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of the course prises a series of disjointed lectures entitled ‘Socialist uses 
of workers’; ‘Kloinko for a glance’ (the authors’ sole imperative is explained 
– we have wri。。en this because we have the urge to publish something now!); 
‘The Debt Crisis in Africa’ and ‘The New Enclosures – The Apocalypse of 
the Trinity of Deals’!! 
Any student on such a programme will have a rude awakening when 
they actually have to devise and implement strategy for real。 They will 
know as much about modern organizations and their actions as someone 
reading up on how the Chinese discovery of gunpowder impacts on 
intercontinental ballistic missiles。 
The laborious case study method 
Pioneered by Harvard and championed by schools such as Cranfield; 
which hosts the European Case Study Clearing House; Bocconi (Milan); 
Esade (Barcelona) and INSEAD (Paris); the case study teaching method is 
Introduction 9 
de rigueur。 Business schools use the case study as a vehicle for applying 
and testing out the theories their students are studying in class。 The logic 
for this is impeccable。 By studying a business at a particular moment in 
time; students are forced to grapple with exactly the kinds of decisions and 
dilemmas that managers confront every day。 The case method brings into 
the classroom the opportunity to analyse a plex situation; where all the 
relevant facts are not available; and persuade others to your point of view。 
Of course; if you weren’t in the classroom you would be in your own 
organization; evaluating a business opportunity if you plan to start a business; 
or looking outside at other enterprises for new career prospects。 In 
short; you would have no need of a case study。 You would even have to 
hand an infinite supply of people; whose views differed from your own; 
with whom to debate the options。 
Case studies are o。。en dated and inappropriate and they have to be 
known to the lecturer; so they stick to the limited range panies and 
industries they know well or that have been prehensively covered in 
teaching notes provided by the case writer。 Serious as these deficiencies 
may be; the greatest problem is that so much time is spent both in and out 
of class debating issues with people who may know as li。。le as you about 
the business or the problems and opportunities being explored。 The real 
learning to hours invested ratio is poor。 
Much the same argument can be made for business games; Outward 
Bound exercises and the like; which also set out to simulate the ‘real’ world 
for a group of students who temporarily have elected to leave it。 If you 
haven’t le。。 the real world you don’t need a simulated one。 
None of this is to suggest that there is nothing to be learnt from studying 
other businesses; their successes and failures。 Indeed in this book you will 
see many such examples。 Rather it’s that too much time is spent on this 
activity in business schools; the cases themselves are dated and in any 
event you can glean the knowledge more efficiently yourself from books 
and articles。 
The missing lecturers 
The prospectus of business schools will; where they have them; feature 
their star faculty。 You can’t; however; be certain you will see much of them 
while you are there。 In order to keep their stellar positions; such academics 
have to lecture around the globe as visiting professors in other schools。 
They need to a。。end several conferences a year; as that is the primary way 
to keep abreast of new job opportunities。 In order to get to conferences in 
the first place they have to publish papers in learned journals。 
Learned journals are where academics display their intellectual prowess 
to a very limited audience。 The average readership of a double…blind 
10 The Thirty…Day MBA 
referred article; that is; one that has been selected by a respected peer group 
of academics that have not been given the author’s name; is three。 The 
purpose of being published is to have sufficient high…quality citations to 
ensure that your school maintains and improves its research rankings; and 
so its position in the league tables; and to be eligible for promotion。 
Except in so far as it polishes the business school’s brand; this activity 
is of li。。le benefit to its current students。 Only a tiny fraction of 1 per cent 
of the research published in journals results in useful knowledge。 That’s 
not to devalue the activity totally; as knowledge about what works and 
what doesn’t in business is vital; however inefficiently gained。 The problem 
is that in the pursuit of this knowledge the student’s welfare can be neglected。 
For example; it is mon practice for seminars to be run by PhDs 
with li。。le or no experience beyond the walls of the classroom in which 
they are teaching。 In fact; in some schools some subjects are not even 
taught by a ‘warm body’。 Basic accounting; for example; from double…entry 
bookkeeping through to ratio analysis; is o。。en covered using self…learning 
so。。ware。 Nor can you even be certain that where you are taught; your 
teacher will mark and access your work。 That job is o。。en outsourced; much 
as with school external exams – GCSEs and the like。 
In fact; the more successful the business school is at recruiting students 
the less likely you are to be taught and evaluated by the best teachers 
– unless of course you are on an executive development course; when 
you will almost certainly be taught by the best faculty; who may also be 
prospecting for consultancy assignments。 
The overstated knowledge base 
Universities in general and business schools in particular are repositories 
of valuable knowledge。 What were once known as libraries; now o。。en 
referred to as management information resource centres; are at the heart of 
where that knowledge is housed。 The Baker Library at Harvard; the Judge 
Business School Library at Cambridge; the Said Business School Library 
at Oxford and the Goizeuta Business School Library at Atlanta are all fine 
examples of modern business libraries endowed by; and named a。。er; 
distinguished benefactors。 In Atlanta’s case it was Robert C Goizeuta; the 
chairman and chief executive officer of the Coca…Cola pany from 1981 
until his death in 1997; whose vision inspired and supported the school。 
The role of libraries is not just to be a repository of knowledge but to be 
able to disseminate it effectively。 Nothing so dramatically demonstrated 
the shi。。 from repository to disseminator as the new Kings Norton Library 
at Cranfield。 Designed by Norman Foster; it opened in 1992 to an audience 
amazed by two facts。 It looked suspiciously like the aircra。。 hangars 
surrounding it; and it was smaller than the library it replaced。
Introduction 11 
The statement on Cranfield’s library website; which claims ‘access to 
nearly 200 databases and 8500 electronic journal titles; most of which can 
be searched from anywhere in the world’; demonstrates clearly the shi。。 in 
strategic thinking by libraries everywhere。 You don’t need to be on a business 
school campus to access most of the ‘knowledge’ residing there。 In fact; 
as will be seen throughout the chapters in this book; you don’t even need 
to be a paid…up student to find out as much as you require about business。 
Many business schools make their latest research and case studies freely 
available to anyone with the inclination to study。 For example; at Harvard’s 
Working Knowledge (h。。p://hbswk。hbs。edu) you can read thousands of 
articles covering every business discipline; The Free Management Library 
(managementhelp) has links to over 5;000 articles covering 
650 business and management topics; and The British Library Business 
Information Service (h。。p://bl。uk/services/information/business。html) 
holds one of the most prehensive collections of business information in 
the world。 These are just three of hundreds of sources that the home student 
can tap into to match or be。。er the resources in many business schools。 
Once again; nothing said here is intended to limit the value of the knowledge 
contained in libraries or the skill of librarians in cataloguing their 
material。 It’s just that 

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