Joe Gregorio
Some good things will follow from this. There will be fewer smart Alecs who think they know it all pouring into companies. There has been a bear market in management bullshit since the credit crunch began, but so far this has been on the demand side—managers have been too intent on staying in work to talk much jargon. In 2010 the decline of the MBA will cut off the supply of bullshit at source. Pretentious ideas about business will be in retreat.
Yay!
But there will be bad things too: if fewer bright, ambitious people go into business, economies may suffer. Instead the talent will go increasingly into the public sector, the law, medicine—which are already bursting with bright people as it is.
Isn't it great how they conflate an MBA with going into business; in their world view apparently you could never get a science, or engineering, or really any other degree and run a business. Even more directly the law and medicine aren't 'business' either. I wonder if they truly believe that, or were they just setting up their hobby horse for a good riding?
While the decline of the B-schools will dent the glamour of business in general, the government will do its bit too with increasing regulation. Being a board director of a listed company in 2010 will never have been less fun: not only will the procedural side be more onerous, there will be even greater public hysteria over what directors are paid and even—in Britain at least—how much they claim on expenses. And with those at the top having such a grim time, it is unrealistic to expect any excitement at the bottom.
Oh yeah, hobby horse.