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I agree with all this, but generally speaking the kids who come from name-brand MBA programs are bright. They come in, they know enough, and they have excellen

I agree with all this, but generally speaking the kids who come from name-brand MBA programs are bright. They come in, they know enough, and they have excellent work ethics. I don't put a lot of stock in the training the MBA provides, but I do think on the whole MBA grads tend to be better hires than non-MBA grads. For recent grads, all things being equal, I'd take the MBA-grad. Is it that extra year or two of age? Possibly... Is it the personality type of someone driven to get an MBA in the first place? Possibly... Is it the training and networking and exposure to other like-minded individuals via group projects? Possibly...

gsylvie 10y ago
I see the MBA as a rfid badge into a different class of society: - Do you already have an undergrad degree? - Can you afford MBA tuition? - Can you afford the 1-2 years required (not counting the tuition)? Okay, you can be one of us. Of course there's a pecking order within the MBA club based on school and year & model of porsche and professional reputation, and your work will always speak for you. But I really get this sense that it's essentially a membership card into a social club and that the members prefer their own kind.
- cookiecaper 10y ago
  Yes. So much of what people have been trained to believe are important and necessary qualifications are actually just the result of an ingroup creating a contrived process of hoops to a) limit the number of potential competitors; b) haze newcomers and make them prove they are worthy to be "one of us"; c) inflate the ingroup's reputation and "credibility" by making everyone think they're super smart (and, as always in such exercises, the most important target of positive ego manipulation is one's self); d) thoroughly beat out, primarily by cultural reinforcement, any potentially disruptive ideas before someone is given the authority to practice anything professionally. By the time a licensing body is given legal authority to codify an ingroup's arbitrary ritual as a pre-requisite for gainful employment, the plot has been lost and the industry is a stagnant circlejerk. The truth is that we waste a huge amount of time on so-called "training" so that the upper class can continue to feel wise and lordly, and readily whip out the "proof" of said lordly wisdom whenever someone challenges them. We'd be much better off with apprenticeship-style programs. I have 20x more respect for someone who has been in the trenches creating actual value than I have for someone who believes that their licenses, degrees, or awards entitle them to anything.
wott 10y ago
Please don't put the words 'ethics' and 'MBA' together.
- JakeAl 10y ago
  Do you assume to know what the ethics of all MBAs are? It's often misconstrued that the goals of the manager or organization are the goals of the individual employee. Individual employees are at the bottom of the food chain because they have the greatest weaknesses when it comes to management and leadership. If they didn't they could prove themselves through success and level up. An employee is hired to do a job. If an employees goals and ideals are not in alignment with the origanization that needs to be corrected through effective leadership or that employee needs to find another job. That applies to all levels of an organization from individual contributor, to manager, to leadership roles. A disgruntled employee indicates a problem that is not being addressed and solved by managers and leaders. That doesn't mean the employee is right or wrong or that the manager is right or wrong. Weaknesses are in individuals and occur at all levels of business. A poor employee just lacks self-awareness, knowledge acumen and the correct strategy for solving the problems, whatever they may be, at whatever level they are. This is what effective leaders address.

gsylvie 10y ago

I see the MBA as a rfid badge into a different class of society: - Do you already have an undergrad degree? - Can you afford MBA tuition? - Can you afford the 1-2 years required (not counting the tuition)? Okay, you can be one of us. Of course there's a pecking order within the MBA club based on school and year & model of porsche and professional reputation, and your work will always speak for you. But I really get this sense that it's essentially a membership card into a social club and that the members prefer their own kind.

cookiecaper 10y ago
Yes. So much of what people have been trained to believe are important and necessary qualifications are actually just the result of an ingroup creating a contrived process of hoops to a) limit the number of potential competitors; b) haze newcomers and make them prove they are worthy to be "one of us"; c) inflate the ingroup's reputation and "credibility" by making everyone think they're super smart (and, as always in such exercises, the most important target of positive ego manipulation is one's self); d) thoroughly beat out, primarily by cultural reinforcement, any potentially disruptive ideas before someone is given the authority to practice anything professionally. By the time a licensing body is given legal authority to codify an ingroup's arbitrary ritual as a pre-requisite for gainful employment, the plot has been lost and the industry is a stagnant circlejerk. The truth is that we waste a huge amount of time on so-called "training" so that the upper class can continue to feel wise and lordly, and readily whip out the "proof" of said lordly wisdom whenever someone challenges them. We'd be much better off with apprenticeship-style programs. I have 20x more respect for someone who has been in the trenches creating actual value than I have for someone who believes that their licenses, degrees, or awards entitle them to anything.

wott 10y ago

Please don't put the words 'ethics' and 'MBA' together.

JakeAl 10y ago
Do you assume to know what the ethics of all MBAs are? It's often misconstrued that the goals of the manager or organization are the goals of the individual employee. Individual employees are at the bottom of the food chain because they have the greatest weaknesses when it comes to management and leadership. If they didn't they could prove themselves through success and level up. An employee is hired to do a job. If an employees goals and ideals are not in alignment with the origanization that needs to be corrected through effective leadership or that employee needs to find another job. That applies to all levels of an organization from individual contributor, to manager, to leadership roles. A disgruntled employee indicates a problem that is not being addressed and solved by managers and leaders. That doesn't mean the employee is right or wrong or that the manager is right or wrong. Weaknesses are in individuals and occur at all levels of business. A poor employee just lacks self-awareness, knowledge acumen and the correct strategy for solving the problems, whatever they may be, at whatever level they are. This is what effective leaders address.