"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

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Exactly. The worst of it is that it's all short-term thinking.

The most destructive, IMHO, of the Harvard Business School's concepts is the idea that the most important thing is the bottom line on this quarter's balance sheet, and everything else is secondary. Short-term profit over long-term sustainability. It's all about maximizing profit RIGHT NOW, and to hell with the long term.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

The short term thinking aspect came from the BOD's setting CEO pay based on stock price. Whatever you measure, that is what will change. "If I can double my pay by gutting the company, I can retire and not need to work again. Score!" The MBA's were just enablers.