Should the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree kowtow to changing management education fashions or provide a long-term strategic blueprint? It's a question being asked at business schools around the world as the qualification seeks to stay relevant in a changing economic environment.

In SA, as elsewhere, there appears to be a mismatch between what some business schools are teaching and what the market expects from an MBA. A number of SA companies questioned for this 15-page cover story say they may move management and executive training in-house because so much of what is taught in MBAs is irrelevant to them.

An international research report by the London-based Association of MBAs (Amba) and Durham University suggests schools may be too forward-thinking for some in their market. Their estimation of issues like ethics, corporate governance, sustainability and corporate social responsibility far outweighs the importance attached by business people with MBAs.

Schools, however, insist they have a responsibility to be thought-leaders and provide students with skills they will need in future. The report says: "Schools are not just making knee-jerk reactions to the current climate but are working hard to be at the forefront of adopting these key ideas into the delivery of the MBA and the creation of future business leaders."

That's fine, says Renee Swanepoel , a human resources manager in the Imperial Group, but current leaders shouldn't be overlooked. Instead of the generalist knowledge they accumulate, she would like to see graduates returning to the company with skills specific to Imperial's needs.

But schools should not neglect the "soft" skills required to manage effectively. Swanepoel echoes a common complaint among employers: that new MBA graduates may return from programmes with exemplary finance and marketing skills, but fall back when it comes to people management or being team players.

Group Five construction firm executive director Junaid Allie's main gripe is the lack of local case studies used as examples in MBA programmes. "Many of the studies are irrelevant to us. We need ones that are applicable to the SA or African context."

Allie — who is pursuing an executive MBA on his own at Cape Town University's Graduate School of Business (GSB) — believes that when designing courses, schools should listen to graduates and the companies that sponsor them. At some schools, more than 50% of MBA students receive employer study bursaries or scholarships. Once they are back in the management grind, graduates are uniquely placed to comment on the relevance of what they have been taught.

Jacques Blaauw, regional MD of US pharmaceutical group Eli Lilly, which has sponsored many managers on MBA programmes, says experience suggests there is sometimes too much emphasis on past experience and not enough on what's to come. "How do students fix what will be coming their way? I want to see their thinking challenged."

He also wants more issues interlinked, rather than taught separately. "Labour, finance, black economic empowerment , Aids and everything else don't exist in isolation. Students must understand how they fit together."

Segran Nair, director of GSB's open academic programmes, says the school wants students to work with contemporary problems faced by companies. "We want them to be able to turn theory into application. Students should be more aware of what's happening in broader society and engage more. They must also recognise that decisions have effects and understand the link."

Allie says schools are sometimes so intent on keeping up with cutting-edge international trends that they neglect domestic needs. It's a view that elicits some sympathy from Helena van Zyl, director of Free State University Management School and chair of the SA Business Schools Association. "It's true, we don't always listen as much as we should. Too often South Africans have a view that whatever comes from overseas is better. We can do more to engage the local community."

Limpopo University's Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership is doing some soul-searching on its consultation relationship with business, says acting director Theresa Moyo. "We are looking at how we interact with individuals and organisations. We recognise we aren't doing enough with stakeholders when adjusting our programmes."

Potchefstroom Business School director Tommy du Plessis agrees schools must be cautious when reacting to business pressure. "We aren't here to react automatically to management fashions that may be out of date in a couple of years."

Lis Lange, of the Council on Higher Education (CHE), which oversees higher education, including the MBA, says schools must set a balance. "On the one hand you are doing an MBA because it is a qualification with international currency. On the other, you want your MBA to be responsive to the needs of local industry and businesses. There is no easy answer."

Several schools insist they listen carefully to what business has to say. But their relationship with graduates is less formal. At KwaZulu Natal University's Graduate School of Business, director Anesh Singh says though alumni have been generally supportive of programme adjustments, consultation has been mainly ad hoc. That may change with a recent study by a student of alumni thoughts on MBAs .

At the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs), director Nick Binedell says: "We get some alumni feedback but it's not very structured." However, he says the nature of his school demands that it consults closely with the business community on MBA programme emphasis. "Our philosophy is that we are a corporate business school. Our business clients are our partners. That ethos permeates into our MBA."

It's one of the reasons the school offers an overseas business elective as part of the programme. "It's very important for South Africans to know at first hand what they are up against."

That's an important consideration for Maria Phillips, MD of the Mindshare media agency. Though relevant local content is important, "I also want my people to understand cutting-edge business principles from overseas."

Wits Business School overhauled its MBA programme this year after "extensive" research among alumni and business. Among the new courses is the relationship between business, government and society. Says the school's Geoff Bick: "It started out as an elective [optional] course but it will probably become a core [compulsory] course later. We will fine-tune our new programme according to the feedback we get." Risk management — an area identified internationally as needing more business-school focus — is also likely to get more attention.

At Rhodes University Business School, director Owen Skae says the industry and commerce- based board of advisers were consulted before the MBA duration was reduced by six months, by dropping some subjects and blending others. "We were demanding far more academic credits than required for a master's qualification. It was too onerous. We are still well above the minimum but it is more manageable."

When it comes to supposedly "soft" skills such as people management, relationships and leadership, Bick says the biggest challenge is how to teach them. "In some of the feedback, employers identified these skills as an area that needs more emphasis. We are doing some introspection. One of the questions we have to ask is how we evaluate these skills."

Cobus Oosthuizen , head of the Milpark Business School, adds: "It's not just about the lessons and facts learnt . We must also ask what changes an MBA has brought about in individuals. That's not easy to measure."

Much of this soul-searching is happening in an uncertain environment. In 2004, when the CHE re-accredited some MBA programmes and banished others, the plan was to repeat the process every five years. Last year the CHE was still expressing hope that it could revisit MBA content and standards as part of a broader review of higher education.

Now Lange says that won't happen . The CHE and its higher education quality council don't have the necessary resources, and a formal MBA review could be years away. Meanwhile, schools conduct their own "peer" reviews to monitor standards.

Binedell says the system is working well enough but Lange says she is concerned by the apparent "disconnect" between schools and the business world. "Business sometimes makes the mistake of thinking an MBA is supposed to respond specifically to its needs," says Lange. "It must understand there are certain degrees, such as the MBA, that provide generalist skills, and others that are industry-specific. It is worrying that some companies have talked of going in-house to teach what they think they should be getting from an MBA. After building up several years' working and management experience, you do an MBA for more skills."

The idea that it should be specific to an industry is "dangerous", adds Lange. "To think that is to misunderstand the whole purpose of an MBA."

WHAT IT MEANS

Companies say schools don't consult enough

Graduates' experience is not being used


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