Second Book: The Management Myth by Matthew Stewart

The member of parliament for the local riding is Helena Guergis; amidst the trials she has had in the press recently, a notable accomplishment aroused my attention. She had received an MBA from the University of Alberta. Ms Guergis' business experience amounts to running a bed and bath boutique in her father's mall; she does not have a B.A., her academic qualifications stopped with a college diploma in real estate which she never used, and a work history with the Conservative Party and its government while in power. For all intents and purposes, one could argue Ms Guergis was gifted with the MBA because to suggest she qualified for it would diminish the expectations of everyone else who struggles for one. Matthew Stewart argues, in his well-written book "The Management Myth," that such graduate programs are very expensive networking opportunities; the example of Ms Guergis would seem to prove him right.

Matthew Stewart writes well and cogently; his academic background is in philosophy and his work experience is primarily in financial assessment? entrepreneurial expectations? telling people how to make their businesses function better? Consulting. Stewart makes the important point that there is no science to the business of making money and the best way for a business to succeed is to work hard and grasp every opportunity to make it succeed. There is no simple way for this to happen and there is no scientifically proven route that will guarantee success.

Stewart traces the history of MBA programs, and other Management Graduate programs, and connects them to the cult of efficiency and the misleading notion that finance is equal to economics; the former is not a science and the other requires a very strong background in math. Stewart tells a great story about Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Bethlehem steel company; Taylor premised a whole management system upon a base of falsehoods. And, business owners, rather than recognize Taylor's story for what it was, supported his endeavour to make science an important aspect of business acumen. Attempts to define human nature in scientific terms cannot be done but for the past century, top business schools have based much of their Management graduate programs on the idea that it could. Stewart argues that such programs thus evolved into networking opportunities for an elite because they obviously had no connection to the realities of the business world.

Stewart's writing is at times academic but always thoughtful; some digressions into his personal experiences with business management are distracting. On the whole, however, the book is interesting and well-worth the read. It is something that should be read by those interested in business and curious about the pursuit of an MBA. If one is interested in running a business and making it succeed, graduate programs in business may not be the best route; working in said business would probably be better: one learns about the company, the customers, and the best way for needs to be met. If a person is more ambiguous about the nature and expectation of business, an MBA might be worthwhile; it, at least, gives credential to experience although it is not the equivalent of business experience.