From: Jim Underwood [mailto:
docj@airmail.net]
I think that the critical question for an MBA "graduate" is "Can they
perform?" Over the years, we have allowed the MBA program to become an
"advanced undergraduate" degree instead of a performance-creating degree.
That brings us to the second issue.
What type of student are you training?
In being realistic about the world of graduate education in the US, if you
do not teach at a top 20 or State University, you are competing for
students. Thus, creating exceptionally high performance requirements for
students can be an enrollment problem.
I was fortunate to go through the University of Dallas program a number of
years ago when a man named Jim Makens taught marketing. At that time, most
classes required that students (especially in Makens' class) do a consulting
project for a real company. By the time the student graduated, they were
capable of performing.
Another issue: MBA programs are in a mess right now. Equilibrium-based
constructs (Theory of Comparative Advantage/core comp's, etc., the whole bag
of linear models) simply no longer work in the new complex world. Why do we
still teach this stuff?
How do we create an exceptional MBA learning environment and an exceptional
graduate?
1. Challenge the student to achieve those things that are higher than
he/she thought they were capable of. (I know that's bad grammar, but I like
the way it sounds anyway.)
2. Abandon lecture/test mentalities and create real learning situations
(such as consulting) that foster the required post-graduate skills that the
student will need to be successful.
3. Challenge all faculty to "catch up" and create new ways of thinking
about management (i.e. Complex Dynamic Systems) and how complex systems
constructs impact every discipline.
Jim Underwood
Dallas Baptist U.
docj@airmail.net