The financial meltdown raised many questions about business schools. Many had produced the people that had destroyed banks and businesses. As reported here, many business schools started incorporating ethics into their MBA courses. But is that enough? Isn't that just an add on?
Rodrigo Canales, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Yale University's School of Management, says most MBA programs are lacking and need to be overhauled. They are teaching the wrong things: short termism and shareholder return, instead of long term thinking and ethical perspectives. "Business education is much more scientific than it was in its early years. It has been made more rigorous by the rising influence of statistics and economics. We believe in analytics. Most organizations need more analytics,'' Canales says. "But analytics are not a substitute for values. Indeed, an overreliance on analytics leaves managers poorly prepared to lead in moments when statistics obscure the full human dimensions of a choice. It also isn't that M.B.A. programs haven't taught leadership and ethics. They have. But most do it poorly. Leadership courses tend to emphasize such things as social influence and public speaking, while ethics courses often focus on legal aspects. This leaves the connection between values, leadership and action underdeveloped. Leadership entails thinking beyond the day's crises to focus on the longer term, grasping the impact of decisions on broader constituencies, and sensing a responsibility that goes far beyond the immediate result of a decision. MBA students are too often unaware of this. For example, in workshops at a leading business school, students are asked to list the qualities that a successful business leader should possess. While vision and business acumen are invariably among the first qualities listed, honesty and responsibility for others emerge only after considerable discussion. Meanwhile, when asked about the characteristics they most value in human beings, compassion, integrity, and responsibility always appear at the top of the list."
What business schools need to do, first and foremost he says, is concentrate on leadership development."
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