AS recent as 50 years ago, the notion that managers can be                                                                                            
taught to perform better was not seriously taken. There was no                                                                                        
way to develop the manager than through experience, was how                                                                                           
sceptics pooh-poohed the infant growth of the management                                                                                              
profession.                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
Even academics treated management education with disdain,                                                                                             
citing the lack of a body of knowledge as grounds to deny                                                                                             
legitimising it as a discipline worthy of study.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
In 1948 there were simply no courses outside of a few                                                                                                 
institutions in the United States that offered managers an                                                                                            
education in management. It was, indeed, a slow, almost                                                                                               
evangelical process for business schools to be created in                                                                                             
Europe and Asia in the 50s and 60s.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
But once established and having demonstrated its ability to                                                                                           
attract both faculty and students, there has been no turning                                                                                          
back, with virtually every major university today offering the                                                                                        
MBA degree.                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
Management education and training is now big business. The MBA                                                                                        
was mystified and deified in the 60s and 70s, moved into mass                                                                                         
production in the 80s, but devalued in the 90s.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
What began as a serious attempt to develop the manager has                                                                                            
turned out to be a numbers game with low admission standards,                                                                                         
easy passage and assured success for quite a number of                                                                                                
players.                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
The tragedy is that there is a market for the easy-to-obtain                                                                                          
MBA as there are customers who care less for behavioural                                                                                              
change as the certificate that entitles them to be the holder                                                                                         
of an MBA.                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
Globalisation and technology has helped in marketing the MBA                                                                                          
throughout the world. In Malaysia there are over 50 masters-                                                                                          
level degree programmes in management from across the world                                                                                           
offered in, different learning modes through a variety of                                                                                             
business partners.                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                      
The dilemma is one of choice, and it is a temptation to choose                                                                                        
the easiest, the cheapest or the fastest. But at what cost?                                                                                           
Learning that cannot be translated into value is wasted.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
The value derived from the MBA is the incremental competence                                                                                          
gained by the individual as the result of new knowledge and                                                                                           
skills acquired. In good MBA programmes the incremental                                                                                               
competence gained should be substantial as if the individual                                                                                          
has been transformed into the ranks of first-division                                                                                                 
management.                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
The MBA qualification is not a standard product. Indeed,                                                                                              
standards vary so enormously that there is real danger that                                                                                           
misrepresentation can cause confusion as local media                                                                                                  
advertisements play up the attractiveness of a particular MBA                                                                                         
course.                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
Any MBA course that suggests anything but a serious commitment                                                                                        
to hard work, sacrifice and real learning should be doubly                                                                                            
assessed. There is no other road to Mount Everest than the                                                                                            
tough journey of scaling heights and crossing crevices,                                                                                               
demanding exquisite timing and against a deoxygenated                                                                                                 
environment. No wonder one of every four climbers to Everest                                                                                          
has perished!                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Two criteria can be generally applied to measure the                                                                                                  
toughness, relevance and value for money of an MBA programme.                                                                                         
First is content. The question that needs to be asked by                                                                                              
prospective students is nowhere do I want to be, say 10 years                                                                                         
from now, and what knowledge and skills do I need to acquire                                                                                          
to fulfil my personal vision?"                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
If, for instance, I am a functional manager and see my career                                                                                         
growth into general management as general manager or chief                                                                                            
executive, I win need to expand my world to get to understand                                                                                         
more of myself as an individual, every facet of corporate                                                                                             
work, and the business environment companies operate in.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
I will also need to be able to move from narrowly defined                                                                                             
technical and operational work to take a more strategic view                                                                                          
of the organization in meeting its challenges for the future.                                                                                         
I win need to work through and ready learn from course modules                                                                                        
that can de- liver the sort of content that can get me to                                                                                             
travel from where I am to where I hope to be in the years to                                                                                          
come.                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                      
The discriminating potential MBA student should be well                                                                                               
advised to check the content promised in the MBA course to                                                                                            
assess whether it does in fact meet with personal                                                                                                     
requirements.                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
An issue related to content is ease of access to management                                                                                           
literature. There is an explosion of publications and new                                                                                             
books and periodicals are added to the literature on a                                                                                                
continuing basis.                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
The MBA is not about studying a particular prescribed text; it                                                                                        
is about exploring different view- points that can be culled                                                                                          
from a broad range of publications.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
An MBA programme, therefore, has to be enriched and supported                                                                                         
by a functional library, computer and related resources that                                                                                          
ensure the availability of the best possible infrastructure                                                                                           
laid out to benefit students.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Second is process or methodology of delivery. The growth of                                                                                           
management literature over the last 50 years is astounding.                                                                                           
Probably no other discipline has seen such an outpouring of                                                                                           
books and other publications from academics, social                                                                                                   
scientists, consultants and practitioners, as if there is-a                                                                                           
cure for every management problem.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                      
These publications have spawned a generation of managers who                                                                                          
are probably literate in the key buzz words, but very few do                                                                                          
have full understanding of their concepts and how they can be                                                                                         
actually applied to their personal corporate problems.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
If we can accept the promises of management publications,                                                                                             
there will be absolutely no further need to pursue the MBA                                                                                            
qualification. But books can only provide knowledge; they                                                                                             
cannot deliver skins.                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                      
Skills can only be effectively developed by a learning process                                                                                        
that seeks to draw out principles followed by attempts at                                                                                             
applying principles in stimulated environments, thence acted                                                                                          
out in real life situations, the success of which will serve                                                                                          
to strengthen and reinforce the effectiveness of the                                                                                                  
prescribed principles.                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
The cycle of learning consequently changes behaviour. In a                                                                                            
good MBA course, managerial competence is enhanced.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
The business of universities and other academic institutions                                                                                          
is to search for and to disseminate knowledge. Hence, the                                                                                             
traditional delivery mode has been the classroom with the                                                                                             
lecture as the prime method.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
In the profession of management, competence is measured not by                                                                                        
knowledge acquired but by the application of knowledge.                                                                                               
Unless the lecture is supported by interaction, exercises,                                                                                            
case studies, simulation, field and project work and games,                                                                                           
the link.                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Between knowledge and application may be assured.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
Better still where appropriate and relevant sessions that                                                                                             
focus on application should also be delivered by qualified                                                                                            
practising managers.                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
The ideal teaching resource is for the MBA to be co-taught by                                                                                         
a team of academics and practitioners. The academics can                                                                                              
deliver state of the art concepts, theories and research while                                                                                        
practitioners show how these can be best exploited in the                                                                                             
workplace, in a mutually reinforcing commitment to progress                                                                                           
learning.                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
The conquest of Everest can be more assured with the support                                                                                          
of state of the art equipment and well-trained Sherpa guides.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Another aspect of the learning process is assessment. Written                                                                                         
examinations are good for assessing knowledge acquired, but                                                                                           
they are terribly weak in assessing whether candidates are                                                                                            
able to apply knowledge.                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
Short of having candidates perform on the job, the learning                                                                                           
process that at least attempts to simulate practical                                                                                                  
conditions does help. Hence, case analysis and defence,                                                                                               
project papers, new business creation and development,                                                                                                
practical field assignments and business games serve to                                                                                               
substitute for real-world action.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
Unlike the study of economics with its ceteris paribus                                                                                                
assumptions, management is dynamic and cannot be acted out in                                                                                         
con- trolled situations. Written examinations often require                                                                                           
some degree of control.                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
The primary job of management is to manage people as the key                                                                                          
resource in any organisation.  Appropriately, the process of                                                                                          
learning how to manage people has to be interactive.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
An MBA class of say 40 students, each with some 10 years                                                                                              
managerial experience in a variety of industries and job                                                                                              
functions, can be a powerful resource of learning by sharing                                                                                          
400 years of collective experience.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
The instructor is a facilitator, not a guru, and his job is to                                                                                        
lead, not so much to teach. Learning takes place at three                                                                                             
levels: first, in full class discussions where knowledge is                                                                                           
exposed; second, in small study groups where aspects of                                                                                               
knowledge are examined, analysed and interpreted; and third,                                                                                          
at the personal level where specific interests are pursued and                                                                                        
the outcomes of the first and second levels are reflected upon                                                                                        
and reinforced.                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
Therefore, an MBA programme that is delivered entirely by                                                                                             
distance education or through the Internet will not be able to                                                                                        
benefit from the interactive learning process.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
Pursuing the MBA is a once in a lifetime investment which has                                                                                         
to be seriously considered. The rate of return has to be the                                                                                          
enhanced ability to perform as a manager.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
In financial terms this should be translated into new career                                                                                          
opportunities of promotions, creating and managing a personal                                                                                         
business, taking on new assignments of writing, consulting and                                                                                        
training, and generally be comforted by a sense of                                                                                                    
independence that comes with a good MBA experience.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
The question is, which is MBA will best lead to these new                                                                                             
opportunities.  The issue, hence, is one of choice. And the                                                                                           
choice should never be the MBA that is easiest, cheapest or                                                                                           
fastest to obtain.