A very interesting debate over at the Economist online. Very much worth the read for those who are wondering about what is going on in the halls of graduate business education.

Our professors actually agree on some fundamental things. Both, for example, accept the importance of on-the-job experience when it comes to management. But Mr Mintzberg’s position is that companies see an MBA as a substitute for experience. As a result they fast track business-school graduates before they have learned the lessons of real-world management, which is to the detriment of both firms and the economy. Mr Danos, however, says that while the tools learned on an MBA programme give employees the advantage over peers who lack that knowledge, they still pay their dues in the workplace before reaching the top.

An area on which they disagree is Mr Danos’s fundamental belief in the market. He believes that firms will tend to act in a rational way. The fact that companies voraciously hire MBAs, therefore, is proof of their worth. Mr Mintzberg has a less rosy view of the market, pointing to failures such as subprime mortgages, chief executive compensation and the environment.

via Economist Debates: Business education: Statements.