Article | Capitalism and Society

The Business of Business Schools: Restoring a Focus on Competing to Win

by Robert Simons

Abstract

As business leaders worry about the decline of American competitiveness, business schools are responding by changing their curriculums. But are the topics and approaches taught in today's business schools part of the solution or part of the problem? In this paper, I explore the possibility that four trends in current MBA curriculums—theory creep, mission creep, doing well by doing good, and the quest for enlightenment—are teaching students to be uncompetitive in today's global markets. If this hypothesis is true, I argue that business school curriculums should be re-centered around the tough choices needed to compete—and to win.

Keywords: business schools; purpose of business schools; management education; business school curriculum; strategy execution; U.S. competitiveness; Capitalism; management profession; innovation; competing to win; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Trends; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Making; Design; Business Education; Curriculum and Courses; Innovation and Management;

Format: Print Read Now

Citation:

Simons, Robert. "The Business of Business Schools: Restoring a Focus on Competing to Win." Art. 2. Capitalism and Society 8, no. 1 (January 2013).

About the Author

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Robert Simons
Baker Foundation Professor, Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus
Accounting and Management

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