Synopsis
An invention of twentieth-century America, the MBA has grown from tiny beginnings to become one of the two most popular graduate degrees in the world. When Dartmouth College awarded the first master's degrees in business at the start of the twentieth century, no one could have foreseen the avalanche of such degrees that would follow. Today, about ninety thousand MBA degrees are awarded annually, and the MBA has become almost a necessity for young executives. In the early years, the main struggle was to achieve a legitimate place for MBA programs in the hostile universities, where the idea of teaching a practical and mercenary subject like commerce seemed to educators nothing short of appalling. Once the programs found acceptance, moreover, business education had to face yet another struggle: figuring out what to teach. One great turning point was the realization, around 1930, that business is more a human science than a mechanical science. The big problem businesses face, people finally came to realize, was not determining the proper ratio of inventory to accounts receivable, but rather getting employees to throw themselves willingly and enthusiastically into their work. The rise of human relations and employee motivation studies has been one of the most important developments in MBA history ever since. Other major developments include the rise of interest among women, a growing awareness of globalism, the business schools' recognition of social responsibility, and the recent strong movement toward entrepreneurship studies.