Oct
2
A Pragmatic or Callous Education?
Posted by: Paul Dhaliwal | October 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment
In my first blog, I analyzed an ethical diplomatic and economic dilemma; the Palestinian bid for U.N entry being blocked by Israel. This gave rise to a query in my mind as to why ethics and morality are so highly upheld in western society today. Indeed Machiavellianism in the context of business transactions is frowned upon, and business schools seem to trumpet the need to be socially responsible. However a school in Russia is doing exactly the opposite!
Enter the Moscow School of Management, branded by newspapers as a school of the darks arts, due to its unorthodox and unethical approach to MBA training.
Trainees are frequently sent into problematic regions to complete assignments that include having to deal with bribery and lack of property laws. When questioned of the wisdom of imparting such training, the dean of the university, Professor Vanhonacker, astutely replied “You will not learn anything about China or Russia looking out of the window of a five-star hotel”
Moscow School of Business- Courtesy of Evolvo
With such a realistic training process, it is not surprising that almost half of the schools’ alumni in the past 3 years have set up their own companies. It is clear to me that this school and its’ faculty are providing their students with the tools they need to achieve financial-if not moral sucess.