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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
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MBA Programs Face Their Role in Financial Crisis

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(Newser) – Executives have taken a lot of blame for the financial crisis, whether for focusing on short-term gains in stock price or placing too much faith in ultra-complex financial instruments, writes Bradford Plumer for the New Republic. But what about the business schools that taught them to manage that way in the first place? With Wall Street in ruins, MBA programs are re-examining priorities.

“In a way, finance professors caused this problem—I’m not bragging about this,” says Charles Trzcinka, finance chair at Indiana University’s B-school, who points out that professors taught budding execs about mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps without a full understanding of how the instruments could fail.

Business schools may have played a role in the financial crisis through what they taught their students.
Business schools may have played a role in the financial crisis through what they taught their students.
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There were so many people who just wanted to learn enough to get a job in this field. This market was full of people who were really just salesmen.
- Charles Trzcinka,
Indiana business-school professor

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2 comments
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woody66
Mar 17, 09 8:48 PM CDT
Defining the guilty in every far flung corner seems to be the national sport these days. Universities are for the most part in the business of educating people in subject matter and in the tools of rational analysis, not the business of affirming or criticizing credit default swaps. A hammer is a good tool but also a potential murder weapon. It's clear that some or perhaps many Universities are not all that good at what they do, but just because a school helps students learn about communism for example, doesn't mean it's fomenting communism. The student should and must make his or her own decisions on the value and merit of the ideas and tools. Educated minds and ethical decision making are a strong pillar of our society and economy. It's the ethical that's been missing on Wall St. That's what needs to be fixed. Maybe schools but much more so business should focus more effort here. Reply
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radnip
Mar 19, 09 4:21 AM CDT
I'm still waiting for a biz school apology... Reply
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