Universities Weblog

Business schools always talk about modifying the curriculum to better reflect business practices. Now they seem to be adapting to another phenomenon: changing student populations.

Enrollment in full-time MBA programs has leveled off, but part-time and executive programs are flourishing. As such, students are bringing more experience into the classroom, and many are already managers. They want to study the finer aspects of management—leadership, ethics, strategic thinking—and are less concerned with the nuts and bolts of business.

"The MBA programs are so standardized and designed for people without experience that they have nothing to do with management," says Henry Mintzberg, professor of management studies at McGill University, as reported in a Christian Science Monitor article. "They're about business, but they don't turn anyone into a leader or manager."

Some might question if any academic program can instill leadership qualities. But nonetheless, the point here is that B-schools continue to change and adapt to market pressures, and persist in playing servant to two primary masters: prospective students and the businesses that hire their graduates.

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