean that the virtues of capitalist market managerialism are told and sold as if there were no other ways of seeing the world.
If we educate our graduates in the inevitability of tooth-and-claw capitalism, it is hardly surprising that we end up with justifications for massive salary payments to people who take huge risks with other people’s money. If we teach that there is nothing else below the bottom line, then ideas about sustainability, diversity, responsibility and so on become mere decoration. The message that management research and teaching often provides is that capitalism is inevitable, and that the financial and legal techniques for running capitalism are a form of science. This combination of ideology and technocracy is what has made the business school into such an effective, and dangerous, institution."
We did not spend much time on “virtues of capitalist market managerialism”. In fact none. If we did not already have some belief in our system we probably were in the wrong building. They taught Marx across the street in the Sociology/Econ building.
His critique was of something that does not exist aka a straw man. If you really want to know what they cover in B school I can tell you. Nothing he said.
I sat on a search committee in the business school once. The faculty were indifferent to undergraduate education and predominant interested in networks and relationships over research. One said, “if the UGs couldn’t cut it, they should be psych majors. “. I am an old professor and I had never seen any thing like it. Just another opinion to add to the article.
@Gator88NE I have sat on a lot of committees at a lot of universities. I never heard such distain so publicly expressed. In a few short weeks I lost respect for our well ranked business school.
I don’t think the author of this article is a “lone voice” at all. He actually mentions several books written by other authors critical of business schools, as well as internal dissent in business programs.
“Many business school professors, particularly in north America, have argued that their institutions have gone horribly astray. B-schools have been corrupted, they say, by deans following the money, teachers giving the punters what they want, researchers pumping out paint-by-numbers papers for journals that no one reads and students expecting a qualification in return for their cash (or, more likely, their parents’ cash).”
Many faculty members at business schools have Ph.D.'s in sociology, psychology, economics, math etc. And none of them have ever actually worked in a business.
@Sue22 Vast majority then, including many who actually have a Ph.D. in a business field. Working as a “consultant” does not qualify as actually working in a business.
Thank you, stardustmom, for posting this link. The commentary here has proved the author’s argument.
Both of my kids are in “business,” broadly defined. One of them has been entrepreneurial and built a “team,” without attending a B-school. He majored in economics, however. The other one did earn an MBA (and an MS, after first earning a BFA), as a way to broaden her credentials and knowledge of business principles. She works as a teacher and administrator in an academic context, but “entrepreneur” is in it’s name. She focuses on environmental design and product development. It is possible to do good business while behaving in a socially responsible way.
I read it and if the high school kids posting on our local university discussion forum are any indication, the quest for high income at any price is well in evidence long before they attend business school. It’s more that business programs attract that type of kid and then reinforces those attributes once they are admitted. I’m having a tough time with the desire for my children to earn good salaries vs the morality of many industries, especially finance and tech. It often seems that the pursuit of the first requires they be engaged in activities that are questionable in their value to the rest of society.
I was surprised recently to hear from a friend that their child does not tell any of their classmates that they intern on Wall Street during summer because of the backlash they will face. The thing I found most surprising is that this student attends a university that is a pipeline to Wall Street (so you’d think classmates would be accepting). This student is not a business major, but is finance-related. At least among some students, morality vs. money does seem to be a hotly debated topic.
@stardustmom I wonder how many of those students critical of Wall Street are having their tuition paid by parents who work on Wall Street or similar businesses?
@gwnorth If it wasn’t for advancements in tech we wouldn’t be on this, or any, website.
@TomSrOfBoston Personally, I think it is cowardly to lie about your summer job to your friends, and it probably says something about the type of person drawn to Wall Street if they would rather lie than defend themselves. Regarding well-paying jobs, there are many careers that don’t cause people to feel morally compromised - even in tech and business. As mackinaw noted, “It is possible to do good business while behaving in a socially responsible way.”
@stardustmom I agree that a student should not lie about an internship on Wall Street. Why should the onus be placed on the student to “defend” herself? If her friends are so self righteous and sanctimonious then she needs new friends.