Cambridge, MA—Business schools across the country have been scrambling to add courses to their curricula that will provide their MBA candidates the skills they need to survive in the current economic landscape. Courses like Modeling for Quantitative Analysis and Building Strong Global Brands have been replaced with modules more pertinent to businessmen navigating today’s climate, such as: Monetizing Your Oxen and Bartering Theory—Accelerated. Also, Special Topics In Entrepreneurship: Alchemy. Most popular, however, has been a course at Harvard Business School entitled Hunting and Gathering. Taught in the classic HBS case-study format, the class focuses on teaching students how they can profit from even the most primal ventures. “This week’s case was great,” said one student. “It was about a caveman who killed a boar to feed himself and his family. I read it, and I was like: this is exactly the kind of shit I need to know right now.”
I don’t believe things are that bleak for MBAs. Graduates from noname schools maybe, but not top 20 schools.