The sun sets on the West's style of business education
THE past 10 years have witnessed an unprecedented transfer of Western management theories and business education programs into China.
In 1980, China did not have any MBA programs.s Today, China boasts well over 200, including one (China Europe International Business School) that has recently been ranked among the top 25 business schools in the world by the Financial Times of London.
What is the impact of this infusion of Western MBA programs on the development of China's business education?
It is important firstly to understand that many regard the case method and Harvard Business School cases as the "bible" for management education.
It is also important to note that we have found significant biases embedded in Harvard Business School cases. We found the 36 best-selling cases studied to be overwhelmingly rationalistic, executive-centric, instrumentalist and objectivist.
In my award-winning paper, "Erroneous Learning from the West: An Empirical Study of Chinese Cases Published in 1992 and 1999," my co-author and I attempted to gauge the impact of this transfer of Western theories on the Chinese business education system.
We studied Chinese MBA teaching cases published before and after the large-scale infusion of Western management education in the mid-1990s.
Our findings suggest that a rather clear shift has occurred in China's management education system. While the 1999 cases are generally more developed, they appear to have acquired many of the same deficiencies of their Western counterparts.
The 1999 cases were found to be rationalistic, strategy-obsessed, hero-centered, simplistic, individualistic, and presumed neutral.
Results show that, although primitive in many ways, the 1992 case sample is more holistic in its approach.
These findings indicate that the cases published in 1999 have lost some of the valuable traits of traditional Chinese culture.
This imbalance in orientation is worrisome.
As more and more Chinese cases are being adopted for China's MBA programs, this adoption of deficiencies from Western MBA programs should be a cause for concern for educators.
China needs to leverage the learning benefits of being a latecomer to the business education industry.
What we need to ask ourselves is this: Is wholesale adoption of Western management approaches in the best interest of Chinese business schools? The findings of this paper present an opportunity for improvement. Only by taking this opportunity will China and its top-ranked business schools be able to prepare highly competent, internationally oriented managers who are capable of adapting to the driving forces of business globalization.
It is time to take a more critical look at our learning from the West.
(The author is professor of management and director of the Executive MBA Program at China Europe International Business School.)
In 1980, China did not have any MBA programs.s Today, China boasts well over 200, including one (China Europe International Business School) that has recently been ranked among the top 25 business schools in the world by the Financial Times of London.
What is the impact of this infusion of Western MBA programs on the development of China's business education?
It is important firstly to understand that many regard the case method and Harvard Business School cases as the "bible" for management education.
It is also important to note that we have found significant biases embedded in Harvard Business School cases. We found the 36 best-selling cases studied to be overwhelmingly rationalistic, executive-centric, instrumentalist and objectivist.
In my award-winning paper, "Erroneous Learning from the West: An Empirical Study of Chinese Cases Published in 1992 and 1999," my co-author and I attempted to gauge the impact of this transfer of Western theories on the Chinese business education system.
We studied Chinese MBA teaching cases published before and after the large-scale infusion of Western management education in the mid-1990s.
Our findings suggest that a rather clear shift has occurred in China's management education system. While the 1999 cases are generally more developed, they appear to have acquired many of the same deficiencies of their Western counterparts.
The 1999 cases were found to be rationalistic, strategy-obsessed, hero-centered, simplistic, individualistic, and presumed neutral.
Results show that, although primitive in many ways, the 1992 case sample is more holistic in its approach.
These findings indicate that the cases published in 1999 have lost some of the valuable traits of traditional Chinese culture.
This imbalance in orientation is worrisome.
As more and more Chinese cases are being adopted for China's MBA programs, this adoption of deficiencies from Western MBA programs should be a cause for concern for educators.
China needs to leverage the learning benefits of being a latecomer to the business education industry.
What we need to ask ourselves is this: Is wholesale adoption of Western management approaches in the best interest of Chinese business schools? The findings of this paper present an opportunity for improvement. Only by taking this opportunity will China and its top-ranked business schools be able to prepare highly competent, internationally oriented managers who are capable of adapting to the driving forces of business globalization.
It is time to take a more critical look at our learning from the West.
(The author is professor of management and director of the Executive MBA Program at China Europe International Business School.)
