The Business of Business Schools: Restoring a Focus on Competing to Win

37 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2013

See all articles by Robert Simons

Robert Simons

Harvard University - Business School (HBS)

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Abstract

As business leaders worry about the decline of American competitiveness, business schools are responding by changing their curriculums. But are the topics and approaches taught in today's business schools part of the solution or part of the problem? In this paper, I explore the possibility that four trends in current MBA curriculums - theory creep, mission creep, doing well by doing good, and the quest for enlightenment - are teaching students to be uncompetitive in today's global markets. If this hypothesis is true, I argue that business school curriculums should be re-centered around the tough choices needed to compete - and to win.

A comment on this paper can be found at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2207124

Suggested Citation

Simons, Robert, The Business of Business Schools: Restoring a Focus on Competing to Win. Capitalism and Society, Volume 8, Issue 1, Article 2, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2211700

Robert Simons (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Business School (HBS) ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan 270C
Boston, MA 02163
United States

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