The Global Economy in Turbulent Times

CHAPTER 96 The MBA: Is It Still Relevant?¹

I was in Manila for the gathering of governors and trustees of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). They comprise the cream of the Makati business community (including the Ayalas, Lopezs, Ocampos, del Rosarios, and of course, Cory Aquino until 2008), and a cross-section of entrepreneurs and scholars from India to Korea and Japan as well as from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. AIM was founded 42 years ago, supported by the Harvard Business School (HBS), which provided its first president. It’s the oldest postwar business school (B-school) in Asia. This sets me thinking about the master of business administration (MBA) degree in the wake of the financial crisis.

You Are Angry, I’m Angry, Too!

A 30-something asked, Don’t we ever learn?, referring to Generation Y’s concern about negative perceptions about banks and bankers, following big bankruptcies in early 2000s, and now exacerbated by the financial crisis. We seem to be stuck in an evolving quagmire of intense rage against big business’s bloated profits and outlandish bonuses. To be blunt, there is loss of confidence in financial institutions—investment banks, credit rating agencies, and regulators even, including B-schools. Surely, MBAs have lost a bit of luster.

I’m angry because many people at the heart of the crisis, from Christopher Cox (former US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman) and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (ex–Goldman Sachs ...