Looks like I had some time to waste on Saturday morning, so I went ahead and looked into education backgrounds of CEOs of some of the prominent firms that have been in the news since this period of economic malaise began. Yeah, I know I need to get a life but I figured what the heck, at the very worst I can start making fun of some of the schools!
Anyway, I have them tabulated below. A few things about this table:
-CEOs only
-CEOs during the troubled period (2000-2008)
-I wiki’d the firms to get the CEOs backgrounds. So if whatever the wiki page said about their education (MBA only) I listed here. If anyone spots errors please point out. I will be glad to correct as I should be.
-Banks, Govt institutions, and Automobile manufacturers are included. Oh, and GE too (it needs a separate category)
-Some of the firms have not done well as you all already know and some have done ok.
I am not going to draw any conclusion from this table. Nor am I claiming any correlation between their degrees and firm performance.
Firm-CEO-MBA?-MBA School
Lehman Bros-Dick Fuld-Yes-NYU Stern
Bear Stearns-Jimmy Cayne-No
Bear Stearns-Alan Schwartz-No
Merrill Lynch-John Thain-Yes-HBS
Citi-Vikram Pandit-Yes-Columbia
Fannie Mae-Daniel Mudd-No
Freddie Mac-Richard Syron-No
Wachovia-Ken Thompson-Yes-Wake Forest
WaMu-Kerry Killinger-Yes-Univ of Iowa
AIG-Edward Libby-Yes-George Washington
GE-Jeff Immelt-Yes-HBS
GM-Rick Wagoner-Yes-HBS
Chrysler-Bob Nardelli-Yes-Univ of Louisville
Bank of America-Ken Lewis-Yes-Stanford (executive)
Wells Fargo-John Stumpf-Yes-Univ of Minnesota
JP Morgan Chase-Jamie Dimon-Yes-HBS
Morgan Stanley-John Mack-No
Goldman Sachs-Lloyd Blankfein-No
Ford-Alan Mulally-Yes-MIT Sloan
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
RIP MBA? really?
So I've had a chance to think about what this gentlemen wrote in his column about the death of the MBA (see previous post for link), here is what I think. I am going to argue two crucial points that he refers to-although to be fair he points to a few other things which in my opinion are not relavent.
Point #1
"Managers don't need to be trained; they need to be educated—in the sense of "civilized." Unfortunately, a business degree isn't just irrelevant to that purpose; it's positively detrimental."
I agree that classroom education is not the only relevant tool to being a good manager. I say it to my classmates all the time, what you can learn at work is invaluable and in most costs irreplaceable. Having said that, to state unequivocally that a business degree is not relevant to becoming a good manager is irresponsible.
I think it is fair to state that Management is not exactly a science that can be learnt via formulae or equations. Absolutely. Here is where being exposed to a pool of fellow students who bring diverse functional and industry experiences helps. Listening, debating, and learning from these experiences gives ammunition to professors in business schools to shape future managers. Combine this with industry relevant research that professors perform (operations and strategy in particular) and you have a fertile ground for brainstorming sticky managerial situations.
Look I am not one to say that there is a textbook solution to every specific managerial situation but having been exposed to different situations lets you expand your thinking and seek out new solutions.
Point #2
"The only semblance of a theory behind modern business education is that it purportedly produces "experts" in shareholder-value maximization who are capable of forming an ideal, self-regulating market"
Not sure where this comes from. The theory behind shareholder-value maximization and free-market philosophy is rooted in Economics not business school education. Yes there is a lot of cross "polination" between economics and finance in schools these days but to say that this originates in business schools is not true. I am about to finish my first year in a business school and I have not had this come up in any course so far.
Now, I can't see what is wrong with maximizing shareholder-value 'philosophy'. The expectation is that this is also tied to other metrics that point to a healthy and self-sustaining corporation. Maximizing share-holder value combined with consistent return on investments, profitability, and productivity should be what every corporation aim to do. That a few idiots decided to achieve this by meddling with accounting rules rather than organically achieving growth is not the fault of business school education.
What you are, you are. Going to business school should not (hope not) alter that. If a person is un ethical he/she will be un ethical regardless of whether they attend a education institution or not. To claim that the environment at a business school festers this behavior is irresponsible.
Look, just 'cause someone goes to business school does not make him/her a genius manager. There are a lot of factors that go into a successful manager. For every crooked manager you can find you can find multiple great managers. Maybe some of them went to business schools. A correlation or causation?
Point #1
"Managers don't need to be trained; they need to be educated—in the sense of "civilized." Unfortunately, a business degree isn't just irrelevant to that purpose; it's positively detrimental."
I agree that classroom education is not the only relevant tool to being a good manager. I say it to my classmates all the time, what you can learn at work is invaluable and in most costs irreplaceable. Having said that, to state unequivocally that a business degree is not relevant to becoming a good manager is irresponsible.
I think it is fair to state that Management is not exactly a science that can be learnt via formulae or equations. Absolutely. Here is where being exposed to a pool of fellow students who bring diverse functional and industry experiences helps. Listening, debating, and learning from these experiences gives ammunition to professors in business schools to shape future managers. Combine this with industry relevant research that professors perform (operations and strategy in particular) and you have a fertile ground for brainstorming sticky managerial situations.
Look I am not one to say that there is a textbook solution to every specific managerial situation but having been exposed to different situations lets you expand your thinking and seek out new solutions.
Point #2
"The only semblance of a theory behind modern business education is that it purportedly produces "experts" in shareholder-value maximization who are capable of forming an ideal, self-regulating market"
Not sure where this comes from. The theory behind shareholder-value maximization and free-market philosophy is rooted in Economics not business school education. Yes there is a lot of cross "polination" between economics and finance in schools these days but to say that this originates in business schools is not true. I am about to finish my first year in a business school and I have not had this come up in any course so far.
Now, I can't see what is wrong with maximizing shareholder-value 'philosophy'. The expectation is that this is also tied to other metrics that point to a healthy and self-sustaining corporation. Maximizing share-holder value combined with consistent return on investments, profitability, and productivity should be what every corporation aim to do. That a few idiots decided to achieve this by meddling with accounting rules rather than organically achieving growth is not the fault of business school education.
What you are, you are. Going to business school should not (hope not) alter that. If a person is un ethical he/she will be un ethical regardless of whether they attend a education institution or not. To claim that the environment at a business school festers this behavior is irresponsible.
Look, just 'cause someone goes to business school does not make him/her a genius manager. There are a lot of factors that go into a successful manager. For every crooked manager you can find you can find multiple great managers. Maybe some of them went to business schools. A correlation or causation?
Should I have gone into government service?
This dude on Slate.com posted an article on how overrated an MBA degree is. And he thinks students instead should have gone into public service. hmmm...interesting suggestion. I just read the article and have some instant retorts to some of his points but I will hold back until I can digest this more.
Meanwhile, if you have the time, do read it
RIP MBA - The Economic Crisis has exposed the myth of business school expertise.
I'll post more on this and other topics soon.
layyter
Meanwhile, if you have the time, do read it
RIP MBA - The Economic Crisis has exposed the myth of business school expertise.
I'll post more on this and other topics soon.
layyter
Saturday, March 21, 2009
whoaa! AWOL big time!
That's right I have not posted in a LOOOONG time. Too much going on dudes. I thought things would slow down in the second semester but as Austin Powers would say "Au contraire". We are free this week and the next (Spring Break!). And I am not going any where, boooo! Staying in Cambridge for a variety of reasons. So what's the delio? well....
-I had to skip McKool's wedding on the left coast. I am embarrassed about it and dont feel good. Unfortunately I had no choice. There was a conference that we were having at MIT that I had to attend given my choice in venture capital for the summer. So I cancelled my tkts at the last second. Sorry McKool. I heard the wedding was great though. Best wishes to you kids.
-The second semester at school has been SUPER busy. I signed up for only 4 classes but on the side am doing 3 separate projects. Add to that my summer internship search. I have been networking like a mofo since February. I am hoping it will pay off.
-oh yeah, one of the new webblogs (xconomy.com) asked me to be a regular contributor starting in January. I will be writing about energy, b school, recruiting, entrepreneurship etc from a b school student point of view. So that has been taking up my time as well.
-I couldn't believe it that the next class at Sloan will be here soon. We hosted the admit weekend for those who were admitted in the 1st round in late February. I still remember me attending the same event last year. How time flies peeps! I was asked to sit in on a couple of panels to answer questions and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of questions the new admits asked.
-I am in a couple of interesting courses this semester: Macro-Econ (highly recommend this to anyone, especially at MIT) and New Enterprises (course on how to write a business plan for a new venture). I am also in Finance II which is a good learning experience. We are being taught on how to evaluate the health of firms based on financial statements. Not a bad learning experience.
-Speaking of macro-econ. We were given three topics to debate in class (carried 50% of the grade). The team that I was on was voted the best in both the topics that we competed for. Topic 1: Should China be a Democracy in 5 years? Topic 2: Would you vote Yes for the stimulus package? We had a ball preparing for the debates. And ended up doing really well on both. Learnt quite a bit about China and how things work there in the process. And let me tell you, a lot things will surprise you. By the way, we argued that China did not need to be a democracy in 5 years (or possibly for a long time). Economic and Social well being has very little do with what form of government you have, we discovered.
-Recruiting has been progressing. I decided to focus solely on Venture Capital gigs for the summer with a sharp focus on energy and materials. I have a couple of solid leads but no confirmed internship yet. My goal is to spend the summer at a top tier energy VC shop and I feel that if everything goes well I will land a gig at one of those places.
-I managed to convince the student affairs office at Sloan to give me money to start a Squash club. So officially started the Sloan Squash club in February. We had a lot of interest from classmates and glad to see people show up on the first Sunday to practice. I also managed to connect with our B school friends up the river (aka HBS) and we are planning on having a Sloan-HBS squash tournament soon. Should be fun.
-Enough about me. Seriously. Are you peeps following the happenings in the world? Jeeeez. Where to start?
-AIG and the bonus mess. Well, I need to find out more info before jumping up and down like those idiots on TV calling everyone and their grandma thieves. How were the bonuses structured? Are people who made the wrong choices rewarded or is this for the new talent? How is the bonus structure setup, for long term or short term? I have not had a chance to check this out but if anyone knows please comment.
-Stimulus Package mess? As I wrote earlier we debated this in class and I have an insiders perspective on this since our professor is a well known economist. According to him this is a panic reaction from the govt. I will not get into details about this but one of the main arguments was that instead of giving consumers money to spend the govt should have incentivized businesses (by lowering corporate taxes etc) to invest. Great topic to debate by the way.
-I will end this by quoting our Macro-econ professor's views on politics and politicians. "Politicians should not govern based on what party and what philosophy they believe in, they should govern based on what the situation at hand demands". Exactly by beliefs about politics in this country.
Until next time (which should be soon hopefully!).
-I had to skip McKool's wedding on the left coast. I am embarrassed about it and dont feel good. Unfortunately I had no choice. There was a conference that we were having at MIT that I had to attend given my choice in venture capital for the summer. So I cancelled my tkts at the last second. Sorry McKool. I heard the wedding was great though. Best wishes to you kids.
-The second semester at school has been SUPER busy. I signed up for only 4 classes but on the side am doing 3 separate projects. Add to that my summer internship search. I have been networking like a mofo since February. I am hoping it will pay off.
-oh yeah, one of the new webblogs (xconomy.com) asked me to be a regular contributor starting in January. I will be writing about energy, b school, recruiting, entrepreneurship etc from a b school student point of view. So that has been taking up my time as well.
-I couldn't believe it that the next class at Sloan will be here soon. We hosted the admit weekend for those who were admitted in the 1st round in late February. I still remember me attending the same event last year. How time flies peeps! I was asked to sit in on a couple of panels to answer questions and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of questions the new admits asked.
-I am in a couple of interesting courses this semester: Macro-Econ (highly recommend this to anyone, especially at MIT) and New Enterprises (course on how to write a business plan for a new venture). I am also in Finance II which is a good learning experience. We are being taught on how to evaluate the health of firms based on financial statements. Not a bad learning experience.
-Speaking of macro-econ. We were given three topics to debate in class (carried 50% of the grade). The team that I was on was voted the best in both the topics that we competed for. Topic 1: Should China be a Democracy in 5 years? Topic 2: Would you vote Yes for the stimulus package? We had a ball preparing for the debates. And ended up doing really well on both. Learnt quite a bit about China and how things work there in the process. And let me tell you, a lot things will surprise you. By the way, we argued that China did not need to be a democracy in 5 years (or possibly for a long time). Economic and Social well being has very little do with what form of government you have, we discovered.
-Recruiting has been progressing. I decided to focus solely on Venture Capital gigs for the summer with a sharp focus on energy and materials. I have a couple of solid leads but no confirmed internship yet. My goal is to spend the summer at a top tier energy VC shop and I feel that if everything goes well I will land a gig at one of those places.
-I managed to convince the student affairs office at Sloan to give me money to start a Squash club. So officially started the Sloan Squash club in February. We had a lot of interest from classmates and glad to see people show up on the first Sunday to practice. I also managed to connect with our B school friends up the river (aka HBS) and we are planning on having a Sloan-HBS squash tournament soon. Should be fun.
-Enough about me. Seriously. Are you peeps following the happenings in the world? Jeeeez. Where to start?
-AIG and the bonus mess. Well, I need to find out more info before jumping up and down like those idiots on TV calling everyone and their grandma thieves. How were the bonuses structured? Are people who made the wrong choices rewarded or is this for the new talent? How is the bonus structure setup, for long term or short term? I have not had a chance to check this out but if anyone knows please comment.
-Stimulus Package mess? As I wrote earlier we debated this in class and I have an insiders perspective on this since our professor is a well known economist. According to him this is a panic reaction from the govt. I will not get into details about this but one of the main arguments was that instead of giving consumers money to spend the govt should have incentivized businesses (by lowering corporate taxes etc) to invest. Great topic to debate by the way.
-I will end this by quoting our Macro-econ professor's views on politics and politicians. "Politicians should not govern based on what party and what philosophy they believe in, they should govern based on what the situation at hand demands". Exactly by beliefs about politics in this country.
Until next time (which should be soon hopefully!).
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