86 ms·

For clarification: are you referring to your MBA or to an undergraduate business degree? If you were in a graduate program at 20, then you're probably an outlie

For clarification: are you referring to your MBA or to an undergraduate business degree? If you were in a graduate program at 20, then you're probably an outlier (in a good way!) to begin with. If you're talking about undergraduate-level business major or focus, then I think that's a different animal altogether -- and should be treated as such. My biggest concern with the MBA (master's level) right now is that it's converging too much on the same territory and same age group as the undergraduate business curriculum. There is absolutely a lot of value in an undergraduate business curriculum, but it should be fundamentally different from the curriculum at the graduate level. The fact that the two curricula are very similar right now is indicative of a problem, IMO.

benmccann 16y ago
My MBA. I did comp sci for undergrad. You bring up a good point that the undergrad and graduate curriculums should probably be different. However, they need to offer intro classes for the majority of subjects because most students won't know accounting and finance even if they've been in the working world for awhile beforehand. I think the clear advantage to the graduate program is that you can study only business. While I suppose I can have more intelligent conversations with other college-educated folk because I had to read Kant, Bentham, etc., I wouldn't mind having skipped all those philosophy classes in undergrad. There are also more advanced classes in the graduate business curriculum. I'm not sure what it is exactly about the curriculum that you see as problematic or would suggest changing.
- jonnathanson 16y ago
  Nothing's wrong with the curriculum on a nominal level. It's all well and good. The problem is that you can much more fully appreciate the material when you've had an empirical base from which to view it. As we know, 99% of the best-laid plans in the business world come down, in the end, to politics. That's something you could imagine, but probably wouldn't really grok, until you'd been out in the wild and brushed up against the subject. Another example: the people. I learned a lot from my classmates at my MBA program, but that's probably because a lot of them had different professional backgrounds. If we were all the same -- no backgrounds yet, other than our majors in undergrad and perhaps some college internships -- then I'd question what these people would actually have to teach me, or me them. I'd love to see the graduate business program be a lot more selective on the basis of actual leadership experience or actual business results. Select for the people who've kicked some ass in the real world. Then make the program super peer-focused, and make the whole thing basically the Hogwarts of business badassery. A bunch of super-accomplished people getting together and, for lack of a better word, hacking business. The theories and frameworks are great, but to your point, I think a lot of that stuff is undergrad material. Or maybe core/primer/refrsher material in the graduate program.

benmccann 16y ago

My MBA. I did comp sci for undergrad. You bring up a good point that the undergrad and graduate curriculums should probably be different. However, they need to offer intro classes for the majority of subjects because most students won't know accounting and finance even if they've been in the working world for awhile beforehand. I think the clear advantage to the graduate program is that you can study only business. While I suppose I can have more intelligent conversations with other college-educated folk because I had to read Kant, Bentham, etc., I wouldn't mind having skipped all those philosophy classes in undergrad. There are also more advanced classes in the graduate business curriculum. I'm not sure what it is exactly about the curriculum that you see as problematic or would suggest changing.

jonnathanson 16y ago
Nothing's wrong with the curriculum on a nominal level. It's all well and good. The problem is that you can much more fully appreciate the material when you've had an empirical base from which to view it. As we know, 99% of the best-laid plans in the business world come down, in the end, to politics. That's something you could imagine, but probably wouldn't really grok, until you'd been out in the wild and brushed up against the subject. Another example: the people. I learned a lot from my classmates at my MBA program, but that's probably because a lot of them had different professional backgrounds. If we were all the same -- no backgrounds yet, other than our majors in undergrad and perhaps some college internships -- then I'd question what these people would actually have to teach me, or me them. I'd love to see the graduate business program be a lot more selective on the basis of actual leadership experience or actual business results. Select for the people who've kicked some ass in the real world. Then make the program super peer-focused, and make the whole thing basically the Hogwarts of business badassery. A bunch of super-accomplished people getting together and, for lack of a better word, hacking business. The theories and frameworks are great, but to your point, I think a lot of that stuff is undergrad material. Or maybe core/primer/refrsher material in the graduate program.