Management Education: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

Early in the nineteenth century, business schools were either private or located in private universities. They were primarily trade schools teaching accounting, typing and preparing students for jobs in business. The managerial and administrative aspects were missing until the establishment of Wharton School in 1881. In the beginning the emphasis in Wharton School was on liberal education under the College of Arts and Sciences and the objective was to prepare young men in business and government, and not for a particular career. The establishment of Wharton School was followed by programmes at University of California, University of Chicago, NYU, University of Wisconsin and Michigan. Harvard Business School was established in 1908. For the first quarter of the twentieth century, the liberal arts education was de-emphasized and the course offerings were geared to entry level skill development for handling practical problems. During this time, the number of students in business school greatly increased. The number of degrees granted during the period 1914–20 increased from 615 to 1559 and orientation of the programme was mainly business type and it was not discipline oriented. During the period between the two world wars, business education grew tremendously.