The MBA and all That

Business faculties were slower to evolve than other disciplines. Faculties of medicine, law, sciences, engineering and arts are typically as old as the university in which they are housed. In some cases they even predate the school.

On the other hand, as late as the mid-sixties, only seven Canadian universities taught post-graduate business studies; Alberta, Western Ontario, British Columbia, Queen’s, and McGill offered MBAs.

Several things had to happen before business management formally earned the stature of an academic discipline.

Importantly there was a growing number of large enterprises. These increasingly complex organizations benefited from advanced research and training.

Studying these multi-faceted entities brought together previously unrelated academic interests. This led to the realization that accounting, economics, industrial psychology, labour relations, finance, and marketing could be combined into a single package.

Corporations hired the graduates in droves; presumably formally trained managers proved their worth. Not surprisingly then, the competition for limited spots in the first few programs was fierce; the convenience (importantly the length) and content of the MBA program provided its graduates with a head start on the road to prosperity.

It comes as no surprise then that the five decades since their conception has witnessed exponential growth in the number of MBA programs. They are now offered by most Canadian universities.

There is no denying the positive influence professional management has had on the growth of the Canadian economy. Our banks are ranked amongst the best in the world, domestic manufacturers, oil producers, miners, and transporters all compete globally. But, there is also an argument to be made that the recent stresses placed on the world’s economies are owing (at least in part) to wayward ethics, creative financial accounting, opaque financial instruments, an excessive reliance on complex financial models; all topics that are at the core of the MBA curriculum.

Business educators no doubt have assumed great influence. Hopefully, this manifests in the positives of a business degree, and curbs the development of any more detrimental practices.