Quite the opposite for me. I have dealt with too many C level guys who
make bad decisions ... to not making decisions.

Maybe I need to get out of the NY/NJ area. Too many weenies.

On 4/11/2012 1:33 PM, Mike Marlow wrote:
Bill wrote:
Swingman wrote:
On 4/10/2012 5:57 PM, Bill wrote:

As it was explained to me, by someone much older than me, the VIPs
in the big corporations don't have much incentive to
"rock-the-boat" (take chances). I'm thinking of Ford and GM
especially. But the likes of Microsoft (and Cisco?) too. My point
is that it's not just the MBA "save a dime" mentality, but the
corporate (compensation) structure--which is to blame. It's
something like, "I'll just take my bonuses, retire nicely, and get
outta here (without rocking the boat)".

That's only part of it, but not the worst part.

That worst part is the mentality that the recipient of an MBA is
somehow suddenly endowed with the knowledge to the point of needing
to know nothing about a product to run the company making the
product; the mentality that "acquisition" is the all encompassing
solution to innovation; the part that fires the experience
responsible for the very innovation and quality that made the
company a worthwhile acquisition in the first to place pursue
mediocrity in worshiping the bottom line; the mentality that
insulates management from consumers; the idea that appearance, and
not substance, is the only quality necessary ...


Nicely stated.

I should have responded to Karl, but I got distracted by other things. My
only comment is that I have met and worked with many - many MBA's who do not
fit this cookie cutter mold of what's wrong with MBA's. I do agree with
Karl that this can indeed be a problem and that in fact - it has pretty much
proven itself to be an existent problem - but I disagree with the
generalization of MBA's. I have dealt with far too many C-Level executives
who were MBA's, and who exhibited too many contrary atributes to accept this
as a broad brush statement. The problem in a forum like this is that too
many people jump on bandwagons to ostrasize things that they really have
little experience with. This thread has a certain nature of "let's bash the
MBA". Maybe that comes from those who resent the knowledge of those who
have invested in that degree, while they themselves, did not.