Attn: San Grewal
Re: Letter to the Editor; March 15th, 2005 - MBA: The devil’s degree?
As the co-founders of MBAs Without Borders, we read with interest your article ‘MBA - The devil’s degree?’ dated March 15th, 2005.
MBAs Without Borders is a not-for-profit organization that brings MBAs for 4 months into developing countries to work with local businesses or NGOs/Multinationals working in developing countries.
To be honest, it’s sad. It’s sad that business professors who are supposed to be educating the future business leaders of tomorrow are the same people questioning the motives of the MBAs they teach.
We have a lot of respect for professors like Mintzberg and the late Ghoshal that have attempted to present the darker side of the once prestigious MBA degree. My question is… as a business professor, if the MBAs you are teaching only know about Finance and Accounting, than how valuable of a professor have you been to your students and your school’s business program?
MBAs Without Borders receives anti-MBA mail almost weekly reminding us that MBAs are arrogant, self-centered and profit-driven. Others make sure to let us know that the mission of MBAs Without Borders is flawed and will fail because of the disinterest of MBAs to help others.
Since the beginning, Michael and I have been pleasantly surprised to find the opposite.
We are tired of the misperception that MBAs are greedy and money-hungry. It’s true… MBAs are ambitious and that is something to be celebrated as MBAs Without Borders sends over 50 MBAs to East Africa, Eastern Europe, South-East Asia and Latin America over the next few years.
We have received emails from hundreds of MBAs across North America and Europe interested in participating in our program. Some are current MBAs, others have just graduated and others got their MBA a few years back and are ready to help us with our work.
I have just returned from East Africa and we are very excited about the local businesses and NGOs we have agreed to work with in Tanzania.
We also made great progress for 2006 as we hope to begin aiding projects in the post-genocide economy of Rwanda. All of this effort, both financially and through volunteering is done by the same ambitious MBAs that are readily bashed in the media.
As MBAs Without Borders moves forward with our donors to help rebuild a school in one of the Tsunami-hit countries, we have had dozens of MBAs volunteering their expertise, time and resources to help us identify potential projects.
The people of developing nations are freed first by political stability and second by economic potential. In developed nations the leaders of tomorrow are developed through formal education AND life experience. While a few have shown abuse of the system, it should not be forgotten that the majority of people are helping empower others while growing themselves…MBAs included.
Regards,
Tal Dehtiar, BA, MBA
Michael Brown, B Eng. & Mgt, MBA
Co-Founders
MBAs Without Borders
