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????盡管如此，對MBA學位最基本的看法并沒有發生改變，而且，隨著人們在正規學校之外學習技能的機會越來越多，人們對MBA的看法會變得越來越糟糕。《在家就能讀MBA》（The Personal MBA）一書的作者喬希?考夫曼認為：“如果想在商界中獲得良好的發展，確實需要掌握許多寶貴的技能。但并不一定非要坐到教室里去學習這些技能。”考夫曼在書中解釋了商學院教授的主要概念。考夫曼在為自己的書做調查時曾采訪過許多正在學習和曾經學習過MBA課程的人士，他們許多人都表示：“（去學校讀MBA）會獲得一張寫著自己名字的文憑，有些人對此的確很看重。”

????名校MBA畢業生的背景或許對人際交往有著非常好的作用。但人際交往還可以有其他的方式。

????MBA課程是否涵蓋了當今社會所需要的商業技能？對此人們至今依然爭論不休。德魯克認為：“美國經濟需要接受過良好培訓的企業家。我們的經濟越來越變成大企業經濟，便越需要企業家思維。美國經濟需要新的公司不斷出現，才能防止僵化。美國經濟需要那些對運營小公司更感興趣的人才，而不是想去大公司擔任高管的人；因為，未來的大公司都是從今天的小公司逐步發展起來的。”

????即使大公司也需要有人敢于承擔風險，以避免公司陷入“僵化”。許多商學院學生對運營自己的公司很感興趣。埃利斯-桑斯特表示，她接觸過的許多學生都對創業很感興趣。“經營或控制自己的命運，創造屬于自己的公司，對他們非常有吸引力。”

????然而，即便MBA課程會教授創業學，它們的結構也可能與它們的做法相沖突。頂尖商學院的學費與生活費高達六位數。如果學生申請了貸款，“它就會成為一個巨大的障礙，使他們很難放棄現在的工作，去做一些不同的事情，”考夫曼說。

????當然，攻讀MBA仍然有充足的理由。例如，全球大型咨詢公司會從頂級商學院大量招聘人才。而且，擁有MBA學位在許多公司仍將是一種優勢。正如考夫曼所說：“如果你已經在為一家公司工作，他們愿意出錢，而且沒有MBA學位在公司就很難獲得提拔的話，那就讓公司掏錢送你去讀MBA學位吧。”

????但隨著成本提高，讓優秀人才公費學習兩年的做法也會受到公司的質疑。公司有可能會重新評估，為員工發展進行投資會給公司帶來什么好處。埃利斯-桑斯特表示，許多投資銀行不會再對員工說“如果兩三年后你還沒拿到MBA學位，那你在公司就不會有前途”。

????她表示：“雇主在如何調動員工積極性方面變得更加聰明。在員工培訓與領導力培養方面，他們也變得更加圓滑，比如聘請學院的講師到公司來授課。”

????結果如何呢？雖然員工“無法獲得身處商學院的體驗”——即社交方面的收獲——“但他們確實能獲得學術方面的培訓。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

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????But the fundamental perception is still there and may worsen as opportunities open up for people to learn skills outside of formal university settings. "If you want to do well in business, there are things that are super-valuable to know," says Josh Kaufman, author of The Personal MBA, a book that explains the major concepts taught in business schools. "But you don't have to sit in a classroom learning them." When Kaufman was doing research for his book, he talked to numerous people who were attending and had attended MBA programs, and many of them said, "'You're going to get a particular name on your diploma that means something to some people.'"

????An elite MBA can be great for networking. But there are other ways to network, too.

????People also still debate whether MBA programs cover the business skills society needs. Drucker noted that "the American economy needs above all the well-trained entrepreneur. The more our economy becomes a big-business economy, the more does it need the entrepreneurial mind. It needs a steady supply of new businesses to prevent freezing. It needs people who prefer running a small business to an executive job in a big company; for tomorrow's big business can only come out of today's small businesses."

????Even big businesses needed people inclined toward taking risks in order to prevent large corporations from turning "arteriosclerotic." And many business students are interested in running their own companies. Ellis-Sangster says that many of the students she speaks with are interested in starting a business of their own. "It's very attractive to them to build and be in control of their own destiny and create something that's their own."

????But even if MBA programs do teach entrepreneurship, their structure may work against its practice. Tuition and living expenses run well into the six figures at top programs. If students take out loans, "that's a big barrier to stopping doing what you're doing and starting doing something different," says Kaufman.

????To be sure, there are still good reasons to get an MBA. The major consulting firms of the world, for instance, hire disproportionately from the top business schools. And a degree remains a way to get a leg up at many companies. As Kaufman says, "If you're already working for a company, and they're willing to pay for it, and there are going to be barriers to promotion in the company if you don't have it, then let the company pay for the signal."

????But as the cost rises, companies themselves may question the idea of paying to send talent away for two years or reconsider what is gained by pushing talent to leave the fold at all. Ellis-Sangster says that some investment banks are no longer telling people that "after two, three years, there's no future here unless you get an MBA."

????"Employers have just gotten a lot smarter in how they engage their employees," she says. "They've become very sophisticated in their training and leadership development, and are bringing in faculty to teach courses at their institution."

????The result? Employees are "not getting the experience they would get in business school" -- that is, the social and networking benefits -- "but are getting the academic training they might get."?