When Henry Mintzberg Writes, People React

Abstract

This article discusses comments on the book on management education, titled Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development, by Henry Mintzberg. Mintzberg observed that contemporary education leaves a distorted impression of management. Further, business schools themselves need to be reconceived. He also believes that it is time to recognize conventional Master of Business Administration programs for what they are or else close them down. A rough tabulation reveals that the members of the panel from U.S. business schools tended to accept Mintzberg's critical description of management education. Daniel Feldman, for example, termed it an uncomfortable accurate picture of teaching goals and methods. Although Michael Barnett raised insightful criticisms of Mintzberg's book, even he labeled it an important wake-up call. Ray Miles observed that there is much to applaud in Mintzberg's compilation of the myriad ways the modern Master of Business Administration is misaligned with the realities of management process and these kills managers need to perform effectively. Jeffrey Pfeffer concluded that Mintzberg's treatment only hinted at some very important issues, although he seemed to accept Mintzberg's critical description as generally valid.