What have b-schools learned from the crisis?

Precious little, according to an article in this week's Economist magazine. A new course here, an ethics pledge there, and not much more. Actually this piece is much more balanced than most journalistic attempts to bemoan the fate of b-schools. It even points to economic research showing that companies using "widely accepted management techniques" outperform those who make less intensive or zero use of such techniques. This might even mean that MBAs earn more money than non-MBAs because they contribute more!

A couple of stimulating ideas mentioned in the article: (1) more economic and business history should be covered -- the recent financial crisis is all too similar to those that preceded it; (2) faculty and students should be a bit more skeptical about what management techniques can and cannot do.

The original sin of business schools is boosterism. Professors are always inclined to puff the businesses that provide them, at the very least, with their raw materials and, if they are lucky, with lucrative consultancy work.

Business schools need to make more room for people who are willing to bite the hands that feed them: to prick business bubbles, expose management fads and generally rough up the most feted managers. Kings once employed jesters to bring them down to earth. It’s time for business schools to do likewise.