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For mutual fund analysts, new insights into evaluating a fund's performance don't come along every day. Lately, though, financial experts at Wharton and other schools have collaborated on research that challenges some long-held notions about which funds are best for investors. Included in that research is a paper by Lubos Pastor of the University of Chicago and Wharton's Robert Stambaugh on how to improve standard benchmarks used to predict fund performance.

The fundamental promise of e-commerce is to empower the customer. In transportation, logistics and other "behind the scenes" aspects of e-commerce, new services and capabilities are beginning to fulfill this promise, not just for Fortune 500 companies but for small and medium firms and for those with specialized requirements as well. This article outlines some of the latest developments in this fast-moving field, and provides some background and context to help companies better understand the alternatives available to them today.

Getting into an MBA program is no easy task these days. Check out our tips on where, when, and how to apply for your ticket to the best B-school for you.

Attempts to gauge the ROI of advertising hinge on determining a brand's overall value.

Editor's Note: If you find this article interesting, then check out
http://www.mbadepot.com/links/links.php?ID=1526

Imagine you're embarking on your first foreign assignment. With confidence, you accept that exotic assignment abroad. Destination: the United States of America.

But you soon discover that the Land of Opportunity is really the Land of "What's Your Social Security Number?" It's ironic that this would be the case in a country with one of the world's most-traveled populations. Still, being sent to the United States on foreign assignment is not just a stressful business-it's a lonely one. From New Delhi to Cape Town to Minas Gerais, the observation is the same: Americans are friendly but hard to make friends with. We gregarious Americans don't truly bring international assignees into our lives, because we don't bring them into our homes after work.

Following are the personal accounts of several expats assigned to the United States-what works for them and what does not; what they leave at home in the morning and what they worry about all day.

Find a wide selection of interviews with business luminaries in our Interviews Section

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John P. Kotter, Harvard Business School professor, award-winning author of more than a dozen books on leadership and management, was recently rated by Business Week as America's Number One "leadership guru." In his best-selling book, Leading Change, he demystified the change process by distilling an eight-step process for implementing successful organizational transformations: 1. Increase Urgency, 2. Build the Guiding Team, 3. Get the Vision Right, 4. Communicate for Buy-In, 5. Empower Action, 6. Create Short-Term Wins, 7. Don't Let Up, and 8. Make Change Stick. His new book, The Heart of Change, written with Dan Cohen of Deloitte Consulting, shows how to use the power of feelings effectively to navigate each of the eight steps. Leader to Leader recently talked to Kotter about today's challenges to leaders and the need to pay careful attention to feelings in implementing change.

Editor's Note: see related article, "Winning at Change" at
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=3483&file=links

and "Leading With The Heart" at
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=3484&file=links

Although they work in the heyday of systems integration, today's cash forecasters confront a gap between what their ERP systems know and what their treasury workstations tell them to base predictions on.

Editor's Note: see related articles
"Foolproofing Treasury Functions"
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=4031&db_table=links

"Perfect Treasury For an Imperfect World"
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=3438&db_table=links

"The Global Treasury Squeeze"
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=2805&db_table=links

"So Many Countries, So Few GTCs"
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=1556&db_table=links

Today, mergers have both resurged and reemerged as a master tool of strategy. A transaction's strategic rationale is ground zero for planning your merger and your foundation for capturing the value that spurred your acquisition.

Editor's Note: see also "Achieving the Promise: Five ways to lead mergers to results" at
http://www.bain.com/bainweb/PDFs/cms/Marketing/3959.pdf

and "6 Ways to Lead Mergers to Results"
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=1630&file=links

and "Fusing at Full Speed"
http://www.bain.com/bainweb/PDFs/cms/Marketing/3069.pdf

Faced with a rapidly evolving competitive marketplace, the chief executives of many of today's leading companies have embarked on major change initiatives. The goal is twofold: to challenge the existing ways of conducting business and to drive step-level improvements in operating performance. The method is two-pronged as well: cut costs significantly and build capabilities to better serve the marketplace. These initiatives, then, often involve the radical redesign of the very systems and processes that the companies rely upon to develop, deliver and service the products they provide.

Trying to remake the organization to compete more effectively while continuing to serve customers thus presents a significant management challenge, one of the key reasons behind the widely cited 70 percent failure rate of major re-engineering initiatives.

This article explores a novel way to meet that challenge, by driving significant companywide change through the use of an innovative transforming vehicle, the "temporary organization." Small in size yet acting with the full authority of the C.E.O.'s office, such organizations are set up and staffed with the sole goal of revamping the status quo as quickly, painlessly and thoroughly as possible. They accomplish all this by acting outside the normal boundary lines of the existing corporate structure and by being liberated from the day-to-day agenda and concerns of the business.

Editor's Note: I found this article to be poorly written (unusual for s+b) and lacking in many areas but still there is some value in the concept and some of the points drawn...

In the field of supply chains, there are many different strategies, fads and cures for a variety of problems. There is an abundance of information that outlines every new concept and idea on how to improve supply chain performance. But what works for one company or industry will not necessarily work for another. Given the diverse needs of different industries and businesses, one-size-fits-all or try-everything-until-something-sticks strategies simply do not work. Companies that indiscriminately adopt new supply chain strategies may find their efforts thwarted or, worse, they might be left with a cadre of look-alike supply chains that don't offer true advantages.

Unless supply chains are aligned properly, companies risk squandering cost-saving opportunities, revenues, competitive advantage and asset productivity. Today, executives are challenged to think and reflect on a new set of concepts. Among the most important is the choice of supply chain. Choosing the right chain for the right business requires thinking strategically about how your business operates and what your company needs, which includes how many supply chains it takes to serve your customers.

This paper describes a framework for identifying distinct supply chains within a business and offers a how-to approach for developing strategies that appropriately align with each supply chain. We discuss the issues, complications and benefits of determining just how many supply chains you really need.

Editor's Note: see related graphics,
"Elements of Supply Chain Segmentation"
http://www.mbadepot.com/graphics/graphics.php?ID=140

"Developing a Supply Chain Strategy"
http://www.mbadepot.com/graphics/graphics.php?ID=141

"Match Strategies to Supply Chains"
http://www.mbadepot.com/graphics/graphics.php?ID=142

For a complete set of career resources check out our Career Center

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You got the job. Now what you do--or don't do--in the next 30 days could determine if you keep it and how far you'll go. Here's how to negotiate the pitfalls and take advantage of the opportunities during that crucial first month of make or break.

It's every executive's worst nightmare: You wake up one day to find that a competitor is selling a product much like yours at a much lower price. Matching the lower price would devastate your profit margins, but ignoring the low-price gambit may prompt your customers to flee. Don't panic. Taking on a low-price competitor requires a careful rethinking of how your company does business. To start, read our Crash Course on "How to Beat a Lower-Priced Competitor" to learn about the strategies that will make your product more valuable to buyers. We've also summarized the wisdom of five strategy gurus so you'll have additional ideas on how to combat low-cost competition. To hear from managers on the front lines, we interviewed executives from Time Inc. and Sony to find out how they stay ahead of their low-cost rivals. Lastly, we looked at how some products compete effectively against low-price equivalents by raising prices and heading upmarket.

For a complete set of career resources check out our Career Center

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This chart is meant to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and give you a better idea of whether you're ready to become a small business owner. It could also be useful in your career exploration or even in a more conventional SWOT analysis exercise.

New books and revisited history illuminate the irrelevance of today’s MBA — and ways to make it compelling again.

Going through school to get an MBA can take a few years away from your life and work. These days you don’t always have time to take a few years and be a student. You’ve got bills to pay! This list of 100 business blogs can bring you up to speed in the briefcase world so you can take a detour around the MBA education route.

Venture capitalist Fred Wilson is well known in tech circles for his regular blogging and free advice. He's just wrapped up his "MBA Mondays" series, and it's full of good advice for those looking to start their own business, tech or otherwise.

Wilson basically covers all the questions that an investor, a consultant, or an accountant would ask a business owner to answer in founding and running their company. It's an overview of the kind of courses they teach in basic accounting or business courses at college, but written with a far less stern and academic tone. In The Balance Sheet, for example, Wilson explains the most important items on a balance sheet and how the numbers fit together, even running some quick numbers on Google's balance sheet. Less math-y topics, like forecasting and marketing, are also covered. [Lifehacker Annotation]

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Silbiger, who is both an MBA and a CPA, aims to give the reader 40 percent of a two-year MBA program in ten days--a chapter per day. Whether or not one agrees with his premise, this book will prove to be a handy desk reference for potential and current MBAs, along with business people in general. Written in a clear and lively style, the ten chapters provide a basic framework for the essential business courses: marketing, ethics, accounting, organizational behavior, quantitative analysis, finance, operations, economics, and strategy. Each chapter outlines the topics to be covered and ends with "key takeaways"--the buzzwords and theories the text has described--defined in a line or two. A useful lexicon of abbreviations leads the reader back to the explanation of each concept.
- Mary Chatfield, Angelo State Univ. Lib., San Angelo, Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

After six years as a White House speechwriter for Reagan and Bush, Robinson enrolled at Stanford Business School, wrestled for two years in perpetual exhaustion with often incomprehensible mathematical, organization and marketing concepts and, upon earning his MBA "union card for yuppies," interviewed in the communications world of Robert Maxwell, Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch (who hired him for a brief stint). In the tradition of Scott Turow's One L for potential students who are curious about Harvard Law School, the author sets out with humor and perception to answer the question that no business school catalogue does: What is business school like? Then Robinson dismisses the value of an MBA degree in the economic downturn after the fat '80s; for him the degree did not pay off as a "straight and easy road to riches." Robinson explains: "Today I'm back to being what I was before I went to business school, a writer."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

First-novelist Bronson takes on modern business in a black comedy about a group of money-crazed and eccentric bond traders in San Francisco.

Regardless of how you feel about investment banking ("It's a complete scam!"; "It's a great way to make a killing!"), this non-stop novelistic indictment of the shark-infested financial world--and by extension, much of the corporate world--is bound to make you laugh uproariously--and think deeply. As fast-paced and frenetic as the stock exchange on a Monday morning.

Getting things done in today's workplace is hard work. Employees become exhausted, frustrated, and sometimes entirely disenchanted-and often, they are tempted to simply give up. But the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner over the last two decades clearly shows that successful leaders find ways to combat these negative feelings by encouraging the hearts of their team members. This workbook, based on the model presented in the bestselling book Encouraging the Heart, guides readers through seven essentials of encouraging the heart: set clear standards, expect the best, pay attention, personalize recognition, tell the story, celebrate together, and set the example. The authors also provide a 21-question self-assessment to help leaders determine how they are doing and where they should focus their development efforts.

At some point, every young person who is serious about business has to face up to this question: Should I get an MBA? In this collection of articles from Fast Company, we look at motivated people networking like crazy before they even begin their first day of classes, and we provide insights about admissions and curriculum from administrators, faculty members, and students at top business schools. There¹s also a note of dissent: "You Can¹t Create a Leader in a Classroom" is a profile of professor Henry Mintzberg, one of the world¹s most influential teachers of business strategy.

Is management a profession? Should it be? Can it be? This major work of social and intellectual history reveals how such questions have driven business education and shaped American management and society for more than a century. The book is also a call for reform. Rakesh Khurana shows that university-based business schools were founded to train a professional class of managers in the mold of doctors and lawyers but have effectively retreated from that goal, leaving a gaping moral hole at the center of business education and perhaps in management itself.

Khurana begins in the late nineteenth century, when members of an emerging managerial elite, seeking social status to match the wealth and power they had accrued, began working with major universities to establish graduate business education programs paralleling those for medicine and law. Constituting business as a profession, however, required codifying the knowledge relevant for practitioners and developing enforceable standards of conduct. Khurana, drawing on a rich set of archival material from business schools, foundations, and academic associations, traces how business educators confronted these challenges with varying strategies during the Progressive era and the Depression, the postwar boom years, and recent decades of freewheeling capitalism.

Today, Khurana argues, business schools have largely capitulated in the battle for professionalism and have become merely purveyors of a product, the MBA, with students treated as consumers. Professional and moral ideals that once animated and inspired business schools have been conquered by a perspective that managers are merely agents of shareholders, beholden only to the cause of share profits. According to Khurana, we should not thus be surprised at the rise of corporate malfeasance. The time has come, he concludes, to rejuvenate intellectually and morally the training of our future business leaders.

Find a wide selection of interviews with business luminaries in our Interviews Section

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Management guru Handy quotes Voltaire, How infinitesimal is the importance of anything I do, but how infinitely important it is that I do it. That combination of modesty and determination underlies this autobiography from title to final page. Born in 1932, raised in Ireland and educated at Oxford, Handy disappointed his family by entering trade for Shell Oil in Asia. Returning to London, he embarked on a career that included teaching, writing, broadcasting the BBC Thought for the Day and consulting and managing quasi-public entities. Because his family valued humility, he felt handicapped: A becoming modesty was urged on us.... But if you don't shout, how do you let other people know you are there? Handy muses about this issue amid the story of his steadily growing success, offering advice on topics from how to live one's life to how to run the economy. The book's British tone is gently quaint and introspective, unlike typical American management consulting books. M.B.A.s who were taught to be aggressive fast may either be confused or find this book to be a good antidote. It will certainly appeal most to those who want to slow down the pace of their lives, while traveling farther.
Copyright © Reed Business Information

Brafman and Beckstrom, a pair of Stanford M.B.A.s who have applied their business know-how to promoting peace and economic development through decentralized networking, offer a breezy and entertaining look at how decentralization is changing many organizations. The title metaphor conveys the core concept: though a starfish and a spider have similar shapes, their internal structure is dramatically different—a decapitated spider inevitably dies, while a starfish can regenerate itself from a single amputated leg. In the same way, decentralized organizations, like the Internet, the Apache Indian tribe and Alcoholics Anonymous, are made up of many smaller units capable of operating, growing and multiplying independently of each other, making it very difficult for a rival force to control or defeat them. Despite familiar examples—eBay, Napster and the Toyota assembly line, for example—there are fresh insights, such as the authors' three techniques for combating a decentralized competitor (drive change in your competitors' ideology, force them to become centralized or decentralize yourself). The authors also analyze one of today's most worrisome "starfish" organizations—al-Qaeda—though that group undermines the authors' point that the power of leaderless groups helps to demonstrate the essential goodness and trustworthiness of human beings.
Copyright © Reed Business Information

MBA programs are redefining their mission and seeking a new generation of business visionaries. No longer simply about grades or test scores, top schools now look for students with a transformative vision. The MBA Reality Check covers everything from the specifics of the application process to how applicants can position themselves among the crop of tomorrow's business innovators. Through their work with hundreds of MBA hopefuls, Forster and Thomas have shown what it takes to succeed in today's highly competitive marketplace, including:

# How applicants can find their own exceptional story to set them apart
# What to include in an MBA application-and what to leave out
# What b-schools really want to learn about candidates
# How to turn any question into an opportunity to illustrate unique leadership qualities

A site that includes a calendar of international holidays, a currency exchange, and information regarding embassies, airlines, international airports, and shipping services.

For a complete set of career resources check out our Career Center

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Site offers expert career and job-hunting advice, as well as links to all the best job sites. THey have a special section for MBAs. The Main page headings include: Featured Article of the Week, Career Tip of the Day, Career Tool of the Day, They also offer a free biweekly e-zine. Other features: career tutorial, career doctor.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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The Internet: wow, what a great concept! And wouldn't it be even better if you could access it from your mobile phone? Kouiji Ohboshi, chairman of the Japanese telephone giant, NTT DoCoMo, thought so. But back in the early days of 1999, it seemed that few others agreed. In this story of a contrarian business leader, Professors W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne and Ben M. Bensaou, along with Yasushi Shiina, INSEAD MBA '00, explain how Ohboshi stood back and questioned the future direction of the mobile phone industry while many others, busy rolling around in the euphoria of the mobile phone success, never bothered to look ahead.

This case is particularly appropriate in an MBA strategy course or executive education program focused on value innovation and winning business ideas.

AT 8:25 A.M. on Monday, June 5, 1995, Jim Manzi, chief executive of the Lotus Development Corporation, received an unexpected phone call from Louis V. Gerstner Jr., the chairman and chief executive of the International Business Machines Corporation.

I.B.M., Mr. Gerstner said, had just tendered an all-cash offer of $64 a share for Lotus, a storied software maker in Cambridge, Mass., and he hoped Mr. Manzi would come willingly to the deal. Shocked and surprised, the combative Mr. Manzi initially refused, spent two days seeking a white knight to keep Lotus independent and then grudgingly accepted the $3.5 billion buyout, the largest by far in software industry history.

This is the story -- pieced together through interviews with many of the principal players -- of what happened in the aftermath of that agreement. An anatomy of a corporate marriage that started out as the idea of only one of the parties, the story is a case study of the consummation and management of a high-profile merger, offering lessons that have resonance for C.E.O.'s in any industry, not just those in high tech.

Written by Stern MBAs, a research publication devoted to showcasing the distinct perspectives and strengths of the MBA candidate on the compelling business issues of the day.

In an uncertain economy, find out what rewards - and risks - come from pursuing an MBA degree. Research the effect of the downturn on MBA programmes and graduates. Learn what MBAs can do to position themselves best. Read MBA Outlook, a special report from The Economist Global Executive today

For a searchable repository of business cases check out our Case Study Center

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"Since 1981, Concordia University has been hosting its prestigious MBA International Case Competition (MBA-ICC). The primary objective of this non-profit, student-organized event is to provide an enriching educational and social experience for all participants. Twenty-one years of experience has allowed us to grow into an international and highly recognized five-day, 30-team competition. Today, the Concordia MBA-ICC it is the largest and oldest MBA Case Competition in the world."

MEETUP is a free service designed to use the Internet to connect groups with common interests. The MEETUP folks have hand-picked 11,409 (and growing) good meetup spots in 540 cities in 22 countries. This link is to the page dedicated to prospective MBAs (with scheduled MEETUPs for every 3rd Monday of the month). As of 7/10/02 there are only 2 people registered but who knows what will happen in the future. Worth considering.

Are you ready for business school? MBA Boot Camp will help you prepare for all of the upcoming challenges and opportunities by guiding you through admissions, academics, post-MBA careers and the overall MBA experience. Taught by distinguished professors, industry practitioners and recent MBA graduates, MBA Boot Camp will help you gain the knowledge, skills and insights necessary to get into and excel at business school as well as navigate today's challenging job market.

"MBA students - go global for the 21st century. Internationalize your MBA program by incorporating a semester abroad. The University Studies Abroad Consortium is adding MBA level courses in International Finance, International Management and International Marketing to its program in Bilbao, Spain. The program provides you with a unique and valuable multi-cultural perspective - contact us today for more details."

Ricardo Semler works from a hammock. He offers seats on his company's board to any employee who wants them. He lets new hires wander around for a year without a job. Who is this guy?

Read his book, "Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works"
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=635&db_table=books

BRW, a leading Australian business magazine, recently queried the graduates of four Australian business schools in an attempt to identify strengths and weaknesses of both the individual schools and Australian business education in general. Among the fourteen areas assessed in survey were development of students' management, leadership, entrepeneurial, technology, and teamwork skills, job placement services, range of academic offerings, liaison with industry, and student workload. While the rankings are interesting in their own right, the article also does an excellent job addressing the challenges faced by business schools around the world in today's rapidly changing world. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the BRW page and read the user comments posted in the site's "Vox Box" section.

"Since 1981, Concordia University has been hosting its prestigious MBA International Case Competition (MBA-ICC). The primary objective of this non-profit, student-organized event is to provide an enriching educational and social experience for all participants. Twenty-one years of experience has allowed us to grow into an international and highly recognized five-day, 30-team competition. Today, the Concordia MBA-ICC it is the largest and oldest MBA Case Competition in the world."

Virtual networking truly clicks at Indiana University, where students of the online MBA program collaborate and communicate across time zones and oceans, using breakneck technology and scheduling savvy. Hmmm ... sounds a lot like global business today.

This site provides book information and supplements for the following Peterson's Guides for GMAT:
- 30 Days to the GMAT CAT (previously Teach Yourself the GMAT CAT in 24 Hours)
- GMAT CAT-Answers to the Real Essay Questions

Major sections are titled:
- Teach Yourself
- Test Yourself
- Coach Yourself
- Prepare Yourself

The overwhelming majority of today's MBA students believe that businesses should work toward the betterment of society, that managers should take into account social and environmental impacts when making business decisions, and that corporate social responsibility should be integrated into core curricula in MBA programs, according to a new survey.

A report looking at the relevance of MBA programmes suggests that criticisms that the curricula falls short of what today's global managers need, may be justified.

The report - How relevant is the MBA? Assessing the alignment of MBA curricula and managerial competencies - finds that although essential managerial skills are being taught, there are nevertheless "significant gaps", specifically in the area of so-called soft skills.

Each Friday, Clear Admit provides a roundup of notable MBA blogosphere activity for the prior week.

The Graduate Management Admission Test — the dominant test for M.B.A. admissions, but one that is facing competition — will soon have a new section, designed to test the ability of would-be business students to analyze multiple kinds of information.

Note: Business 2.0 is now part of CNNmoney and some older articles are no longer available

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This content is for members only. But registering is free and painless.

On Monday, i'm going to start graduate school at Keller Graduate School of Management in Crystal City, VA and i'm concentrating on getting a MBA with a concentration in accounting. However, I want to also get a masters in Accounting and Financial Management so I can become a CPA. My question to you all is what is graduate school like? how do you get through grad school especially a MBA? What have you experienced being in grad school? Could you give me some advice on how can I succeed in grad school?

I currently have a BSEE. I have worked as a product safety engineer for the last 10 years at a major third party testing lab. I primarily over see projects and supervise 6-7 other engineers. I decided a year ago to pursue an MBA part-time.

I have completed most of the management core and program specific courses. Now I'm a little undecided as to what area to do my concentration (Total of 6 electives). I really enjoy the acounting and finance courses I've taken so far but, I'm not sure if I would be better served by concentrating on Project Management course or Finace/Accounting (possibly CPA). It would be nice to with the CFO of my company one day but, managing engineering projects is what I've done for the last 9 years.

Comments and suggestions welcomed.

For a complete set of career resources check out our Career Center

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I am student pursuing MBA (marketing) presently undergoing my summer internship.I am keen to do a course that will add value to my degree and give me edge against other candidates during the placement process.Please suggest me some courses of 2 to 3 months, I can devote 2 days per week.. I am very much interested towards the advertising industry.Also how can i join the advertising industry as an mba graduate?

Basically my objection is that MBA programs claim to be creating managers and they are not. The MBA is really about business, which would be fine except that people leave these programs thinking they've been trained to do management. I think every MBA should have a skull and crossbones stamped on their forehead and underneath should be written: "Warning: not prepared to manage".

And the issue is not just that they are not trained to manage, but that they are given a totally wrong impression of what managing is; namely decision-making by analysis. The impression they get from what they've studied is that people skills don't really matter.

So they come out with this distorted view. I've seen it over and over again where people have MBAs and go into managerial positions and don't know what they are doing. So basically they write reports and plans and do all sorts of information processing things and pretend that it's management. It's killing organizations, and I think it's getting worse over time.

I'm critical of management programs that promise boot camps. Managers live boot camps every day of their lives. What they need is to slow down and reflect.

A profession has a codified body of knowledge, and to practice a profession you need to be trained and certified...But we don't have much codified knowledge in management, and we certainly have no accreditation that ensures people are good managers; in fact, the most common accreditation-the MBA-is exactly the opposite. We have great managers who have never spent a day in a management program. We don't have great surgeons who never spent a day in medical school, or great engineers who never studied physics. So the idea of management as a profession doesn't hold up at all. There's no aspect of management that conforms to professional qualifications.

As far as being a science, physics is a science; chemistry and biology are sciences. Management isn't a science; it isn't about finding truth. Management isn't even an applied science, because that's still a science. Management is the application of science, among many other things. Managers use whatever they can in a practical way to get things done or to encourage other people to get things done.

Most management is a craft-that is, it relies on experience, on-the-job learning. I put it this way: It's as much about doing in order to think as thinking in order to do.

The typical business school today is concerned with business functions, not management. Certainly managers have to understand business functions-marketing, accounting, sales, and so on-but the practice of business is not the same as the practice of management. Mixing all these functions together in a person is not going to produce a manager.

Now, while business schools have been successful in analyzing things, in separating all these specialized functions, they have not been successful in putting them together, in synthesizing them into a coherent vision or integrated system. That's the difficult-and the interesting-part of management.

The trouble with business schools' emphasis on analysis is that it leads to an emphasis on technique or formula thinking. I define technique as something that can be used in place of a brain, and management schools have made a specialty of offering courses in techniques-empowerment techniques for human resources or portfolio models for financial resources. I'm not saying that technique doesn't have a place in management, but it must be used carefully and in context, not generically by people on the fast track who see technique as a way of compensating for a lack of experience. You've heard of the so-called rule of the tool: Give somebody a hammer and everything looks like a nail. Well, MBA programs have given their graduates so many hammers that many organizations look like smashed-up beds of nails.

I could spend days talking about management style. But every business is different - there is not a recipe or a Drucker book in which you can learn about management. Doing an MBA you will learn about strategy, finance, marketing...but you will never learn about management. You will only learn about management by doing it.

We have many young people now getting their MBAs and looking toward a life in which they can do well and do good, working for a corporation that is socially responsible. I think they're fooling themselves. I would rather those young people, if they're genuinely concerned about the state of the planet, roll up their sleeves and get involved in either politics or some organization that is going to affect politics. At the end of the day, it's our laws and rules that set the terms of our market economy. No company is going to sacrifice profits for the sake of some vision of social good, and indeed, no company has a right to. Investors are not putting their money into a particular company because the company is going to do charitable things with that money.

We -- citizens -- have to stop expecting corporations to be socially responsible and blaming them for not being so, and we have to have heightened skepticism about corporate claims to be acting in the public interest when all that the companies are seeking is a competitive advantage through politics and public policy.