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Detroit MBAs Begging From Congress: L-R Harvard, Louisville, Sloan-MIT, none.
In less than 30 years, the world’s business organizations have been invaded by men and women educated in the ways of destruction arising from short term thinking, zero sum analysis, and self enrichment as the principal, sometimes the only measure of success.
New York
Vehicle Of Infection
Advanced Degrees In Incompetency
MBA degree holders from some of America’s most prestigious business schools were at the helm of what proved to be grossly and irresponsibly managed financial institutions. They also filled the upper managerial ranks at almost every major American corporation from General Motors, to Chrysler and Ford — and venerable GE.
Paid Gunmen?
MBAs are the paid gunmen in business. No matter the cost to employees, customers, or community, their job is to economize, optimize, and make the quarterly numbers.
The MBA managers now feeling wronged by public distrust, or out of work due to failures of their companies and the widespread collapse of what remains a crippled and corrupt financial sector, were themselves wronged by failed institutions of higher education.
Their [ band of brothers ] classmates sat on their boards of directors, rejoiced at their perks, anointed every bad decision, and kept the incompetent in power. AIG proved to be the most costly, GM the worst managed, and Goldman Sachs the most avaricious. But these companies are only the most visible victims from a failed educational model largely bereft of historical foundation in business, or a clear understanding of the critical role business plays in a capitalist economy.
The result as been a worldwide pandemic whose infection was incubated in the most prestigious business schools from where it has attacked business, finance, banking, government, marketing, accounting and nearly every other private sector organization or institution. No business school overtly intended the MBA virus to be destructive — they only wanted to make money selling it to willing students seeking to attain wealth in the business world.
Nor did any school knowingly and intentionally plan to teach what have proven to be highly refined skills of incompetency. They weren’t thinking — because they were so invested in the MBA cult themselves they made of themselves the principal infector of a disease that is still running rampant today. You see it in full bloom even today at Goldman Sachs, CitiGroup, JPM-Chase and all those who are back in action doing the very same things they did that brought down the credit markets just one year ago.
Education In The Ways Of Destruction
Thus men and women schooled in the ways of opportunism, short-term thinking and destructive decision-making also commanded the United States Treasury, ran the Federal Reserve, directed governmental oversight agencies and taught failed managerial values, strategies and ethics to a generation of unquestioning students.
The MBA pandemic has spread a failed model of capitalism — one in which rogue enterprises openly abdicate the capitalist compact that connects private interests, democracy and national interest, in favor of self dealing, self interest, and managerial self enrichment.
In the last two decades, what turned out to be large numbers of MBA time bombs were recruited into the executive ranks of companies, large and small, worldwide. Below them, others managed back office systems, legal departments, accounting departments, marketing, sales and financing operations. In less than 30 years, the world’s business organizations have been invaded by men and women educated in the ways of destruction arising from short term thinking, zero sum analysis, and self enrichment as the principal, sometimes the only measure of success.
No one set out to be destructive, nor did any professor, college or university set out to infect anything. They were, however, taken in by cultism, conventional wisdom and being competitive over being responsible.
For those indoctrinated in the MBA culture, sending American jobs overseas, moving factories, outsourcing and replacing full-time employees with temporaries and part-timers, is evidence of good management, being competitive, optimizing shareholder value and earning personal bonuses. The long term cost of quarterly driven decision making is measured in damaged communities, damaged tax bases, damaged families and damaged companies.
Good People Doing Bad Things
All of which raises this compelling question: Are MBAs bad people?
If there is one single failing of what is now effectively an MBA cult, it is the notion of short-term profitability as the only measure of what’s right, what’s responsible, and what matters most.
Of course not, they are good people doing bad things that they believe, and were taught to believe, were what winners had to do to succeed. In MBA thought, efficiency is all that matters, bottom line the only metric of importance, lying, cheating and stealing acceptable tools of management. While none of these ways of managing are entirely new, what were once taboo means of management and oversight became standard practice.
Private sector entities that are not grounded in, and part of their local communities, operate as failed states by their unwillingness to serve all stakeholders in favor of only one. Thus the MBA pandemic has spread a failed model of capitalism — one in which rogue enterprises openly abdicate the capitalist compact that connects private interests, democracy and national interest, in favor of self dealing, self interest, and managerial self enrichment
Inexcusable Failings
What Happens When Misdeeds Have No Consequences?
The failings attributed to MBA trained executives over at least two decades are inexcusable. The firms they ran engaged in multi-billion dollar games of chance with other people’s money for the personal gain of executives hired and compensated for short term thinking and awarded fast-buck bonuses by impotent boards of directors. They engaged lawyers to obfuscate and complicate. They hired auditing firms run by MBA counterparts who failed to serve their responsibilities to shareholders in favor of lush fees and perquisites.
The MBA trained overseers, managers, traders, deal makers and speculators turned to their MBA counterparts in securities information and rating companies. They too enjoyed lush fees for making illusory or incomprehensible instruments appear to be credit worthy, or contractually sound.
If there is one single failing of what is now effectively an MBA cult, it is the notion of short-term profitability as the only measure of what’s right, what’s responsible, and what matters most.