Assignment

Many leadership/management training programs (e.g. MBA degrees) are focused upon transferring quantitative/ numerical/technical skills which produce graduates with a short-run perspective who profess to have the `correct' answers', when in fact, real-world situations often do not have clear-cut solutions and are not neatly defined. Furthermore, this sort of training focuses upon individual `analysis', rather than accumulated group wisdom from experience, and many MBA graduates are woefully deficient in interpersonal skill effectiveness, as well as knowledge of power, politics and the realities of organizational life.

When evaluating the effectiveness and suitability of leadership/managerial training, do you think criteria should be broadened to incorporate societal costs/impacts that run beyond the focus of individual `profit maximization'?

As you know, the recent financial recession was caused in significant part from greedy, self-centered behaviours on the part of some private sector managers who were not held accountable to societal norms of acceptable collective behaviour (e.g. `The Wolf of Wall Street'). As a result, many individuals and families experienced dire consequences and financial ruin resulting from this short-run, selfish behaviour. A relatively small group of private sector financiers, many holding MBA degrees, profited handsomely at the expense of others during the recent financial crisis.

So to conclude, when we evaluate training `effectiveness', and `transfer' to work environments, what criteria should be utilized when we are trying to ascertain whether or not the training has been `successful'? Using an integrative perspective of theoretical concepts from the entire course, take a position on this issue, and provide a rationale for your perspective.