Dr. Boyce Money: Do Entrepreneurs Need an MBA? Probably Not!

I am going to say some things that will take money out of the pockets of people like myself. But darn it, it has to come out. I have taught MBA and undergraduate business students for the last 16 years, at many major universities. I believe strongly in the value of black entrepreneurship and I believe in the power of compassionate capitalism. The problem, however, is that there are times when I wonder about the power of an MBA.

Fenorris Pearson, a successful black entrepreneur, has shared the same concerns, and I can't say I disagree with him completely. Here's the deal. An MBA can be a powerful tool to learn how to manipulate your way through the complexities of corporate America. Most programs teach you how to analyze charts, create spreadsheets and do all the little things that your boss is going to ask you to do. The problem, however, is that the vast majority of professors teaching MBA courses at major institutions have never actually done the work they are teaching you to do. An MBA student at an Ivy League institution recently told me that when he asked his professors how to actually implement the strategies that they were teaching on the chalk board, the responses from professors were always disappointing.


- By Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the forthcoming book, "Black American Money."


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