Managerial skill preparation in MBA programs for the twenty-first century: A critical evaluation

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the differences in the beliefs of the business community and academics concerning the preparation of students in MBA programs. Both business and academic literature are replete with criticisms of business schools. These critics claim that academia is not graduating students who demonstrate proficiency in the skills that the corporate world deems most important. This author seeks to explore and categorize the important areas that demand precise efficiency and to contrast the relative importance of these categories that most concern both the academic and business world. To address these criticisms two survey instruments were generated.; One instrument was sent to the faculty of universities offering graduate degrees in business administration. The faculty includes the MBA Program Directors, Deans, and the Associate Deans. The other was sent to business managers selected for this survey. These instruments solicited precise responses from these two general groups concerning the importance of certain skills to these business organizations. Then their views on how well MBA programs prepare students in these same skills was solicited.; By comparison, the results from the two surveys found that both business managers and the academic faculties agreed on the relative importance of the essential skills to business organizations. Both groups rated the Soft Skills, those more oriented toward the interactions of employees, not only within the company but with the public, as more essential than the Hard or Conceptual Skills which are more analytical in nature. However, significant differences were found between the two groups in there ratings of how well MBA programs now prepare students in these Soft Skills. The result is that academia believes that MBA programs better prepare their students in the highly demanded Soft Skills than does the business world.; In addition, university catalogues were reviewed and tabulated to substantiate the different emphases on the skills. In the course of this study it became apparent that the classes relating to the Hard Skills were more numerous than those classes relating to the more desired Soft Skills.