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Whither the MBA? Or the Withering of MBAs?

University of Cincinnati, USA, ann.welsh{at}uc.edu

Gordon E. Dehler

College of Charleston, USA, dehlerg{at}cofc.edu

This article employs a critical realist perspective to contextualize management education, including the MBA, and facilitate debate on the prospects for its reinvention. Two decades of substantive management education critique has not resulted in any fundamental change in models of content and process used to educate managers. We argue this is a matter of ontology and discuss the advantages of critical realist ontology for addressing this issue. A critical realist analysis identifies the generative mechanisms at work that both necessitate and constrain reinvention. We argue that one generative mechanism in particular, a legitimation crisis, could ultimately lead to the transformation of management education. This is explored systemically at the institutional, programmatic and pedagogical levels.

Key Words: Key Words: management education • ontology • critical realism • legitimation crisis • MBA programmes • critical pedagogy • action research

Management Learning, Vol. 38, No. 4, 405-423 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1350507607080572


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