By Juanma Roca

Madrid, January 13th London Business School, January 16th

MBA’sAngels or demons?

Prologue by Ángel Cabrera

What’s been said so far…

• MBA (Master of Business… Apocalypse)• MBA (Master of Business… Apprenticeship)• MBAs: public enemy nº. 1?• MBA: the three scarlet letters…• MBAs… too arrogant, greedy, ambitious…• Except Bernie Madoff, all top executives involved in

the financial scandals and the meltdown at Wall Street are MBA’s…

And so on…

But that’s not all, folks…

That’s only the beginning

“The times call for a serious reflection. Over the weeks and months ahead, all the major

constituencies and institutions -like Wall Street, Main Street, corporate executives, Governments,

and, yes, business schools-, we need to look carefully at what we’ve done, we need to think about what we could have done and what we should have done, and we must do move it

forward the right thing. What we most urgently need now is leadership”

- Jay O. Light, Harvard Business School dean10/12/2008 (Opening Ceremony - HBS Centennial Global Byusiness Summit)

Let’s go on

“If we say it’s not our fault it is like saying that business schools don’t matter. I

refuse to say that!” …So do I

“To reduce the beaty of business… to an equation! It’s that what we’re doing?!”

- Ángel Cabrera, President of ThunderbirdJune 2009

Or what’s been drawn… by Dilbert!

And that’s not the only…

…There’s more! In Financial Times…

And more!!!!

Are we seeing…

…The end of the affair between business and B-schools???

The Economist thinks so!!!

(somehow)

An article by… Lucy Kellaway!!!

Therefore… How trust has eroded?

Since last year, do you have more or less trust in… More Equal Less

Senior management (US firms) 3% 21% 76%

Senior management (non US) 7% 42% 51%

Consultants 5% 52% 43%

Academic institution (B-school) 9% 70% 21%

Source: HBR global survey with 1,024 respondents. Vid. HBR June 2009 issue.

“But the vast majority of the executives, the members of the board of directors, and the consultants who told them how to act…, they went to your B-Schools… and ours; the vast majority of them!! So, maybe, we’ve done something wrong”, Ángel Cabrera stated in June 2009.

And how B-Schools reacted?

“The degree of contrition at business schools seems small compared with

the magnitude of the offense”

- Joel Podolny, former dean at Yale School of Management and currently dean of Apple University

(Article in June 2009 issue of HBR)

Soo… what’s happened?????

• Are business schools to blame for the crisis?

• Is it the right time to rethink, reconsider, reframe, restart, and so on, the MBA degree?

• Is it the time to make management a true profession, like law or medicine?

Soo… that’s the point!!!!

• The questions have been raised…• The debate’s been intense throughout 2009 all

around the world… And It continues in 2010…• Unfortunately, most of deans have refused to

admit the failures of the system…• But there is a single truth:

IT IS THE TIME TO BUILD THE FUTURE OF THE MBA!!!

(and to build up the MBA reputation again)

The only mission and goal

To build the future we need a deep and sincere reflection…

AND THAT’S THE WHY, WHAT, WHEN AND HOW OF THIS BOOK

My ultimate purpose is to find and rebuild the DNA, mission, identity and

contribution of B-Schools and MBA

That’s the point!

Is a MBA just a handful of tools and technics to manage or it is

something more: a handful of core values, a deep sense of

responsible leadership and a common purpose to lead and

create prosperity worldwide…?

Fortunately…

• Harvard graduates saw it at the right time and created in may 2009 the

MBA Oath!!!!

That is, a pledge to act with the most integrity

That’s the very first step of a new era…

June 3rd 2009, HBS graduation

AP

Because the future has just started

Because…

“What we do in life echoes in eternity”

- Maximus Decimus Meridius, Gladiator

Thank you so much

juanmanuelroca@hotmail.comTW: @juanmaroca