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  • 2010
  • Book

Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads

By: Srikant M. Datar, David A. Garvin and Patrick Cullen
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

"Business Schools Face Test of Faith." "Is It Time to Retrain B-Schools?" As these headlines make clear, business education is at a major crossroads. For decades, MBA graduates from top-tier schools set the standard for cutting-edge business knowledge and skills. Now the business world has changed, say the authors of Rethinking the MBA. and MBA programs must change with it. Increasingly, managers and recruiters are questioning conventional business education. Their concerns? Among other things, MBA programs aren't giving students the heightened cultural awareness and global perspectives they need. Newly minted MBAs lack essential leadership skills. Creative and critical thinking demand far more attention. In this compelling and authoritative new book, the authors document a rising chorus of concerns about business schools gleaned from extensive interviews with deans and executives as well as from a detailed analysis of current curricula and emerging trends in graduate business education; provide case studies showing how leading MBA programs have begun reinventing themselves for the better; and offer concrete ideas for how business schools can surmount the challenges that come with reinvention, including securing faculty with new skills and experimenting with new pedagogies. Rich with examples and thoroughly researched, Rethinking the MBA reveals why and how business schools must define a better pathway for the future.

Keywords

Change Management; Transformation; Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges

Citation

Datar, Srikant M., David A. Garvin, and Patrick Cullen. Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2010. (Selected by Strategy + Business as one of the Best Business Books of 2010.)
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About The Author

Srikant M. Datar

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More from the Authors
  • Cicely Saunders and Modern Hospices—A Brother’s View: Case Histories of Transformational Advances By: Amar Bhide and Srikant M. Datar
  • Fecal Microbiota Transplants —Too Simple to be Safe? Case Histories of Transformational Advances By: Amar Bhide and Srikant M. Datar
  • Is Accounting Useful for Forecasting GDP Growth? A Machine Learning Perspective By: Srikant Datar, Apurv Jain, Charles C.Y. Wang and Siyu Zhang
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