Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58061
"Attending business school was like going to the land of Oz. I entered as the Scarecrow hoping to find a brain, but quickly discovered I was also the Tin Man trying to find a heart. The program helped complete me as a person." —An alumnus of Pepperdine's Graziadio School of Business Major Findings The survey was conducted in spring 2006 via telephone interviews with executives in a broad range of industries. Questions targeted four fundamental areas of business education. n How well do business schools prepare MBAs to succeed in the busi- ness world? On a "poor-fair-good-excellent" scale, 69 percent of executives said they feel business schools do a good job of preparing today's MBA graduates. About one in five, or 21 percent, gave business schools a rating of fair. Only seven percent gave schools the highest mark of excellent. n Are MBAs better prepared to meet business challenges now than they were five years ago? Approximately one-fourth of business executives surveyed—26 percent—said yes. But the majority, 61 percent, believe recent graduates bring the same level of preparedness to today's workplace as graduates did five years ago. I find that statistic troubling, as it indicates that busi- ness schools are only maintaining the status quo in preparing their graduates to enter the workforce. n Are recent MBAs more ethical than, less ethical than, or about as ethical as their corporate counterparts? Only 18 percent of respondents believe MBAs who have graduated in the past five years are more ethical than the typical corporate execu- tive. The majority, 67 percent, said they believe new MBAs are about as ethical as managers in the corporate world. Considering how much attention has been given to ethics in the business school curriculum, I find this statistic rather disappointing. It indicates that business schools might not be doing as good a job at teaching ethics as we had hoped. n What are your policies on tuition reimbursement? Sixty-nine per- cent of executives surveyed said their company's policies on tuition reimbursement have not changed during the past five years. Only 9 percent said their reimbursement has decreased; nearly twice as many, or 17 percent, said it has increased. By contrast, data compiled by AACSB International shows that, for 2000–2003, schools reported a 5 percent decline in tuition reimbursement amounts of 50 percent or more. While the data is somewhat in conflict, one thing is clear: Tuition reimbursement is a benefit that could be in jeopardy. This is particularly true if companies face pressure to cut costs—or begin to question the worth of the degree. Taken altogether, these statistics suggest to me that busi- ness schools are only doing an adequate job of preparing their students for the workforce. If business schools want to make themselves indispensable to corporations and ensure that they are turning out graduates with priceless degrees, they need to do a better job of preparing graduates to work in the real and ethically complex business world. 52 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2007 The Real-World Challenge I believe that schools striving to add value to the MBA should strengthen their programs in four key areas: expe- riential learning, community focus, global thinking, and values-based decision making. Many schools are already working to improve efforts in these areas, but more needs to be done. n Experiential learning. At the Graziadio School, our Educa- tion to Business (E2B) Applied Learning Program gives stu- dents a chance to solve real business problems as they work with executives at companies like Warner Bros., Starbucks, and Baxter Bioscience. Similar programs are under way on many campuses, including the business schools of Rutgers, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Mary- land, the University of Arkansas, and Baylor University. n Community focus. Members of Generation Y consistently show a strong interest in the social and ethical consequences of commerce, and they want to develop a deeper under- standing about how global forces may affect their communi- ties and their own success. Our European counterparts already have begun to make headway in this area. The European Foundation for Man- agement Development (EFMD), with the support of the United Nations Global Compact, has brought together international corporations and universities to form the Glob- ally Responsible Leadership Initiative. This group is charged with making global responsibility a requirement within ac- credited business schools, while it also encourages learning opportunities that promote greater international steward- ship in the workplace. n Global thinking. Countries such as China, India, and Brazil are poised to become major players in the world market; and they're also training their professionals to participate in an open, fair, and socially responsible economy. In these coun- tries, some reforms are already well under way, such as open doors for transcultural business education and the teaching of fair-market policy. Global issues will only get more com- plex as Eastern European, Latin American, and pan-Asian countries bring their own ambitions and challenges to the world market. n Values-based decision making. Since such a small percentage of survey respondents believe schools are turning out MBAs with higher ethical standards than the average executive, it's essential that schools deepen the focus on ethics even more. Schools need to teach their students how to make hard decisions grounded in an ethical context, while also helping them develop a better understanding of their own personal values.