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?