An interview with Dean Kenneth Rhee, School of Business & Leadership at Nazareth College
What is a frequent question about business graduate programs you receive?
Ever since I started my position as the dean in the School of Business and Leadership at Nazareth College, outsiders often have asked me whether we offer an MBA program. My polite response is that we do not, and we do not intend to. More often than not, by looking at their reactions to my reply, I can guess they are surprised.
Does an MBA have value in today's climate?
To set the record straight, MBA programs have their merits and purposes, and well-designed MBA programs are extremely helpful for people who want to move from a non-business to business profession. I was a beneficiary of an MBA program, transitioning from chemistry to business. Before I started the MBA program, I had zero business knowledge, and the program was instrumental in making my transition from the non-business to business world. However, does this mean MBA programs are for everyone, or are appropriate for what current and future managers need? There are factors to consider in determining the best program for your individual situation.
What should the main considerations be when exploring graduate business programs?
I would posit that if you have already been working in the business world or a business-related field, getting an MBA does not make sense in the current business environment. The current marketplace seems to agree with my assessment as well. I will explain why. In the U.S., many MBA programs are in decline. Graduate Management Admission Council data shows that applications dropped around 7 percent in 2017 and 70 percent of full-time MBA programs are showing declines. I have personally observed or played a role in phasing out traditional MBA programs in many regional universities over the past several years. The GMAC data showed that international MBA programs (programs that are outside the U.S., especially those in Asia) have been growing, but I would have to wonder if that is a logical progression of those students requiring graduate degrees to be competitive in the growing Asian economy and if future enrollment will soon follow the U.S. trend. In addition, a lack of available options outside MBAs, as opposed to the wide availability in the U.S., might be disguising the current overseas trend.
One of the reasons why MBA programs might not make sense in today’s environment is that most MBA programs are designed or built on the rational and scientific management theories of the 20th century. Mind you, I am not saying these theories are without merit.
They served us well in the 20th century business environment where you focused your business efforts on maximizing manufacturing efficiency and productivity. However, something happened when we entered the 21st century, and disruptions became the norm rather than exception. What was valued in the past—control, planning, and stability—got replaced by chaos, agility, and turbulence (see “Everyday Chaos” by David Weinberger). MBA programs aren’t designed to handle such a shift in the business environment. The business landscape has changed—perhaps forever—and change is something we need to be mindful of and attentive to constantly. Being agile is no longer a luxury but a necessity. In the 21st century, where competitive advantage does not lie with maximizing efficiency but with maximizing human potential in organizations, something different needs to take shape in both business education and the corporate environment.
If the above reason is not sufficient to convince you, here are some more reasons:
According to Gallup’s study, “70 percent of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager.” In other words, what managers do makes a huge impact on people’s levels of engagement, and ultimately on the organization’s productivity and performance. The very competencies that make managers much more effective and lead to more engaged employees are not management skills, but leadership skills that are focused on human relationships.
With the advancement of artificial intelligence, human skills will become much more important. The conventional wisdom is that machines will soon replace human beings, and human relationship skills will become obsolete (no need for "touchy feely"). Such thoughts are very shortsighted. First, human beings will not be replaced entirely by machines in the foreseeable future, and furthermore, once the machines take over the repetitive and routine work, human interactions and collaboration will become even more important as humans tackle more complex and non-routine tasks. As far as machines taking over completely, that is a farfetched future, and we are not even sure that is what would happen or be desirable. In the meantime, the ability to leverage or fortify human potential in an organization will be extremely important and provides a competitive advantage over other organizations. A recent book on innovation discusses what differentiates successful innovators from less successful innovators (see “Innovation Capital” by Jeff Dyer and others). The authors make it clear that it is not the innovators’ creativity or ideas, but their ability to exercise their human skills (influence, relationships, etc.) that makes a significant difference.
Traditional MBA programs emphasize analytical skills, and they have been producing outstanding students with these skills. However, as criticism of these MBA programs dating back to late 1980s reflects, the programs have been accomplishing this at the expense of building other skills. For graduates, if you are planning to or if you want to advance in the organization to have a bigger impact or make a difference, it would be more helpful to focus on and develop leadership skills. Many studies, including Gallup studies, have shown that we can typically count on only one out of 10 managers to be effective leaders. My colleagues’ and my studies have shown that only 10 percent to 15 percent of managers are truly outstanding leaders. So, if companies/organizations want to make the biggest impact on their bottom lines, they should be spending all their time and effort in identifying and cultivating leadership in their own organizations.
Why is the leadership credential a better solution?
Is there a better solution? The short answer is yes, and it lies with leadership. Many experts have noted the difference between management and leadership. The main difference boils down to leadership dealing with change whereas management deals with control and predictability. So, as organizations try to focus on developing their human talent and realizing their human potential to address the rapidly changing and disruptive environment, it would be imperative for them to focus on developing effective leadership. Business schools can definitely aid in that process, but simply having a course or two on leadership or human relationships does not constitute effective development in leadership. In addition, creating a leadership program that is an MBA or traditional management master’s degree in disguise is not an effective solution. Recently, master’s programs that focus on innovation and technology have sprung up, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence or data science, but most of these programs are repeating the same mistake and focus too much on analytical skills and cognitive/conceptual knowledge and not enough on human relationship skills.
It is imperative that business schools and corporations embrace this need for the paradigm shift. More and more, the entire health of an organization is tied to the effectiveness of its leadership. Since the competitiveness of organizations is closely tied to human talents within the organization, those that can help their people learn and grow will have distinctive advantage over others.
Nazareth's MS Leadership & Organizational Change program will transform you into a leader, one who others are eager to follow, through a master's program that aligns with your busy life.
