Basic Business Cents
Debate rages in academic circles on whether management is a
profession similar to medicine, education,and law. Managers like to think of
themselves as professional but there are many different characteristics.
Management as a profession does not have a certification examination or
barriers to entry like law and medical. It has no code of conduct; it has no
yes-or-no criteria.
Business management is not expertise in a narrow field but ability
to integrate excellence in a number of fields such as finance, marketing,
engineering, production, quality, inventory control, and personnel. This raises
the interesting question, “How does one prepare to become a professional
business manager?”
Three areas should be integrated into a manager’s preparation,
formal education, learning from others, and experience.
Although education is provided in individual fields as
listed above, the most popular formal program is the Master of Business
Administration (MBA) degree. Most MBA students have prior work experience. Each
is building on a different base, learn different things, and go on to different
careers. The universities recognize and build upon their experience and
knowledge and use collaborative learning so the students can learn from each
other. Harvard is noted for their case studies of real world situations and has
been the leader in this group analyses and development of approach for
solutions.
The London School of Business sent teams of students to
analyze my company for several years.
We welcomed their scrutiny because we learned much from them. They
expressed their views strongly and caused some discomfort to some of our people
with their critique, but it was a very beneficial process and only made us
better. Hopefully, they also gained some knowledge.
Another preparation step is to learn from others. This learning
can be done informally by helping friends and acquaintances analyze their
business problems and offering solutions or in a formal setting like SCORE®.
This is a national organization that provides mentorship to small businesses at
no charge. Consultants always learn from their clients so volunteering to help
has dividends.
Collaborative sharing of experiences can also be informal or
in a formal setting like the CEO Roundtable. This organization charges a modest
fee and has a paid moderator for groups of about twelve heads of
non-competitive organizations. They have monthly meetings and discuss a problem
at one of the organizations, which the moderator selects from interim one-on-one
meetings with each CEO. They focus on one problem each month but all gain
because problems are often common from organization to organization.
Experience is the third step in preparation is experience.
Always take time to analyze what you learned dealing with a problem. Develop
your own theory on the best solution and compare it to what actually worked. Do
not report a problem without a proposed solution so that you appear to be part
of the solution and not a part of the problem. Volunteer for assignments so
that you can learn. Identify the next desired position and prepare for it.
The profession of business management is indeed different
than that of law, education, and medicine. Certification of qualification for
business management would be problematic and arbitrary. It would be
counter-productive and dysfunctional because it would inhibit cooperative
learning. Management preparation must be a collaborative effort in each of
three steps: formal education, learning from others, and experience.
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