Management theory is becoming a compendium of dead ideas

Re:Management theory is becoming a compendium of dead ideas by otoburb on Saturday December 17, 2016 @08:53PM (#13203896)

>>One of the odd things about business in the US is that most people can't even conceive that there are other approaches to business beyond the standard US MBA dogmas. Even when those other approaches clearly are successful, and even when one's ass is getting kicked by somebody using them.

I appreciate the comment, but your Amazon example was jarring because it seems that HN does not like Amazon's culture in part due to the dominance of MBAs in the senior management ranks. This anecdata aligns with graduation numbers across some of the top 20 US business schools in 2015, and one would presume this leads to an overwhelmingly US MBA-centric Amazon management style, albeit one that may be different than "other" US MBA dogma.[1]

[1] http://qz.com/636539/amazon-is-hiring-the-most-mbas-in-tech-...

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Re:Management theory is becoming a compendium of dead ideas by wpietri on Sunday December 18, 2016 @12:48AM (#13204553)

Yeah, I don't know much about Amazon's internals. I'm pointing more at the way analysts have been saying for 15 years that Bezos isn't focused enough on quarterly profits, isn't returning enough to the shareholders, invests too much in long-term pipe dreams. But Kindle, AWS, and Prime have turned out to be giant competitive advantages.

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Re:Management theory is becoming a compendium of dead ideas by aserafini on Sunday December 18, 2016 @07:37AM (#13205589)

They're not a good example because Amazon is full of MBAs at the middle management and even individual contributor level.

But I agree with the general point that 'conventional' business wisdom might not lead you to Amazon's strategy.

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Re:Management theory is becoming a compendium of dead ideas by wpietri on Wednesday December 21, 2016 @11:57AM (#13230610)

Thanks for the correction.

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