Management Education Reform: Opportunities for Metropolitan Business Schools

Abstract

American management education, which accounts for a fourth of U.S. bachelor's and master's degrees awarded, is in the midst of a sweeping reconsideration of its governing premises. This article examines the criticisms of business schools and argues that the thirty-year dominance of the academic model over the professional model offers a basic explanation for these shortcomings. It further discusses the role of the business schools' accrediting agency, AACSB, in fostering needed change, identifies special opportunities for metropolitan business schools created by this reform environment, and proposes an action agenda for exploiting these opportunities.