There are good things about the Internet, and there are bad things about the Internet.
Real-time information; good.
Getting the same article sent to you by 10 different people; annoying.
People talking about things they don't know about and acting like its straight out of the Bible; bad.
I've seen the same article written by Penelope Trunk entitled B-school Confidential: MBAs May Be Obsolete at least 10 times. I honestly never want to see this article again. I don't know Ms. Trunk, I don't want to know Ms. Trunk, and I wonder how people like Ms. Trunk are allowed to post the things they do. Let's break down her "article":
1. Only the top business schools have high value.
The difference between the value of a top-tier MBA and all the others is very big. In fact, if you don't get into a top-tier program, the value of your MBA is so compromised that it's not worth it to stop working in order to get the degree. Go to night school instead.
A lot of people already know this, which has made the competition to get into a top-tier b-school fierce. So much so that you probably need a consultant to help you get in. Wondering how effective those consultants are at gaming the system? So effective that schools are publicly saying they're trying to change the application process in order to undermine the effectiveness of application coaches.
Ok Ms. Trunk. What's top-tier? Top 3, Top 5, Top 10, Top 20, Top 50? According to the link, that would be the top 50 as determined by US News. What about the WSJ rankings, Business Week rankings, or Financial Times rankings, do they not matter?
It's also nice that you link to your own article about who should attend. The funny thing is you say if you can only get into a third tier business school you shouldn't go. I wonder what the third tier is.
As for the consultant thing, I have classmates that were accepted at top 5 programs and didn't use one. I didn't use one. In fact, I don't know that many people who have used one. The people who started these "consulting" firms realized there was a void in the marketplace and that some people were so desperate that they would pay the insane fees that they charge. I'm glad they can game the system to get the people in, but how exactly does that devalue the degree that will be obtained from the schools? If you're saying that people who shouldn't have gotten in do get in, I can see that. But I know that when I'm competing for a job with them, and they lack the written and oral skills I'm going to get the job. All this tells me is that schools outside the top 5 are getting some great talent that is only going to make that school better.
2. Business schools are compromised by a lack of female applicants.
Harvard Business School is so concerned that it's not receiving enough female applicants that it's changed the admission process to accommodate the biological clock. This means that students will have less work experience coming into the program.
In the past, business schools have said that prior work experience is important to the MBA education. But apparently, the lack of women is so detrimental to the education that Harvard is willing to take less work experience.
While the changes are beneficial for women in some respects, one has to wonder if this doesn't compromise the value of an MBA for everyone.
Say what? That link takes me to another article written by you that cites some "hush hush" thing about women starting school earlier for biological clock reasons and not personality reasons. Then there's a link to another article written by you, which takes me to yet another article written by you that has this in it:
There is a response from a woman, who, big surprise, has a big career. But to me, she just sounds like she’s whining. And she’s definitely missing the point.
So your opinions are valid, but her opinion isn't. Got it. Let's see some more things you wrote there:
The conclusion, that marriages and families work better with a full-time housewife, is hard to swallow but hard to deny.
Please, do not send me emails about your perfect marriage because I don’t believe it. In my marriage we have tried everything, and everything is hard in its own way.
Meanwhile, it’s good advice to men to pick a woman who will be a full-time housewife, but I have some advice for women who are shopping for husbands: To find a partner who will support your choices both financially and emotionally and who will be around enough to participate as an equal parent, marry someone with a very large trust fund
Ummmm.... ok. Since it hasn't worked for you, it can't work for anyone. Understood. So the sample size is one here. Something tells me that Batman Bruce would say that the sample size is a little too small to be statistically significant.
3. Business school is like buying a high-priced recruiter.
The best thing you get out of business school is a good job afterward. But how do you know you wouldn't be able to get that job without business school?
In an article in The Atlantic, management consultant Matthew Stewert says you probably could. He also says you should consider paying a recruiter to get you a good job, and spend your time taking philosophy classes instead. That's because philosophers, as Stewert writes, "are much better at knowing what they don't know. ... In a sense, management theory is what happens to philosophers when you pay them too much."
And if you are thinking of becoming a CEO, Sallie Krawcheck, herself the CEO of Citigroup's Global Wealth Management, says you should be an investment banking analyst first. That's because being a CEO is really about making decisions with limited information, and that's what analysts do best.
Another wonderful point. We're going to ignore the fact that Mr. Stewert has a doctoral degree, and seems to be only slightly jaded. We're also going to ignore the fact that he's trying to sell books on why management education stinks. There's no conflict there, right?
As for the IB analyst thing, how many IB analysts do you think there are coming out of school every year? Is that the only role in all of America that has to deal with incomplete information? For someone who wrote about work-life balance, I doubt IB analysts have that. Are you also trying to imply that if you have graduated college and worked in a different field, that you should go back to an entry level IB analyst position because that's the only way to make CEO someday?
4. Hotshots don't go to business school anymore.
For a while now, it's been clear that the true entrepreneurial geniuses don't need degrees. The most effective way to learn about entrepreneurship is to practice in real life. You don't need an MBA for that.
Now that trend is filtering into the finance industry. Pausing one's career to get an MBA used to be non-negotiable for investment bankers. But today, the top candidates in finance are choosing to forgo business school. They're already making tons of money, and they're well-positioned to keep making tons of money, so the MBA seems unnecessary.
The upshot of this is that business school might start looking like something for people who are feeling a little bit stuck in their careers and need a jumpstart, rather than just a starting gate for superstars.
Oh, so no successful entrepreneur needs to learn about how to manage human capital, or how to read financial statements, or how to market their product. They are either born with it, or they're never going to learn it. That makes a lot of sense.
I also didn't realize that EVERYONE who goes to business school wants to be a trader or open their own asset management shop. I thought there were lots of different things people go to business school for, not just to be a trader. It's amazing the things I'm learning from this article. I also didn't realize that business school was only for "Hotshots". I'm sure no future CEO will have come out of business school in the next five years. They're all going to be skipping it because they're former IB analysts who are already "Hot Shots" and don't need it. How will most of the Fortune 500 companies survive and prosper if every talented person is either in banking or running a hedge fund?
5. People go to business school for the wrong reasons.
An MBA is very expensive in terms of time and money, and it solves few problems. If you're not a star performer before b-school, you probably won't be one after you graduate And if you just want to make a lot of money, the odds of you of doing that are only as good as the odds of you getting into a top school -- currently about 1 in 10.
If you're still wondering if an MBA is necessary for you, here are five more situations that might put the nail in the coffin of the MBA.
The bottom line is that very few careers today really require an MBA. If you're getting one for a career that doesn't require it, you might look more like a procrastinator than a go-getter.
It solves few problems? Really? You mean that if I wasn't already a superstar there's no point in furthering my education, meeting some bright minds that I'll network with for the rest of my life, and getting a job that I otherwise would not have been able to? Darn. But let's go through your links again, since you took us to one article and then another one written by you:
5. Use LinkedIn instead of an MBA.
Okay. I’m sort of exaggerating here, but so many people say they are going to business school for the networking opportunity. Instead, these people should consider spending all that time on networking instead of going to class. Business school makes connections for you, but they might not be for the best; I once read an essay that suggested that business schools are merely headhunters who charge a fee to the employee.
Ah yes, a headhunter will help me make the interpersonal relationships that I have over the past year. Nevermind that I'm still going to have the same skill set, but I should just pay a headhunter. I'm starting to wonder if you're married or related to one. But that link takes us to your five cautionary ideas about going to business school, that low and behold quotes Mr. Stewart again (ahem Mr. Bookseller), something about McKinsey not using MBAs (at least that's what I got out of her disjointed paragraph), business schools are both headhunters and places where you learn too much academic things (eh?), and something from a guy who gets paid to help people network saying that you need to be able to network outside of school (so how do you start again?)
If you can't tell, I'm not a fan of her article whatsoever. I think she's out of touch, and that everyone needs to investigate things for themselves. Her blanket statements are elementary and misleading at best, and her style is to create controversy, not educate anyone. I wouldn't follow her advice, but that's my opinion, not the facts that she's trying to present. In my opinion, if you think she's right, then business school isn't for you and I highly doubt we'd work well together.
SIDE NOTE: Home Dogs are now 14-6 the last three weeks with Buffalo going tonight.
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