Hmm- Ethics was a core class in my MBA program. So I am not sure what this guy is talking about. National service huh., Well I personally spent six year in the US Marine Corps before ever stepping foot into to college. I also have been doing community service for more than ten years since I have left the Marines. Even the most simpleton knows that service to ones community is a part of most reputable firms and business programs. What service did this guy ever do?

Mr. Stewart, You're in the right track of mind but your details need some refinements. I do agree with you that an MBA program, being what it is, should, by default, include ethics as part of its curriculum. One commentator claimed that in his/her particular program, they did "case studies" on ethics and by this fact, it ought to refute your claim that MBA programs do not appear to teach ethics. I would have to say that this is a weak claim. It is a weak claim simply based on the fact that the commentator used a personal example. He used his own MBA program in whatever state/city it was taught in. This claim doesn't tell us whether or not other MBA programs also teach ethics in the form of "case studies." If he made the claim that most MBA programs do teach ethics in the form of "case studies" and perhaps borrowed a statistic from a reliable source such as any of the government websites, then maybe his claim would be stronger but it would depend on how he presents it. Otherwise, saying, "Well, my school taught ethics in our MBA program, that means you're wrong!" isn't a very strong claim. If anything, it's more of a childish claim--that is, making any statement that would remotely refute your claim--even if it is highly unlikely or far-fetched. Stepping back a bit, in your fourth paragraph, you said that "the relevance of the technical training allegedly offered was always overblown." I find this a peculiar statement namely because you didn't provide any specific examples of where MBA graduates' knowledge and training was not relevant in their application in whatever industry they work in. However, I think I have a clue as to what you're alluding to. I think you might have been alluding to the notion that in a typical MBA program, the instructors teach them all these "fanciful" systems and methods that, in a perfect world, would theoretically work but in practice, it is, in fact, almost useless knowledge or have very little value in their application. If this is what you had in mind but couldn't find the words to put them in, I can sort of understand why you might feel that the MBA program seem overblown. To this point, however, I would have to say that the "technical training" (if any) that the MBA student receives IS, in fact, relevant for whatever position that he or she intends to apply his or her business knowledge. The issue, I think, isn't whether the training is relevant but whether the training is effective, that is, whether the training produces results. More specifically, whether the training provides the student with the essential skills and knowledge to succeed in the position in which he or she plans to work in. I think that most MBA programs accomplish this. Now, just because the MBA student succeeds in his or her position, let's say, a banking position, it doesn't necessarily mean that this person practices sound business ethics or that the person is necessarily an expert in business. Typically, one would think that if you are an MBA graduate, you ought to know what is sound business ethics and the correct application of its principles as well as knowing or having a specialized, in-depth knowledge of business management and how to apply their principles correctly but unfortunately, this is not true. Or at least, it's not true for some companies. And from here, Mr. Stewart, you can use the examples you've provided to illustrate this point. Some of the commentators mentioned that just because an MBA graduate person behaves unethically in a business doesn't mean we should abolish the program from which he or she received his or her education. They do make a legitimate point that the responsibility ought to fall on the individual but the fact of the matter is that the program did play a direct role in the education of the individual. Given this, the program must also take part of the blame.

Sir,
I find your article poorly researched and do not believe you have met your thesis. Yes, I am an MBA candidate. If I were to turn this paper in as an assignment, I would fail for lacking credible resources. I challenge you to substantiate your claim by evaluating the curriculum of several MBA programs. I predict you will find that ethics is a the core of many credible programs, and learn that MBA's learn through case studies. The purpose of the case studies is to learn the consequences of one's decisions, and the impact on stakeholders.
I question your ethics and standards considering you published such outrageous claims without providing substantive data. Were I to judge all journalism schools based on this article, I would draw a very harsh conclusion of j-schools. You cited that 140,000 MBA's are earned a year. How many individuals have been proven guilty of gross ethical violations?

looks like we are all going to need to become writers and critics. Nice marketing for your book. Where did you learn that?

I don't see the logic in the author's argument. His same logic could be applied to just about any failing industry. Should we also slam the engineering degree because our auto domestic auto companies can't seem to make cars that compete with the Germans and Japanese? What brought down the banks was greed, plain and simple. If you want to place blame somewhere, blame it on the lack of regulatory oversight by governments around the world (i.e. the people).