I was driving to work this morning, in the wee hours of the AM and listening to talk radio as I often do when the most interesting MBA commercial came on the air. It was from the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Cox Business School basically stating who you know is just as important as what you know if not more so. Only they said it much more eloquently in a deep, mature, nondescript American accented upper crust voice. Very much in the style of those Lexus, Mercedes and BMW commercials you frequently hear. Only this commercial touted clearly that your instructors “know people” and that your classmates “know people” who you can use to network through to get that big job. Then at the end of the ad they mention something about who you know being just as important as what you know. Of course this was an ad for an “executive” MBA program. Although this particular executive MBA looks pretty well rounded, some schools will use this terminology to label their MBA-Lite for those who wish to have the credential but do not want to bother with all of the work (this is not the case for SMU, at least on the surface but for many others).
My thoughts on the issue may be somewhat controversial to some, but hear me out. My problems are thus:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.) <!--[endif]-->Who you know can help you get a job certainly, but often keeping that job may be a different story. Oh yes we all hear about CEO swapping and the golden parachutes provided to many top executives who skillfully run multibillion dollar empires into the ground, like American Airlines. But what about all of the upper management directly under that CEO? Do they get the proverbial parachute as well? Probably not. The thing is that society has changed. Corporate responsibility is becoming increasingly important and a CEO who knows what the heck he or she is doing is no longer an option but a necessity. Companies are outsourcing at a blinding rate, constantly looking to become more competitive, cut costs, raise margins, increase market share, etc. This means more often than not reducing the non-performers in staff. So when that happens, is it who you know or what you know? Are you a results oriented go getter or an insufferable, butt kisser?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.) <!--[endif]-->Networking can be beneficial but for a school to advertise it smacks of being misleading. Instead of sitting next to the CEO of Southwestern Airlines you may find a classroom full of line level to mid level managers all looking for that promised CEO to walk into the room to make buddies with. Honestly the very idea is not only misleading but totally distorts the purpose of an education with what would normally be associated with being a fringe benefit. How utterly outrageous.
Shame on SMU. Shouldn’t they be building the Bush Jr. Library or something? But then who am I? Just some nut going online to a small town university most people haven’t heard of criticizing the powers that be. You gotta’ love the internet.