"Why does that suddenly seem ridiculous?"

[unixronin]

Today’s Dilbert strip nails one of my principal problems with the Harvard School of Business and its MBA program.

I will never understand how Harvard managed to slip the ridiculous idea over on American business that having studied how to run an abstract ideal company on paper qualifies anyone to step straight into any company and run it competently without having any substantial in-depth understanding whatsoever of the company, its product, its processes, or its market.

Comments

[smandal.livejournal.com]

Perhaps MBAs are no different from military officers. They each get generalist, abstract education, but whether or not they're useful comes down to how chickenshit they are.

Smart officers stick to what they're good at, organizational/strategic matters so large they work on paper, and defer to the "tip of the spear" for anything specific to the mission. Moreover, in any competent outfit, the newbies get trained in the particulars before given any real authority -- at any level.

I have no problem believing that HBS gets a higher rate of chickenshits than other MBA programs.