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    Plan détaillé Texte intégral Management Education in Perspective Domination of the Business School Model Success of the MBA Brand Controversy, Change and Conservatism Bibliographie Auteur

    Pax Americana

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    Table des matières

    Management Education and Globalization: Paradoxes and Paradigms

    Rickie Moore

    p. 139-159

    Résumé

    L’enseignement du management date d'un peu plus d'un siècle. Née aux Etats-Unis, la discipline a été exportée à travers le monde, de même que le modèle qui en est issu. L'histoire de l'enseignement du management démontre qu'il a été mondialisé. Toutefois les évolutions du modèle ont fait preuve d'une certaine intégration nationale et régionale et, face au déclin de la compétitivité et de la performance sociale américaines des années 1980, les critiques du modèle se sont aussi multipliées. Paradoxalement, la demande de programmes de management n'a cessé d'augmenter ainsi que « les produits et les fournisseurs » pour répondre à ce besoin. Aujourd'hui, plus que jamais, le choix de la qualité (école, contenu des programmes, etc.) est devenu l'enjeu-clé d'une bataille féroce.

    Texte intégral Management Education in Perspective The American Genesis Expansion and Development The French Exception Domination of the Business School Model Success of the MBA Brand Accreditation and Rankings Admissions and Recruitment Curricula Market Affiliation Mentoring Institutions Controversy, Change and Conservatism Bibliographie References Web sites Auteur

    Texte intégral

    1Globalization is very much a buzzword of the 1990s. More commonly associated with international economics, trade and business, this phenomenon is modifying existing relations between the various actors as they reason in terms of global markets. Management, as a subject and as a discipline, is internationally recognized as not only having been invented but also pioneered by the Americans. Driven by individuals and employers alike, management education is one of the topics which generates a lot of passionate discussions and enthusiasm the world over. In fact, as organizations and firms continue to seek the brightest and the best talents to define and maintain their competitive strategies, the stakes for management education continue to rise.

    2Having confirmed its role as both a social and cultural vector, management education, like the process of globalization itself, is increasingly economically driven. Comparable to most commercial Systems and products, management education constitutes one of the principal vehicles of this global phenomenon and is thus significantly impacted by its repercussions. This discipline, very much like its promulgation is undergoing a series of transformations (cataclysms) which will open new horizons and redefine the international landscape of management education in the twenty-first century.

    3This paper attempts to provide an appropriate and relevant illustration of the theme “Mondialisation et économies dominantes: la dynamique anglo-saxonne” by reviewing the global domination of the American model of management education. It will also discuss some of the key issues of the subject, examine some of its paradoxes and paradigms including the opinions of its numerous critics, and offer some perspectives on the future of the debate.

    Management Education in Perspective

    The American Genesis

    4In the mid-19th century (1840 – 1850), in the USA, two major developments catalyzed management as an activity and as a concept: commerce expanded, and a new class of professionals called managers was born. The second industrial revolution, which began in 1870, radically changed the way business was considered and conducted. Through mergers, traditional family-owned-and-run businesses were being replaced by large multidivisional corporations, and capital-intensive factories were developed as a result of new industrial technologies. Production capacities significantly increased as companies were obliged to integrate forward and backward to secure their markets and satisfy demands. From this time onwards, the boom in commerce irreversibly transformed the American economy.

    5The conquering of the west and the newly invented economies of scale and scope provided the impetus for managerial hierarchies in business [Chandler, 1977], American firms expanded overseas into new geographic markets and became major players in the global trade-based competition. Family-owners of businesses were confronted with a unique dilemma — they were suddenly unskilled in, and unable to cope effectively with the complexities of this unanticipated and rapid economic growth (management of several specialized teams, coordination of modem technological production processes, utilization and definition of new financial instruments, integration of multiple business units, etc.). Convinced of the need to remain in business and desirous of taking advantage of the new environment, the owners sought to complement the skills which they had and acquire those which they lacked. Turning to those persons who were trained in these “modem” complexities, the owners employed the First breed of “specialists” called managers and who became responsible for the day-to-day running of the different businesses. Over time, and with the delegation of authority and decision-making by the owners, this new class of professionals would increasingly undertake the direction of the firms. In fact, according to Chandler [1977, p. 9], “The rise of modem business enterprise brought a new definition of the relationship between ownership and management and therefore a new type of capitalism to the American economy”.

    6Successfully exported around the world to the other trading nations, this new method of management which combined “the not-so-present old and the very-present new” thus became widespread. It triggered an increased demand for functional specialization as firms tried to rationalize the new movement. In the aftermath of the industrial revolution, technical education provided by institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was seen as a major contributor to American economic growth. These institutions were widely acclaimed for they provided a highly competent class of specialists who were considered essential for improving national earnings. Formal sciences and engineering were lauded as being precursive for management as an activity partly because scientific management had already demonstrated its enormous potential through the successful implementation of its practices in controlling and coordinating production and operations in America’s westward expansion. At that time also, a certain nobility about formal sciences prevailed.

    7Relations were established between the technical schools and the industries and the need for executives in other areas besides production was soon felt [Chandler, 1990, p. 83]. The initial response from the American universities to the demand for management education was a hybrid of programs put together by the various university departments. In 1881, the Wharton School of Commerce and Finance revolutionized the world of academia and led the way by offering non-vocational, liberal business courses. First to enlist were the engineer graduates. By the turn of the century, business courses were added to most curricula across the country and, in 1901, the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, made history when it enrolled its first set of graduate students [Chandler, 1990, p. 83].

    Expansion and Development

    8Between 1910 to 1940, across the USA, special establishments known as business schools, located within universities, were being created exclusively to promote the teaching of business education which was primarily geared towards the learning of functional techniques of business (operations and production management, marketing, cost accounting, etc.). Concomitantly, the concept of business education had already started being synonymous with management education. Two possible explanations of this congruity are that in the beginning, after the engineers, the salaried managers of the modern enterprises were the ones who enrolled in large numbers for the business education programs, and secondly, business policy courses as created by Harvard Business School in 1914, were designed “to develop an approach to business problems from the top-management point of view” [Chandler, 1990, p. 83].

    9But it was not only in the United States which was already regarded as the world's leading industrial nation, that business education was developing. Germany, desirous of maintaining its position as a world leader, also adapted its education curriculum to provide a similar response to the needs of the German business community. Such a change however, was more extended and more sporadic in Britain [Chandler, 1990, p. 83].

    The French Exception

    10By this time also in Europe, a unique French model of commercial education — the grande école de commerce — had comprehensively reinforced its earlier foundation which dates back to 1820. Patterned after the elitist forerunners — the grandes écoles of Engineering which had already won royal Napoleonic recognition and which played the same rôle and had the same prestige as the American engineering schools —, the grandes écoles de commerce were created not to provide formal academic qualification in business but rather to train the offspring of local businessmen for an eventual handing-down of the family business. Private, and set-up by the local Chambers of Commerce and Industry, these consular schools were established in most major French cities and would eventually evolve into becoming global players in the international management market place. Today, they are considered as academic institutions, they conduct management research, and actually compete successfully with the American and British business schools.

    11While the differences between management and business education may be debated, a new and clearly distinct but interrelated domain — management development education, was developed to disseminate management training to a wider corporate environment as opposed to just those in the managerial hierarchies who possessed formal management qualification. In defining management development as “a mixture of experience, training and education”, Handy et al. [1988, p. 12] emphasized the need to be “trained” in management. If business education was the acquisition of certain skills over a long period (as is the case of a business degree program), management development (courses lasting a few weeks) was the means by which someone with or without any previous business education, an experienced specialist or engineer for example, would acquire some notions of business and management skills and be able to move up the career ladder or validate his or her position as a manager. Over the last fifty years or so, management development programs have become very popular for many firms and organizations.

    12In the current global economic context, a solid business education is considered as a necessary pre-requisite and an indispensable asset for landing a management position in a firm. The benefits and responsibilities offered by these positions, more than the risks, provide stimuli for those individuals willing to invest in their future.

    Domination of the Business School Model

    13From around the mid-20th century onwards, the US, proud of its achievement and its brilliant performance, sought to promote its supremacy during the global postwar reconstruction efforts. Building on its earlier reputation and success in productivity and efficiency, the American management model indisputably proved that it had surpassed all others. Its adoption and application in many of the developed and developing countries paved the way for its recognition as the dominant model throughout the world.

    14Business schools mushroomed all over the USA with a fine-tuned, standardized yet disciplined-based, two-year full-time model of business education targeted essentially at young university graduates. This model emphasized academic rigor as a criterion for both students and faculty and boasted a curriculum which was almost totally American-biased. The qualification which the participants received at the end of their period of study was called a Master’s in Business Administration, commonly known as the MBA. By 1964, the business school model and its degree had been exported across the Atlantic, first to Barcelona, Spain, and one year later to London and Manchester in Great Britain. American professors, texts and cases were imported as the American model was installed on the European continent.

    15Currently, there are over 650 “recognized” business schools in the USA, and about 250 in Europe (with around half of this number — 120, in the UK). Europe represents the second largest concentration of business schools after the USA and much of the paradigm shilling which takes place is of European origin. Germany, one of the few remaining European countries without a “recognized” MBA, has only recently started offering the degree at one of its most famous private universities — the WHU in Koblenz.

    16Even though the European schools have led the way in reducing the length of the program to as little as ten months, the two-year American model is still largely popular given the profile of its primary target. The questioning of the shorter European general MBA course, despite its “faster and cheaper” appeal, lies in the issue of the scope of the contents of its curriculum and the depth of its instruction.

    Success of the MBA Brand

    17Today also, business schools or their “equivalents” and the MBA model and its derivatives have been established all over the world. They can be found on every continent and they come in various forms and guises. They are in the highly industrialized countries as well as the newly developed ones, and even those with state-controlled economies. From the USA to Japan, from Finland to South Africa, in Australasia, Mexico, Chile, in India and Pakistan and back up to Austria, the MBA degree is available. Even Eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Russia, offer the MBA. The traditional leaders of politics, arts and humanities, Cambridge and Oxford universities, could not resist the temptation of creating their own business schools in 1991 and 1993 respectively.

    18In perusing most academic or education-related literature, the plethora of business or management degrees which are offered in just about every country is very noticeable. Although many of these programs position themselves as being equivalent to an MBA, the “real” MBA is still the preferred program of most applicants. Choosing the right program and the right school for a prospective candidate can prove to be a complicated and harrowing process. One question which can be asked is: why is the MBA so popular that even non-business institutions and countries which were ideologically opposed to American managerial capitalism have adopted this American brand of business education?

    19From its inception, the MBA was widely regarded as a prestigious degree and the key to the door of the corporate world. Its weight in gold was doubled if it was obtained from an institution of outstanding eminence. Having created such an international reputation for itself, the MBA is today the world’s mostin-demand business education qualification. In 1995, over 100,000 students obtained an MBA in the USA. This number doubled the figure of just two decades ago and represents 26% of the total 377,000 master’s degrees awarded in all disciplines [Hallenborg, 1997, p. 7 & 11]. In the same year, Europe produced about 8,000 MBAs. Haynes [1991, p. 1] estimated that the global MBA market was worth over 3 billion USD a year, had a huge potential in Eastern Europe and an even greater one in continuing and executive education worldwide. Financing the cost of an MBA program (tuition, living expenses, books, etc.) represents a major financial investment in one’s future. Students can pay over 50,000 USD for a two-year tuition at some internationally renowned business schools like Columbia in New York, or the University of Chicago Business School, Illinois [The MBA Career Guide, Fall 1997, p. 190] and consequently, expectations and demands after graduation are very high.

    20Led by the USA, graduates with an MBA were guaranteed a successful high-flyer salary and a senior position in most firms. Reported average starting salaries in most MBA literature like the American MBA Newsletter and the Official Guide to MBA Programs, the British MBA Career Guide or the Hohsons MBA Casebook, range from 50,000 to 195,000 USD. Generally, in the early growth years, there were not enough graduates to satisfy the needs of the firms. MBAs, as the holders of the degree are called, were head-hunted by large corporations and were seen as the answer to the problems which businesses faced. Much was expected of the graduate who, having learnt the latest techniques and theories, was supposed to apply them to real situations. Now, in the late twentieth century, there are not enough firms to satisfy the needs of the graduates. Originally, two sectors of activity seemed to have attracted the majority of MBA graduates, management consultancy and investment banking. Today graduates are turning to all sectors, including industry and nongovernmental organizations, and are forced to seek positions in sales, an occupation traditionally considered (and wrongly so) “less prestigious and lacking in intellectual challenge” compared to management Consulting.

    21If the initial period painted a booming picture, the late 1980s and early 1990s brought along the busting reality — companies could no longer afford the high salaries of MBA graduates and there were fewer and fewer management positions available. Citing increased global competition as the principal reason, companies in the USA re-engineered, downsized and cut costs. New vacancies emerged and different skill sets other than those of the classic functional competencies were being required. Employees with MBAs were no longer a high priority and had to settle for reduced salaries. The ripples soon made their way across the Atlantic to Europe and the global MBA market was in recession. Today, MBAs are using the entrepreneurial exposure acquired during their program to create their own businesses and explore new career ventures and opportunities.

    Accreditation and Rankings

    22Business schools and their much acclaimed qualifications face two major inter-related problems today — the quality of the programs and the value of the degree. Because of the acclaim of the latter, demand for the MBA degree continues to increase exponentially. Like the marketing mechanisms studied in the marketing courses of these business schools’ curricula, the supply side of the market is continually redefining itself to meet the demands. And because the traditional business schools cannot, nor are in a position to satisfy the market, the niche for substitute qualification was created. Now, new business schools and their derivatives have literally sprung up everywhere. As a result, the label business school has become widespread and generic — i.e. business schools now exist in various forms and guises and secondly, “real” business schools are too numerous in certain contexts. This scenario is compounded by the high degree of autonomy which most schools have. While the guarantee of the quality of the business school or the MBA degree can be debated, where persons obtain their MBA is an indication of what it is worth and a symbol of prestige. As there is no official international nor national control over the use of the label MBA, nor is there any homogenization of the “product”, schools can very much do as they please.

    23The American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) anticipated the situation and the need to bring some stability to the market. Set up in 1916, its primary role was to serve as the first quality control authority of its kind, both nationally and internationally, that issued seals of quality approval (accredit) to those business schools which met the stipulated criteria. In Europe, a similar body, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) located in the UK, was created in 1967 based on the AACSB model. As opposed to the AACSB which was and still is an institution-led organization, AMBA was originally the grouping of British MBA graduates who had studied in the USA [Challenges, December 1997].

    24In 1997, the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) launched its European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). This program “was designed by and for the professionals of management development to provide a European response to a growing need for quality evaluation and institutional accreditation at an international level, market information on institutions which meet international quality standards, and quality improvement and professional development”. Six European schools — ESADE (Spain), ESCP and HEC School of Management, INSEAD (France), LBS (UK), SDA Bocconi (Italy) — were the first to be accredited with the European Quality Label in March 1998.

    25In all these associations, benchmarking is used as a means of introducing some homogeneity to a very heterogeneous environment. Todate, 335 US schools have been accredited in the USA by the AACSB [http://www.aacsb.edu] and about 45 European schools by AMBA. The need for accreditation has been intensified because of the fact that the MBA degree is a market-driven commodity and these seals of approval have become key success factors for schools wishing to attract high caliber students. As for any investment, the investors (students) seek solid quality assurance. According to the AACSB, which changed its name on July 1, 1997, to become “AACSB, The International Association for Management Education”, its US institutions and its accredited schools annually award 85% and over 55% respectively of all the degrees awarded in business and management education. ESSEC, one of France’s leading internationally renowned Grande Ecoles of Management, entered the annals of history by becoming the first European school to be accredited by the new AACSB-IAME in 1997 [http://www.aacsb.edu], Many more European schools will certainly try to do likewise over the next few years.

    26This is proof once again of the dominance of the American System. The AACSB recognized the need to expand and to accredit top ranking international institutions in order to maintain and develop its importance as a world accreditation body for management education given its experience. This move is also intended to circumvent potential competition from other regional bodies. At this point in time, the probability of an American business school seeking any of the European accreditations (AMBA or EQUIS) is very reduced because they do not feel threatened by the European programs. It is still too early to predict whether the EQUIS label would prove to be a major international authority. Eventually, the question will be asked: in view of the situation in Europe, will there be a need for both AMBA and EQUIS?

    27One major challenge for these international associations is the definition of quality in terms of international criteria while respecting and integrating national specificities. Can we compare Systems which are unequal? Given the different value Systems in place, would the need to define common criteria for evaluation not restrict the scope of the assessment?

    28However, even the use of accreditation as a differentiating factor is subjected to market forces. Responding to this new dimension, business schools which either did not obtain or seek accreditation from these major bodies for obvious reasons, have also created their own accreditation and labeling bodies. Thus, there is now a proliferation of accreditation bodies, each with its own arguments about its value, credibility, and reasons for existing. This does not help to make it any easier for the prospective applicant to choose a school on the basis of its accreditation.

    29A natural by-product of this heterogeneous environment was the classification of schools. Diversity breeds competition and everyone wants to be the leader or at the top. With all the ensuing opportunities and challenges, business school rankings have become the order of the day. This model too, which originated in the USA, has been successfully exported and implemented worldwide. Rankings, however, are lists of great controversy for the stakes are very high. Business schools are ranked on numerous changing subjective and objective criteria which are not always pertinent and which vary from one ranking to another, for example: the number of graduates hired by leading companies and their average starting salaries, the number of applicants and the number of students enrolled, the percentage of students with a certain and the average GMAT score, the minimum GMAT score accepted, the number of permanent faculty with a Ph.D., the degree of innovation of the program, the cost of tuition, the contents of the curriculum, international recognition, accreditation, etc..

    30Schools find themselves preoccupied in trying to establish the “right kind” of relationships with the media hoping to obtain a “good ranking”. As a result, it is interesting to observe the lengths to which schools go in order to differentiate themselves from each other. They are experiencing an identity and superiority crisis. It’s a question of survival!

    31We can imagine the “scoop” if schools were ranked not only on the above mentioned criteria but also on the way they manage their personnel, whether they apply what they teach, the quality of their pedagogy, etc..

    Admissions and Recruitment

    32Not only did the Americans export their models, they exported the most commonly used admissions tool — the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) which is administered by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). The test explores the candidates’ abilities (intelligence, English language proficiency, quantitative and qualitative reasoning, analytical, etc.) and is used as a predictor of academic performance in the graduate management school.

    33Over 1,200 institutions around the world use the GMAT score as part of their admissions criteria and the GMAT is taken by citizens of over 120 countries. In 1991, 230,000 candidates took the GMAT exam and since then the numbers have been decreasing. In 1996, the number was approximately 200,000. This difference can be explained by the increasing number of national admissions tests, more culturally adapted and more readily available. The records also show that over the last five years, consistently more French students have taken the GMAT than British ones, and from 1995-1996, the number of test takers in Romania and the People’s Republic of China has increased by 50%, and by 20% in Hong Kong [GMAC, Profile of GMAT Candidates, 1995-96], In both cases, the increase in test takers is representative of the new economic thrust by highly developed countries to invest in Eastern Europe and in the Pacific Rim.

    34The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is another American test which has been universally adopted as a criterion of admission. Originally designed for non-native English speakers who wished to enroll in North American universities, the TOEFL is even used in non-English speaking countries in programs where some of the instruction is in English. In 1996-97, some 953,000 persons registered to take the test which is offered in 180 countries [http://www.toefl.org].

    35Both tests are administered by the Educational Testing Services [http://www.ets.org] in Princeton, New Jersey, in the USA. The problem of the availability of test was resolved and revolutionized in 1997 when ETS launched its Computer Adaptive Tests (CAT). Worldwide, the old paper and pencil versions are being replaced by the computerized one, and as opposed to the former fixed test dates candidates can now take their tests when they wish. They just need to make an appointment. The GMAT - CAT was introduced in October 1997 and the TOEFL-CAT in July 1998. For obvious reasons, security measures for these computer tests are draconian and candidates have their scores immediately on completion of the tests (78 questions for the GMAT in addition to the Analytical Writing Assessment). CAT offers great flexibility to both the test takers and the admissions staff.

    36In terms of applications, estimates are that over 500,000 persons per year apply for admission to a business school and the most explosive growth is taking place in Europe and Asia. To capitalize on the new opportunities, American schools are increasingly teaming up with their Central and Eastern European, and Asian counterparts to offer MBAs and executive management programs in these regions. While it is fairly common to find a number of undergraduate business majors in most American MBA programs, it is rarely the case for the European ones. Applicants with such degrees would be required to have a few years of professional experience and are not necessarily a priority for admission. This practice raises the issue of whether the MBA is an advanced degree or is just a pathway and an opportunity for a new beginning.

    37In Europe in particular, interviews are generally part of the recruiting process and this is not the case for a large number of US schools. Europeans, inspired by the need to make a personal judgment of the candidate, adopt a more biological approach to recruitment by wanting to hear and see for themselves. On the contrary, Americans, guided by their pragmatism and no doubt because of a larger number of applicants, prefer the more mechanical approach — you either fit the bill or you don’t.

    38Admissions and recruiting officials need to continually question their methods and instruments of recruitment. Their key concern should be about the values which are required by employers and this means dealing with elements which are difficult to measure and often highly subjective such as initiative, creativity, etc. As De Meyer said, “I’ve never met a company recruiter who hires MBAs; they hire people with potential” [Linder & Smith, 1992].

    39It is every MBA program director’s dream to create a melting pot of cultures, experience and backgrounds in every classroom and the admission of students without previous or sufficient academic achievement or qualification seems to be on the rise in certain countries. Major business schools need to guard against such a practice which is budgetarily very tempting. If such a practice were to continue and spread, the reputation of the teaching institution would eventually be at stake.

    Curricula

    40While it can be argued that there is a common core to most, if not all MBA programs, there is great variation in the extent to which skills and aptitudes are developed in the participants. Most models offer a fairly quantitative foundation upon which courses in marketing and business theory are added. Finally, students are offered the possibility of pursuing advanced courses through electives and the program terminates with a research project or some practical application such as an internship.

    41As opposed to scientific and economic theory, functional specialization, soft skills such as pragmatism, leadership, vision, etc., are harder to teach. These non-functional but corporate requirements pose severe difficulties for business schools in terms of faculty competence. Soft skills and values go together and unlike numerical courses, the “right” or “true” answer is a matter of interpretation. Nevertheless, it must be noted that some schools are making the effort to teach courses like Change Management, and Ethics. The latest subject which has made its way onto most curricula in Entrepreneurship studies. Around the world, schools are keen to boast about their brilliance in entrepreneurship. Some schools are even building their reputation by emphasizing the entrepreneurship orientation of their focus e.g. Babson College, Kellogg School of Business, Bond University, Bangkok University, The Hong Kong School of Business and Management, The University of Texas at Austin, etc.. The former Groupe ESC Lyon, now renamed E.M. Lyon, is one of France’s examples in this new context.

    42Information Technology management has also made its mark on most MBA programs. Not only has IT revolutionized the way programs are taught and delivered i.e. via the internet, but it is also dictating and accelerating program change through its impact on business. Electronic or E-commerce is fast becoming a differentiating specialization for many business schools. Virtual classrooms, CD-Roms, distance learning and video conferencing have catapulted IT from being just an elective in a number of cases to being a core part of modem curricula.

    43An MBA is meant to be of a generalist orientation and to provide a broad foundation in management through the teaching of certain key subjects: economics, marketing, accounting, operations management, etc.. But, as there are fewer and fewer general management positions available, an increasing number of MBA programs are now offering specializations within the program — MBA in Finance, MBA in International Studies, etc. While an argument can be made for a joint degree program which is longer than the basic MBA one, and which allows the candidate to go into some depth in both areas, a combined generalist and specialist education in one program raises many questions about the content and quality of the programs.

    44Current discussions on the need for the individualization of the choice of study within MBA programs are in response to growing market trends and the desire of students to have more control over their career options. Specializations within general programs support this debate and subconsciously create the conditions for logistic nightmares for program directors as they try to accommodate their students. One likely consequence of this trend which can be described as a half-step “back to the future” (i.e. offering a derivative of original-type of functional specialization after having evolved into more general subjects), will be the redesign of the market with generalist schools and specialist ones. However, we can understand why business schools would prefer to market an MBA in Accounting rather than a specialized Master’s in Accounting!

    45Business issues today are often complex in perspective and are rarely dealt with by a single discipline or function. Consequently, there is a clear need for a reinforced multicultural and multidisciplinary approach to curricula development, and, business schools seem to have received the message. In addition, students are being trained to be managers in a global business environment and it is the duty of the institutions to continually provide and improve the multicultural input to their curricula.

    Market Affiliation

    46While the stimulus for business education originated from the technical school / industry relationship and the expressed need for executives in other areas other than production, paradoxically, few companies and corporate executives supported the endeavor during the period 1880-1920. This situation can be explained by the fact that, at that time, business education was still too new a concept, and, large numbers of companies were not rushing in to where only a few had trod.

    47With the skyrocketing costs of tuition and the criticism of the System, US business schools recognized that companies were not only the final destination (market) of its graduates but also a prime source of candidates for the MBA programs. Leading the field, the US business schools vigorously created affiliations between numerous firms and themselves. Today, companies are eager to participate in most management education programs. It is good for their image and reputation and it allows them to pre-select those graduates to whom they can propose a job. Business schools also need the companies for both financial and material support and frequently depend on their executives to participate in teaching activities, the creation of case studies and to provide internships, etc. for the students.

    48By 1980, fewer and fewer companies could afford or wanted to send their managers away for two full years to be qualified in management. Many of them were dissatisfied with the training the graduates received and started creating their own specific corporate programs and universities. Corporate universities represent a direct threat for business schools. Sensing danger, business schools are responding by offering consortia and in-company MBA programs that are specially created for employees of the participating firms.

    49Assured of the security of the corporate market, business schools have convinced companies of the need to continually update the competencies of their managers (administration, team-building, technology, production, etc.). This idea is supported by the socio-economic/socio-demographic fact that the young graduates will need to learn the latest techniques to ensure the competitive advantage of the firms. Business schools created a new range of products based on the notion of lifelong learning and continuing education and have penetrated an untapped market. Most major business schools are today developing Executive Education programs and this trend is set to continue in the future.

    Mentoring Institutions

    50A small number of non-profit institutions, dedicated to improving excellence in management education and development, have been specifically created in a few regions in the world. One such institution is the French National Foundation for Management Education (FNEGE) which was created in 1968 in France. Able to mobilize a network of French and European management institutions, the FNEGE has great experience in developing and improving the quality of training programs in management and business administration. It has launched a series of innovative initiatives designed to develop the international recognition of the French management programs. It has also reached out to North Africa, Egypt, Syria, and Asia and it runs management training programs in China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Another European institutional example is the Central and East European Management Development Association (CEEMAN) which was founded in 1993 to address similar issues in its regions.

    51Across the Atlantic, GMAC is an international organization of 121 graduate schools of business and of management, including European ones. Its objectives are to enhance the management admission process, broaden knowledge about management education and to promote the highest standards of professional practice in the administration of management education programs and related activities. Likewise, the AACSB has expanded its role to include the promotion of excellence in management education in the USA.

    Controversy, Change and Conservatism

    52But all is not well with graduate management education. The MBA has experienced a major crisis, and in recent years, critics have made numerous damaging comments which have caused business schools to reflect. The business education model has been judged as the main cause of the decline of American competitiveness in the 1980s [GMAT, 1994, p. 9]. Senior distinguished scholars such as Galbraith, Newman, Bloom, etc., together with a large number of students and faculty, managers and business executives, have lashed out against business education for it has contributed to the moral decay of the USA [Muller & al., 1988], These professionals claim that the System produces narrow, short-term manipulative number crunchers who are driven by a financial as opposed to a managerial logic. Professor Leavitt of Stanford is quoted as having said “The new professional MBA-type manager began to look more and more like the professional mercenary soldier — ready and willing to fight any war” [Muller & al., 1988].

    53Internationally renowned Henry Mintzberg, Professor at the McGill University in Canada, observed that “If those people in business and government who support today’s business schools really knew what was going on inside many of them — took the trouble, for example to interview professors at random — they would be demanding revolutionary changes in faculty and curriculum instead of passively writing cheques” [Haynes, 1991], It would indeed be very revealing and interesting to conduct such a survey and publish the findings but so far no one has dared!

    54Mintzberg [1992], this time in the Harvard Business Review shared Leavitt’s views in that the more the fanrous business schools succeed, the more US business fails. He wrote: “These people are committed to no industry or company, but only to personal success which is purely based on academic credentials.... In effect, the US has created a neo-aristocracy which will be more damaging than the traditional one.”

    55Just a decade ago, Handy [1988, p. 59] stated: “Others believe that the schools have abandoned the search for fresh intellectual foundations, preferring to codify and interpret current practice, and that they are, for example, neglecting the traditions and disciplines of history, political theory, philosophy and ethics, scientific method and Creative literature which are more than ever needed by the international manager moving in new and complex worlds. Many Americans, however, are beginning to worry that this business literacy is acquired at some cost, that such vocationalism leaves less room for exploration of other subjects, for the skills of communication, for wider reading and wider enquiry. They know everything about business and nothing about anything else. They are the best educated and the worst educated at the same time.... a businesslike but narrow minded USA is their fear for the future, a future, they believe, in which breadth of vision and the capacity to learn anew will be more important than any analytical skills”.

    56The wake-up bells have been rung and the schools are heeding the call. Curricula are chopped, changed, revamped and reinvented with an impressive speed annually to keep pace with real-world demands. Courses will be more cross-functional in focus as they attempt to respond to the preoccupations of firms and there will be greater use of learning technologies, in richer learning environments with more global perspectives. As schools fight to demonstrate their international dimension they will have to increase student and faculty diversity to avoid another backlash.

    57There have been several evolutions in the industry and it is not very surprising that much of the paradigm shifting which takes place is driven by the Europeans who wanted to be innovative and different from the Americans. Such is the case of the European “double degree” programs which are considered by students as a truly international and multicultural investment for an uncertain future. One definitely needs to keep one’s options global.

    58A recently adopted indicator of the international dimension of a business program is the number of non-native students that are enrolled. The more the merrier? Not always! In some cases, the native students and faculty feel that they are being sacrificed and neglected and that the school’s priority should be to train the managers of the country and thus focus on national specificities. Unlike the American programs, the European ones emphasize the need for and they require participants to speak and study in at least one foreign language in the program. Inter-cultural studies are making their way into the core-curriculum. Schools in some countries, Scandinavia for example, have adopted English lock, stock and barrel as the only language of tuition. It is no doubt a question of marketing!

    59In 1921, Harvard Business School introduced the case study method into its curriculum with the objectives of providing students with a practically oriented business education through the cases as opposed to theoretical lectures, and of allowing them to develop managerial attitudes and cognitive approaches to problem solving. Today, the case method, even though it is contested because of its limitations, is undoubtedly the principal teaching support used in business education the world over.

    60In Japan, the MBA is not seen as the fast track to a career as in other countries. This is because Japanese industrialists esteem that the continuous training of employees is a job for the companies and not the business schools. It is also another way of propagating a company’s culture.

    61As far as program formats are concerned, there is yet another paradox. According to The Directory of MBAs, [1997, p. xv] “more than half the world’s MBA students study for their degrees on part-time programs yet the majority of MBAs offered are still full-time programs”.

    62In concluding, it seems as though the agenda for graduate management education is already defined. Apart from current trends, business schools will probably introduce more credit-based modular programs which offer greater flexibility than existing part-time programs. We can also anticipate more industry-specific and sector specific MBA programs in the near future. There will be more strategic alliances being formed between corporate universities and business schools, and between business schools themselves, there will be a merging of interests to cut costs and overheads as the market is redefined and restructured. The long asleep potential of the management Consulting firms will awake to take a prominent position on the international stage. This seems a to be a perfectly logical extension of their existing relationship with their much prized clients — the firms. Here too, business schools would want to anticipate the change.

    63As we go forward to the 21st century, in addition to the current focus on quality, two buzzwords will dominate the international management education environment — rationalization and optimization. However, some challenges will still remain for the business schools — i.e. producing graduates who are more humble and far less pretentious, and going to even greater lengths to reduce the sterility and isolation of their environments. What is needed is more reality, a lot less bureaucrats and lot more people managers! And despite all the attributes of the different national and regional management education programs, there will always be a great demand for an (original) American MBA.

    Bibliographie

    References

    Challenges, 1997, « L’international est son genre de parfum », décembre, p. 140-141.

    Chandler, Alfred D., Jr., 1977, The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press.

    Chandler, Alfred D., Jr., 1990, Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press.

    Directory of MBAs 1997 (The), London, Edward More O’Ferrall.

    GMAC, 1994, The Official Guide to MBA Programs, Princeton, GMAC.

    GMAC, 1997, GMAC Profile of GMAT Candidates 1995-96 Five Year summary, Princeton, GMAC.

    Hallenborg, John C., 1997, “Why an MBA? Future Trends and Opportunities in the Twenty-first Century”, Peterson’s Guide to MBA Programs, Princeton, Peterson’s, p. 7-12.

    Handy, Charles & al., 1988, Making Managers, London, Pitman.

    Haynes, Peter, 1991, “A Survey of Management Education”, The Economist, March 2nd, p. 1-26.

    International MBA Casebook 1997, London, Hobsons.

    Linder, Jane C. & Smith, H. Jeff, 1992, «The Complex Case of Management Education», Harvard Business Review, no. 5, September-October, p. 16-33.

    Locke, R., 1989, Management and Higher Education since 1940: The Influence of America and Japan on Western Germany, Great Britain and France, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

    MBA International Career Guide (The), Fall 1997, London, PCG.

    MBA Newsletter (The), New York, Kwartler Communications.

    Mintzberg, Henry, 1992, “MBA: Is the Traditional Model Doomed?”, Harvard Business Review, no 6, November-December, p. 128-140.

    Muller, Helen, J. & al., 1988, “Have The Business Schools Let Down U.S. Corporations?”, Management Review, October.

    Prescott, Carter A., 1995, “The New MBA: What to Look for in Today’s Reinvented Programs”, Petersons Guide to MBA Programs, Princeton, Peterson’s, p. 13-15.

    Which MBA?, 1998, London, The Economist.

    Web sites

    ACSB, http://www.aacsb.edu

    AMBA, http://www.mba.org.uk

    Edition XII, http://www.editionxii.co.uk

    ETS, http://www.ets.org

    GMAC, http://www.gmac.org

    Peterson’s Guide to MBA Programs, http://www.petersons.com

    TOEFL, http://www.toefl.org.

    Auteur

    • Rickie Moore

      Ecole de management de Lyon

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    Moore, R. (1999). Management Education and Globalization: Paradoxes and Paradigms. In M. Azuelos (éd.), Pax Americana (1‑). Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.psn.5418
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    Moore, Rickie. « Management Education and Globalization: Paradoxes and Paradigms ». Pax Americana, édité par Martine Azuelos, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 1999, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.psn.5418.

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    Azuelos, Martine, éd. Pax Americana. Paris: Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 1999. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.psn.5403.
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