Is Management Still A Professional Role?
A recent article from Harvard Business School “Are Elite Business Schools Fostering the Deprofessionalization of Management?” posed an interesting debate. It claimed that elite business schools were contributing to the deprofessionalization of management “by building more value in their alumni networks than in their curricula and teaching”.
Now we all recognize the reality of the old school network, but has the balance tipped too far? Many claim it has, and business schools are hiding behind the shroud of claims of meeting the demands of the market.
Others defend the role of managers as never actually been viewed as a profession.
An elite business school degree is seen as a ticket to a network of mutual escalation, regardless of ability to add value to an organization. Further, their ‘market-driven’ curriculum is more focused on what will drive the biggest salaries in the shortest amount of time, than building solid management skills that will help drive organizations to be their best.
Harsh claims….and certainly supporting the current ‘Its All About Me’ Generation
Businesses need to take heed, and rather than concentrate on what B-Schools are teaching when reviewing resumes from prospective managers. Whether psyche tests have been upgraded to identify self indulgent traits is another question; and do those setting these gruelling examinations even understand the ‘old’ concepts of contribution to a greater good.
Accepted, business schools are a business, and like any business, they need to respond to market demand.
But do they have a public responsiblity in the ethics and cultures they are perpetuating?
I guess if the pressure is not going to come from the students, the onus is on businesses to accept or not accept the degrees of colleges it deems “inappropriate” to supporting the vision and culture of the organisation.
As to whether Mangement is a profession, Eric Mueller comments that “management will not be a profession until it requires “formal qualification,” is governed by a “regulatory body,” and establishes an “objective means to assess competence.”
