Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development by Henry Mintzberg

Product Description

Thirty years ago, Mintzberg's bestseller "The Nature of Managerial Work sought to dispel the myths of the disconnected, overly analytical manager by observing a week in the lives of five chief executives. In a sense, "Managers Not MBAs is the sequel, delving as it does into current practice and the need for developing much better managers. The book examines what is wrong with both management education and management itself, and how both could be changed. Mintzberg explores the concept of management as a practice blending craft (experience) with art (insight) and some science (analysis). Conventional education in this realm, he says, encourages a "calculating" approach by overemphasizing the science, and a "heroic" approach by overstressing the art. Mintzberg argues instead for training balanced, dedicated managers who practice an "engaging" style, believing that their purpose is to leave behind stronger organizations, not just higher share prices.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #78930 in Books
Published on: 2005-08-01
Format: Illustrated
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
464 pages
Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Two decades ago, Mintzberg, a professor at McGill University who was then teaching MBAs at MIT, discovered a profound "disconnect between the practice of management... and what went on in classrooms." Since that time, he has dedicated himself to the problems of management and management education, both of which he believes are "deeply troubled," and the latter of which has become the wrong that he, with help from colleagues around the world, must right. Using words like "arrogance," "mindless" and "exploitation," Mintzberg outlines just what is wrong with MBAs (the people and the degrees) and why the degree he's developed is rooted in the real world and, as such, is far more relevant and valuable to students, companies and the business world at large. Strong economies are based on good management, not on good business schools, Mintzberg believes, and because the top companies employ the top MBAs and the top MBAs (not to mention the mediocre and bottom-level degree-holders) are, or so he says, the products of an out-of-touch and unrealistic graduate program, then the effects of this miseducation can be felt far beyond the classroom walls. Mintzberg's argument is clearly researched and set forth in a progressively logical and even convincing way. Managers and manager wannabes will be intrigued and can certainly learn a thing or two as long as they, as Mintzberg himself urges in his teachings, consider the source of the education.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
"Conventional MBA programs train the wrong people in the wrong ways with the wrong consequences," states this academic and author, who here examines and proposes drastic change in our traditional form of management education. He believes MBA programs are schools of business that pretend to develop managers, and he addresses such issues as what can be done to develop managers in a serious educational process, offering a critique of MBA programs and an analysis of the practice of management itself. Mintzberg's recommendations include program changes, as well as his observations on faculty tenure, prima donnas, and entrenched thinking. He believes MBA programs have failed to develop better managers who should be improving their organizations and thereby creating a better society. This book offers an important perspective for the global MBA community, which serves its students, business, and society in general. Although some may disagree with the author's views, at the very least his insight should^B foster discussion and lead to action, as appropriate. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Henry Mintzberg is Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University in Montreal Canada. His research has dealt with issues of general management and organizations, focusing on the nature of managerial work, forms of organizing, and the strategy formation process.

Mintzberg received his doctorate and Master of Science degrees from the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management and his mechanical engineering degree from McGill, working in between in operational research for the Canadian National Railways. He has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada and of l'Ordre Nationale du Quebec and holds honorary degrees from thirteen universities. He also served as President of the Strategic Management Society from 1988-91, and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (the first from a management faculty), the Academy of Management, and the International Academy of Management. He was named Distinguished Scholar for the year 2000 by the Academy of Management.

He is the author of twelve books, including The Nature of Managerial Work (1973), The Structuring of Organizations (1979), Mintzberg on Management (1989), The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning (1994), The Canadian Condition (1995), and Strategy Safari (1998). Why I Hate Flying, his latest book, reflects a growing interest in more general writing, also including short stories and newspaper commentaries. His management articles number over one hundred, including two Harvard Business Review McKinsey prizewinner, "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact" (first place in l975) and "Crafting Strategy" (second place in l987).
Customer Reviews

Relavant thought on the current MBA situation.
Mintzberg is striking a chord with this book. Industry is in desperate need of strong and ethical leadership, not just mangers with strong analytical skills. It may be time for the current business school philosophy to modify its method to produce leaders rather than just inexperienced managers.

The state of the current MBA
I read Professor Mintzberg's book for one main reason: to decide whether or not to do an MBA.

Before reading this book and thus the enlightenment, I used to think very highly of the qualification, in an overrated sort of manner. I reckoned that if I'm an MBA graduate, I would know-it-all and it'll make me a darn good manager. And this was precisely what Professor Mintzberg was criticizing on. And it's not entirely the fault of the graduates - the business schools play an important role in instilling this false belief. Graduates should be known for their humility, not arrogance. And I almost see myself going down that arrogance path. Almost.

The book shed lots of light on how managers ought to be, and what an MBA is and is not. It talks about the consequence of selecting the wrong people for the course, or the right people but were then taught wrongly. It talks about its consequences on the practice of management and on society. All these found in "Part 1: Not MBAs".

I read Part I in one sitting. It's utterly engaging and I can hardly put the book down. While Part I criticizes the qualification, "Part II: Developing Managers" puts on a constructive tone on management development. I must say that MBA NOT MANAGERS confirmed my decision that MBA is something I wanted to pursue to have a good grasp of the various important business functions, and to balance this knowledge with experience gained over time.

The pitfalls of management education
Henry Mintzberg's MANAGERS NOT MBAS: A HARD LOOK AT THE SOFT PRACTICE OF MANAGING AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT comes from a professor of management studies at McGill University in Canada and takes a broad look at how managers are educated and how they practice management principles, applying them to workforce realities. From management education's possible alternatives to making management a more engaging science, MANAGERS NOT MBAs surveys the pitfalls of management education processes and hwo to overcome it.