Revista MBA

Dearest Financial Times:

Though I’m sure my letter is not unique, I am writing in response to your front cover splash from October 21st regarding the question of whether MBA culture lead us to the current market crisis.  As an MBA student at Oxford, I certainly have a stake in defending the culture, but I must admit to wondering the same thing when I first became aware of the flaws in the market.  For that reason, I am not compelled to chastise your sensationalist title; a label I apply in the most relative way possible.

I think, perhaps, the question posed misrepresents “MBA culture” as the inaccessible, greed driven aristocracy that is the popular image of those leading us to the brink of financial demise.  Though I am hesitant to engage in any similar finger-pointing activities, I would certainly be willing to admit that bad business practices coupled with skewed consumer perceptions (not perceptions that came out of thin air, mind you) are distinctly responsible for bringing us to where we are.  The free market model assumes certain competencies in the parties finding social efficiency, and I am yet to be convinced that these competencies are truly engrained in modern business.  We are to assume that mutual self-interest finds social efficiency, but there is no provision for over-replication of corporate strategy that is essentially suicidal.  If the companies and leaders that allowed this to happen had the vision to know they would destroy their own market, then I am certain they would have chosen greater moderation in their business practices.  I have no idea of how to account completely for a system so far our of alignment in a world full of experts and leaders, except, perhaps, to point to the gap between the two in some cases.

I see the modern MBA as one bastion of proper thinking in this relative wilderness of self-interest.  The morals we propagate come from society, not from school.  Professors do not teach MBA candidates any code of morals as a matter of the course.  Nor is an MBA learning only new tools for business.  Our community, at Oxford especially, is not simply a homogenous gathering of corporate clones.  We are an international community with doctors, engineers, social entrepreneurs, and, yes, the more typical products of the corporate world.  The result is a rich social fabric of intellectual exchange and innovation unlike any other business related setting I have experienced.  We are taught prudence, strategy, and critical thinking.  I would happily argue that if all companies had the benefit of such a community, we would be facing a far more interesting and attractive future.

Is MBA culture at fault?  I think MBA culture is the way out.  Value intellect in business and critical thinking in management and we may just produce a more affable relationship between economy and society.

Thank you,

Benjamin

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