I am not a fan of business schools. I got my MBA (at night while working) and while I did learn some things, it wasn't nearly enough to justify the time or cost. The only benefit is the fact that I can put MBA on my resume. Some companies and people are impressed by that, I guess.
I won't go so far as to say that business schools should be abolished, I will say that the curriculums need to be seriously overhauled. The first thing that schools should do is add multiple courses on fairness and empathy.
I realize that there are classes on "leadership" and some on "communication" that touch on these points, but managers need to not see these behaviors as add-ons to other things, but specific skills in and of themselves. When you consider the way that management and leadership has changed (and gotten more complicated), the biggest trend is away from the technical skills and more towards the people and relationships skills.
Start teaching fairness, empathy, and relationship building in a business school and I'll start taking those programs seriously.
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