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title ‘Consultant to Business’； he was the pioneer of the school of ‘ge。。ing at
the facts’。 This is also where many business schools started out。 Cranfield
School of Management was born out of the Work Study Department； itself
part of the School of Production。
Strategy
This is the unifying discipline； o。。en called business strategy。 It deals with
the core purpose of an enterprise and how it should respond to the challenges
of a fast…changing environment。 It centres not just on how strategy is
shaped； for example using Porter’s Five Forces； but on the recognition that
no organization can be truly great in the absence of shared goals； values
and a sense of purpose – a shared picture of the future of the enterprise。
WHERE CAN YOU GET MBA SKILLS AND
KNOWLEDGE？
The most obvious answer to this question is – at a business school。 There
you will find talented teachers （some！）； eager； self…motivated； likeminded
students and a wealth of teaching resources； including books； journals；
case studies and library facilities。 In fact； for most people in most cases
this will be the wrong answer and； if pursued； will prove an extravagant
disappointment。
A brief history of business schools
The claim to being the world’s first business school is； like everything
else in business； hotly disputed。 The honour is usually said to rest with
Wharton； founded in 1881 by Joseph Wharton； a self…taught businessman。
A miner； he made his fortune through the American Nickel pany
and the Bethlehem Steel Corporation； later to bee the subject of the
Introduction 7
earliest business case studies。 The school is based in an urban campus at
Philadelphia’s University of Pennsylvania。
It wasn’t until 1900 that Tuck School of Business； part of Dartmouth
College； began conferring advanced degrees in management sciences。 In
1908 the Harvard Business School opened； with a faculty of 15 and some
80 students； and two years later it was offering a Management Masters programme。
By 1922 Harvard was running a doctoral programme pioneering
research into business methods。
Today； over a thousand business schools around the globe offer MBA
programmes； minting some 100；000 new graduates each year。 It wasn’t until
the late 1950s that the first business schools in the UK opened their doors –
with LBS （London Business School）； Cranfield and the Manchester Business
School in the vanguard。 In mainland Europe it took a further two decades
for business schools to establish a niche in the market。 The harmonization
of university education in Europe； under the Bologna Accord due to be
fully implemented by 2010； has already created some 300 new management
master’s degrees。 It is unlikely that the quality of education delivered will
keep pace with the rise in quantity。
But despite these impressive numbers； they represent barely a drop in
the management ocean。 For every manager or executive with an MBA there
are over 200 with no formal business qualification。 That an MBA from one
of the top business schools delivers value to most of those who take it and
to the organizations for which they work is beyond reasonable doubt。 One
of the measures any self…respecting business school boasts is the salary rise
its alumni achieve in the three years a。。er graduation； typically between 50
and 70 per cent。
However； Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Antai College of Economics &
Management （ACEM）； where the average MBA could expect a salary hike
of 177 per cent over three years； is a whole lot different from those ing
out of Vlerick Leuven Gent who ne。。ed just 50 per cent （according to the FT
Business Schools top 100 Ranking； 2008）。 Outside of the top 100 business
schools； many graduates will see no hike in pay and even perhaps find it
hard to get a job。
So could and should everyone put up the ￡100；000 or so required in
fees and salary forgone； muster the appropriate GMAT score and take an
MBA at a top school？ It takes a brave person to give up a job and bee a
student； perhaps only a few years into their career； with unpaid loans and
mortgages looming large。
Luckily you don’t have to make that decision – you can have your cake
and eat it。 You certainly need MBA knowledge if you are dissatisfied with
your progress； but you don’t need to go to a business school to get it。
8 The Thirty…Day MBA
WHY YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN’T GO TO
BUSINESS SCHOOL
What follows will probably limit my prospects of teaching in business
schools and none of it detracts from the great work that many schools do。
It’s just that their approach is that of ‘one size fits all’ and； contrary to their
mantra that the customer is king； in business schools it is the professors
that are the focal point； just as in a hospital the consultant is ‘God’。 In short；
many business schools do a great job； it’s just that for many people and for
much of the time they do the wrong job。 The good ones are at the cu。。ing
edge of knowledge and if you do want to see what is taught there and listen
or watch their star faculty teach； you can do so for free – just follow the links
in each chapter。 The poor business schools； and that is the vast majority；
have their faculty teach from the books wri。。en by the best； so you may as
well consider cu。。ing out the middleman in the process； with li。。le loss in
knowledge and a great saving in cost and time。
Business school limitations
Let’s look a bit more closely at what goes on in a business school。 Anything
from 25 to around 2；000 students； in Harvard’s case； are assembled in one
place at one time to cover the core disciplines that make up a Master of
Business Administration degree。 But the faculty decides what is actually
taught within those disciplines and how it is taught。 Their decision will
be based on their own research preferences and； as they set and mark the
exams； they have an enormous amount of freedom over what they teach。
For example； in one well…regarded business school the strategy ponent
of the course prises a series of disjointed lectures entitled ‘Socialist uses
of workers’； ‘Kloinko for a glance’ （the authors’ sole imperative is explained
– we have wri。。en this because we have the urge to publish something now！）；
‘The Debt Crisis in Africa’ and ‘The New Enclosures – The Apocalypse of
the Trinity of Deals’！！
Any student on such a programme will have a rude awakening when
they actually have to devise and implement strategy for real。 They will
know as much about modern organizations and their actions as someone
reading up on how the Chinese discovery of gunpowder impacts on
intercontinental ballistic missiles。
The laborious case study method
Pioneered by Harvard and championed by schools such as Cranfield；
which hosts the European Case Study Clearing House； Bocconi （Milan）；
Esade （Barcelona） and INSEAD （Paris）； the case study teaching method is
Introduction 9
de rigueur。 Business schools use the case study as a vehicle for applying
and testing out the theories their students are studying in class。 The logic
for this is impeccable。 By studying a business at a particular moment in
time； students are forced to grapple with exactly the kinds of decisions and
dilemmas that managers confront every day。 The case method brings into
the classroom the opportunity to analyse a plex situation； where all the
relevant facts are not available； and persuade others to your point of view。
Of course； if you weren’t in the classroom you would be in your own
organization； evaluating a business opportunity if you plan to start a business；
or looking outside at other enterprises for new career prospects。 In
short； you would have no need of a case study。 You would even have to
hand an infinite supply of people； whose views differed from your own；
with whom to debate the options。
Case studies are o。。en dated and inappropriate and they have to be
known to the lecturer； so they stick to the limited range panies and
industries they know well or that have been prehensively covered in
teaching notes provided by the case writer。 Serious as these deficiencies
may be； the greatest problem is that so much time is spent both in and out
of class debating issues with people who may know as li。。le as you about
the business or the problems and opportunities being explored。 The real
learning to hours invested ratio is poor。
Much the same argument can be made for business games； Outward
Bound exercises and the like； which also set out to simulate the ‘real’ world
for a group of students who temporarily have elected to leave it。 If you
haven’t le。。 the real world you don’t need a simulated one。
None of this is to suggest that there is nothing to be learnt from studying
other businesses； their successes and failures。 Indeed in this book you will
see many such examples。 Rather it’s that too much time is spent on this
activity in business schools； the cases themselves are dated and in any
event you can glean the knowledge more efficiently yourself from books
and articles。
The missing lecturers
The prospectus of business schools will； where they have th