The article which was published in the Financial Times discusses the future of MBA programmes and their relevance in the world. The writers, all MBA graduates themselves and leaders of organisations, believe “business schools need to innovate to ensure these programmes fulfil their responsibility to prepare leaders able to have positive impacts on their organisations, communities and society more broadly”.

The curricula need to address complex challenges confronting contemporary society, such as climate change, reducing inequality and ensuring the sustainability of health systems. Management is – as they phrase it – a “practice, where art, science and craft combine”. 

To achieve this they strive for a more integrated form of education and management which teaches students to appreciate the innovative potential of multiple perspectives on value. Students must be taught to think more reflexively and holistically, how to understand the advantages of leveraging the diversity of views held by legitimate stakeholders and must be encouraged to embrace their capacity for synthesis and judgment they argue. 

In their opinion curricula need to provide students with discipline-based knowledge, but also must provide them with more hands-on projects, internships, service learning opportunities and live cases.

MBA students needed to be involved in real-life problems that require knowledge sharing across more than one subject. This would enable them to learn the management skills during their education to avoid costly mistakes in their later career.

Read more at Financial Times