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Is it a time for merely refining management education— particularly the assertion that MBA programs are "teaching the wrong things in the wrong way." Among the qualities that business schools have failed to develop in students are leadership abilities, interpersonal skills, and communications skills. struggle with the issues of relevance. In a 2002 article that appeared in The Academy of Management Learning & Education, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Christina Fong made two dis- turbing observations: Little evidence exists that earning an MBA degree or specific grades in business school correlates with career success; and little evidence exists that business school research is influential on management practice. In addition, one dean of a prominent American business school was quoted as saying that management school research is "fuzzy, irrelevant, and pretentious." If these statements are true, or even widely believed, management educators should be alarmed. Questions about the relevance of a business school edu- cation—coupled with the volatile economy, the uncertainty of the e-commerce market, the rise of terrorism, and the complexities of the global marketplace—continue to raise the anxiety level of a typical business school dean. And on top of all this, 2003 has been the worst year in memory for full-time MBA programs, as applications fell dramatically. Given this environment, management educators worldwide, like corporate executives, need to ask themselves some diffi- cult questions. There's more trouble ahead as management educators Four Tough Questions First, has the homogenization of management education globally led to an "American" leadership model that has, for better or worse, been adopted worldwide? A 2001 article in London's Sunday Times described the ment education has continued to thrive into the early part of the 21st century. But what's the next act? Recently, criticism has been leveled at business schools, heads of some of Germany's wealthiest companies sitting down to discuss ways to revolutionize their country's econ- omy. "The captains of German industry decided to create an elite corps of business bosses schooled in Anglo-American business techniques," according to the article. "They agreed to set up a private business university to rival Harvard and INSEAD, its French equivalent in Fontainebleau...in part so that graduates will no longer have to go abroad to acquire the skills for success." Students can go to schools in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America, and 42 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2004 receive a business school education that is accredited by AACSB International, an indicator that those schools meet certain rigorous standards in terms of course content and faculty preparation. The fact that key management concepts are taught in much the same way in almost every business school in the world means that students can choose to get their education almost anywhere—and they do. This year, almost 45 percent of the students enrolled in the Financial Times' top 50 business schools come from a country outside the school where they had enrolled. Cross-border migration to MBA programs is increasing dramatically, and this degree of crossover is only truly possible because of the increasing homogenization of management education. Unfortunately, at the same time that business school fac- ulty and administrators discuss the importance of cultural relativity in management principles, in reality they practice a more universal application of principles across cultures and nations. So the questions still remain: Is this homogenized education based on the "American" system of management? If so, what will the consequences be of relying on and rein- forcing that American management style? Second, are management educators worried about the issues they should be worried about?