Richard Barker

<article-ideainbrief class="article-ideainbrief">
 <h4 class="ideainbrief-title">The Idea in Brief</h4>
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  <p><strong>The big idea:</strong> Although managers can be formally trained and qualified, and their social status is similar to that of doctors and lawyers, management is not a profession.</p>
  <p><strong>The argument:</strong> We rely on professional bodies to define what their members should know and to certify them as fit for practice. But the abilities and learning required to be a good manager don’t lend themselves to such oversight—and business education is more about acquiring the skill of integration than about mastering a set body of knowledge.</p>
  <p><strong>A better approach:</strong> The key is to recognize that integration is learned rather than taught: It takes place in the minds of MBA students, who link the various elements of the program. Business education is not one-size-fits-all, and, most important, it should be collaborative rather than competitive.</p>
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</article-ideainbrief><p>It is natural to view management as a profession. Managers’ status is similar to that of doctors or lawyers, as is their obligation to contribute to the well-being of society. Managers can also be formally trained and qualified, notably by earning an MBA. If management is a profession, the business school is a professional school.</p>

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<p><span class="reprint">Reprint: R1007C</span></p>
<p>Because managers hold a status in society similar to that of doctors and lawyers, it is natural to think of business as a profession&#8212;and of business schools as professional schools. But, argues Barker, a professor at Cambridge University&#8217;s Judge Business School, that can lead to inappropriate analysis and misguided perceptions.</p>
<p>We turn to professionals for advice, he writes, because they have knowledge that we don&#8217;t. We trust their advice because they&#8217;ve been guaranteed by professional associations that establish the boundaries of the field and reach consensus on what body of learning is required for formal training and certification. These associations make a market for professional services feasible.</p>
<p>Although business schools might be able to reach consensus on what they should teach, the proper question is whether what they teach qualifies students to manage. After all, successful businesses are commonly run by people without MBAs. Managers&#8217; roles are inherently general, variable, and indefinable; their core skill is to integrate across functional areas, groups of people, and circumstances.</p>
<p>Integration is learned in the minds of MBA students, whose experiences and careers are widely diverse, rather than taught in the content of program modules. Thus business education must be highly collaborative, with grading downplayed, and learning must differ according to the stage of a student&#8217;s career. Business schools are not professional schools. They are incubators for business leadership.</p>

The Big Idea: No, Management Is Not a Profession

Reprint: R1007C Because managers hold a status in society similar to that of doctors and lawyers, it is natural to think of business as a profession—and of business schools as professional schools. But, argues Barker, a professor at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, that can lead to inappropriate analysis and misguided perceptions. We turn to professionals for advice, he writes, because they have knowledge that we don’t. We trust their advice because they’ve been guaranteed by professional associations that establish the boundaries of the field and reach consensus on what body of learning is required for formal training and certification. These associations make a market for professional services feasible. Although business schools might be able to reach consensus on what they should teach, the proper question is whether what they teach qualifies students to manage. After all, successful businesses are commonly run by people without MBAs. Managers’ roles are inherently general, variable, and indefinable; their core skill is to integrate across functional areas, groups of people, and circumstances. Integration is learned in the minds of MBA students, whose experiences and careers are widely diverse, rather than taught in the content of program modules. Thus business education must be highly collaborative, with grading downplayed, and learning must differ according to the stage of a student’s career. Business schools are not professional schools. They are incubators for business leadership.

The Big Idea: No, Management Is Not a Profession

Summary.

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