Acumen Revealed

[diogenes]

I haven't seen Milton Friedman, the most influential 'free market' economist speaking out about his alma mater, the University of Chicago (one of the birthplaces of American 'free market' theory).

All that acumen we hear so much about doesn't subject itself to the free market it brags so much about.

This week , Business Week revealed that Chicago, Stanford, Wharton and HARVARD MBA students and schools have a policy of not revealing grades.

"The idea is to reduce competitiveness and eliminate the risk associated with taking difficult courses."

Dissident faculty contends students lack incentive to work hard and frequently skip class.

Evidently, the actual experience of the 'free market,' is reserved for the working class.

For the disconnect between the Palace and the grunts, of saying one thing while doing another, one need look no further for an explanation.

Now, we have seen a great deal of hot air about the value of such an education, and value it has. Just not as much as hyped.

Suppose Microsoft wanted to hire the magna cum laude of the Harvard MBA School.

They can't. If the hire an MBA, he may be the best, or the worst. Microsoft has no way of knowing.

What they do know is they've hired someone who has refused to honestly compete.

If I were Microsoft, I'd refuse to hire such a chickneck prospect, and move on to a school and candidates that actually practice what they preach.

 

[qwerty]

Hey, dump the seniority system and then we'll talk.

Labor is a product, like tires and jet fuel. If you offer your product at a higher cost than can be offered by another provider, then you don't get the work (or lose what you have.)

Now if a Harvard MBA doesn't pull his/her weight (i.e. is not worth the cost), then there is always another to replace them. No non-union employess gets to stay just because they've been around longer. Just ask some of the folks in CCY today. Apples = Oranges, not.

 

[the turtle]

or how about this...

A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He spots a man down below and lowers the balloon to speak with him.

The balloonist gets close enough to speak with the man on the ground and shouts down to him, "Excuse me, but maybe you can help me. I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man on the ground responds, "No problem; you are in a hot air balloon hovering about 30 feet above this field. You are located at 26' 04.4 North Latitude, and 80' 09.2 West Longitude and drifting slowly south."

You must be an airline pilot, says the balloonist.

"I am, how did you know?" replies the man on the ground.

"Well," says the balloonist,"everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of the information you gave me. I am still lost, so you have done absolutely nothing to help me!"

The man on the ground says "You must be in airline management."

"I am"; replies the balloonist, "how did you know?"

"Well"; says the man on the ground, "you do not know where you are or where you are going. You have made a promise that you did not and cannot keep and you expect me to solve your problems for you. The fact is that you are in the exact same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."

 

[qwerty]

Hey if the pilots and other unions can figure out how to raise fares in a market that is oversupplied, at the same time that the cost of fuel has tripled, and while the market cost of labor decreases leaving you uncompetitive with your competition - go for it.

Management's try? Lower labor costs, consolidate operations (merge) and park airplanes. Seems to be working.

And let's not start the whole hedging thing again - companies in CH11 do not have the operating capital nor authority of the court to do this.

 

[PHL]

All that acumen we hear so much about doesn't subject itself to the free market it brags so much about.
.....
Dissident faculty contends students lack incentive to work hard and frequently skip class.

Evidently, the actual experience of the 'free market,' is reserved for the working class.

For the disconnect between the Palace and the grunts, of saying one thing while doing another, one need look no further for an explanation.

Now, we have seen a great deal of hot air about the value of such an education, and value it has. Just not as much as hyped.

Suppose Microsoft wanted to hire the magna cum laude of the Harvard MBA School.

They can't. If the hire an MBA, he may be the best, or the worst. Microsoft has no way of knowing.

What they do know is they've hired someone who has refused to honestly compete.

If I were Microsoft, I'd refuse to hire such a chickneck prospect, and move on to a school and candidates that actually practice what they preach.

I'm so tired of the "Grunts" and "Working Class" types (your words, not mine) gleefully pointing out someone's shortcomings when they happened to go a prestigous school for a business degree.

The free market works for these guys just like it does anyone else. You perform or you leave. That's the beauty of the non-union, non-seniority system. I know that my job is not completely dependent on a.) me simply showing up to work and doing the minimum required and b.) my place in the DOH tree. If Microsoft hires one of these guys and they suck, then they're gone. Plain and simple. The GPA is less important to them than the quality of the education they received. Those schools are known for turning out good talent. Instead of being concerned with crooked CEOs(who may or may not have come from one of those places) ruining a company, you should be equally critical of your own union management.

Get off the whole notion that MBA's from Ivy Leagues are lazy. Professors complaining of students being lazy and cutting class is something you will find at *ANY* university, all the way down to Community Colleges. Just because businessweek got a few quotes from those schools hardly means the practice is restrcited to them.

 

[diogenes]

Hey, dump the seniority system and then we'll talk.

Labor is a product, like tires and jet fuel.  If you offer your product at a higher cost than can be offered by another provider, then you don't get the work (or lose what you have.)

Now if a Harvard MBA doesn't pull his/her weight (i.e. is not worth the cost), then there is always another to replace them.  No non-union employess gets to stay just because they've been around longer.  Just ask some of the folks in CCY today.  Apples = Oranges, not.

[post="298196"][/post]​

Ummm, plenty of non-union companies utilize the seniority system, because among other things, it is lawsuit-proof. According to a conservative Supreme Court, seniority trumps the ADA.

Moreover, seniority has never prevented a company from firing employees. All a contract does is make the company prove their case. I've seen plenty of termination of union employees stick.

And in terms of this topic, seniority has exactly what to do with students (and future CEO's) and universities conspiring to lessen tranparencies in the market?

The point is, a lot of folks, from Friedman right on down to some posters on this board, advocate a 'free market.'

I think it perfectly appropriate to point out there are some who preach that, but don't practice it.

And don' forget, those non-union exec types have contracts too. The only difference is their's is actually honored.

 

[diogenes]

I'm so tired of the "Grunts" and "Working Class" types (your words, not mine) gleefully pointing out someone's shortcomings when they happened to go a prestigous school for a business degree.

The free market works for these guys just like it does anyone else. You perform or you leave. That's the beauty of the non-union, non-seniority system. I know that my job is not completely dependent on a.) me simply showing up to work and doing the minimum required and b.) my place in the DOH tree. If Microsoft hires one of these guys and they suck, then they're gone. Plain and simple. The GPA is less important to them than the quality of the education they received. Those schools are known for turning out good talent. Instead of being concerned with crooked CEOs(who may or may not have come from one of those places) ruining a company, you should be equally critical of your own union management.

Get off the whole notion that MBA's from Ivy Leagues are lazy. Professors complaining of students being lazy and cutting class is something you will find at *ANY* university, all the way down to Community Colleges. Just because businessweek got a few quotes from those schools hardly means the practice is restrcited to them.

[post="298222"][/post]​

Yeah, I know how you feel. I get tired of of working folks coming up short in the class warfare, and being called sore losers.

You did a fine job talking around the subject, but you didn't addess the point. Why would free market advocates lessen market transparency? It's not just the students; the school is in on it too. I don't believe for a moment an employer isn't interested in scores: there is quite a bit of student effort in my school to achieve a high GPA for exactly the purpose of attracting an employer.

And I'm not getting off anything, or letting you put words in my mouth. You can find 'some' of 'anything' anywhere.

What I pointed out was a systemic collusion between students, faculty and the finest MBA schools in the country saying one thing and doing another.

What I pointed out was the graduates will subject their employees to a system they are unwilling to face, in full, themselves.

And let me make my implication clear. The free market deck in America is stacked.

Even BusinessWeek, hardly a socialist rag, took them to task in the article and the editiorial page.