Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    Business Summit: Business Education in the 21st Century
    24 Jul 2009Research & Ideas

    Business Summit: Business Education in the 21st Century

    Business schools are innovating and experimenting to change the MBA experience, and to help business education regain its relevance and value. Along with a changing curricula, programs are attempting to make the learning experience more interactive, engaging, global, and experiential.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Editor's Note: This is a summary of an HBS Business Summit presentation. View a full summary and video of the event on the HBS Centennial Web site linked below.

    Date of Event: October 14, 2008
    Speakers: David A. Garvin, HBS faculty
    Srikant M. Datar, HBS faculty

    Professors Garvin and Datar provided data about the challenges facing the business education marketplace and presented qualitative information on innovations in top MBA programs.

    On the whole, MBA programs are in decline. Their value is being questioned, and they are seen as overly emphasizing analytics rather than skill development and experiences. Deans, executives, and recruiters identified four main areas where current MBA programs are falling short: leadership, globalization, communication/presentation skills, and problem identification in ambiguous environments.

    In response, MBA programs are innovating and experimenting to change the MBA experience, and to help business education regain its relevance and value. They are changing their curricula and are attempting to make the learning experience more interactive, engaging, global, and experiential.

    Key concepts include:

    • The full-time, two-year, traditional MBA program is in decline.
    • MBA programs are in decline partly because the education is not seen as relevant.
    • New experiments and innovation in MBA curricula and how courses are taught is widespread at top schools.
    • Read the in-depth summary

    For more coverage and video:
    2:15 session:
    http://www.hbs.edu/centennial/businesssummit/business-society/business-education-in-the-21st-century-1.html
    3:45 session:
    http://www.hbs.edu/centennial/businesssummit/business-society/business-education-in-the-21st-century-2.html

      Trending
        • 13 Jun 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        Extroverts, Your Colleagues Wish You Would Just Shut Up and Listen

        • 11 Apr 2014
        • Working Paper Summaries

        Learning By Thinking: How Reflection Improves Performance

        • 18 Apr 2022
        • HBS Case

        Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

        • 23 Jun 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        All Those Zoom Meetings May Boost Connection and Curb Loneliness

        • 28 Jun 2022
        • Book

        The Moral Enterprise: How Two Companies Profit with Purpose

    Srikant M. Datar
    Srikant M. Datar
    George F. Baker Professor of Administration
    Dean of the Faculty
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Education
    • Education

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College