反省MBA教育 (Henry Mintzberg 教授)

• 有志攻讀美式 MBA 者, 不少人看過MBA女孩 (謝蘊揚 著).  恐怕較少人看過 Managers Not MBAs  (by Henry Mintzberg)

           

or … Leadership Beyond the Bush MBA  (by Henry Mintzberg)

http://www.henrymintzberg.com/pdf/leadershipbush.pdf

           

• Prof. Henry Mintzberg twice won the Harvard Business Review’s McKinsey Award for the best article of the year

·         Henry 批評MBA full-time program, 培訓出MBA “confidence without competence”.   

1        Business schools are promoting an analytical view of the world, which becomes a numerical view of the world, which is very convenient (creates something tangible to work with) but the world is complicated and full of nuances.

簡言之, 分析能力固然重要, 卻將分析能力 限縮, 簡化, 窄化, 狹隘解釋成 = 數量化.

看上“方便” “具體” “好上手”, 獨尊數量化分析 (要寫成數學模型), 漠視真實世界錯綜複雜 (包含許多微妙, 抽象, 動態變化, 灰色模糊地帶, 無法以數學方程式表示).

於是乎, 既然[不能數量化], [不能寫成方程式], [不方便]分析, 乾脆矮化它!

[非量化不客觀], [非量化不可信], 乾脆 [非量化不予理會] (夠一廂情願吧!!)

 

2        Management is not a profession, nor is it science. It is a practice that depends mostly on craft and significantly on art. Craft and art is learned by experience that can only be gained in context.   Leadership is earned on the basis of the people who chose to follow you.

推薦甄試申請大學, 教授問我領導跟管理異同. 心無旁鶩的高中生會答對才有鬼…

 

MBA面試時, 被問及個人領導上最大的挫敗為何? 個人管理上最大的挫敗為何?

分析往事, 一幕幕往事情節, 角色, 謀略, 成敗, 心得成長浮上心頭 

(還好是越洋電話, 另一端看不到我這端的大字報…)

     

3        Incorrect premise behind the case study method:

§         20 page case written/prepared containing too many stats but too little context

“Fast learners in the classroom often become slow learners in the executive suite” because the students are not taught how “to learn from their own firsthand experience” - Harvard professor J. Sterling Livingston

§         Read the case one day and declare on the next what the company should do (for many too impatient and analytical business students in the classroom)

When was the last time you knew a corporation pronounced its critical decision under such circumstances?

§         Questionable assumption that good managers are decisive, and so good MBA students must take a stand (refuse to do so with the claim that this is a superficial exercise and then shown the door)

§         Repeat the exercise over 100 times over 2 years, pattern established

§         MBAs are a great fit not only for corporations, but also for government and social jobs…

 

Henry 老師經典名言  After 100 case study repetitive practice, George W. Bush was decisive and confident.  Give him a 20 page report, and he’ll give you a war in Iraq.

2002年9月小布希的白宮幕僚長被問及為何遲至9月才對伊拉克行動? 為何波灣戰爭11年後再追殺海珊? 是否有選舉版圖動機 (美國秋季大選).

 

White House chief of staff Andrew Card told The New York Times

“From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August”

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/12/schneider.iraq/

 

War became a new product…

 

                          Then named secretary of the army promised to bring in “sound business 

                          practice”. Oh by the way, he came from Enron.

 

4        眼下金融海嘯席捲全球, 說“貪婪 + 短視近利”是主謀, 沒有人會反對. 但是 “短視近利” 跟 MBA教育有何干係?

 

其實商學院並未鼓吹短視近利 (股東權益極大化, 永續競爭優勢, 都聽膩) 主要是 analytical 與 measurement鼓吹短視近利.  什麼原因呢?

因為要衡量長期效益並非那麼容易而準確, 且實務面上無法以此設計獎懲制度. 

試想, 執行長今年的薪資與獎金取決於公司八年後的表現.

(除非有時光機, 然縱有時光機, 何以斷定八年後業績可回溯今年某人決策之功?)

因此, 獎懲制度必然是取決於短期表現 (現在要講 “當季” “當地”, yeah! go green!)

然而, 決策者當年種下的因, 決定未來的果.  想想  孫運璿先生,  李國鼎先生, 再看看阿扁/阿珍.

 

MBA教育, 如同所有教育一樣, 不可能完美無缺. 因此反省, 批判, 持續改善.

湯明哲教授在MBA女孩一書中提到, 台灣國內的企管碩士教育不如美國, 想仿效卻很困難.

• 台灣國內招收沒有企業管理經驗的大學畢業生, 因為他們很會考試.
• 學科筆試揮舞 “行政技術面的公平性” 穩操著大王牌;
• 面試 “公平性” 備受爭議, 執行難度也高 ( "效果"一遇到 "公平" 就被台灣輿論打趴了 )
• 太像academic degree 訓練 (寫論文, 將商科基礎再教1次, 遭戲稱大五與大六)
• 缺乏professional degree 訓練 (也不能全怪大學, 產, 官, 學界缺乏整體配套也是不爭事實)

而美國 MBA教育又有什麼貢獻呢? 近年看來 ...

• 每年15萬MBA畢業生投入就業市場 (1929年哈佛MBA才多少人???)
• 小布希總統是第一個MBA學歷的總統
• 疑似金融海嘯的始作俑者…

我想說的寫完了, 但是這個議題還沒完呢…