Not all MBAs are evil …

If only more people listened to the advice of “Not hiring MBAs” began one comment I got yesterday. It was from Phillip Burmeister who told the story of a mine in South Africa that had to close thanks to bunch of newly employed MBAs screwing it up. They never thought they needed to include driveways for trucks to the extract the ore… That was after they fired all the mining engineers because the engineers didn’t know enough about business.

The second from Brian Steele told the tale of the MBA boss in the West Country who was so “busy pouring out spreadsheets by the dozen that he missed the fact that the company was losing money hand over fist and after a blazing row I left as did most of my team. Just six months later the business went into liquidation with almost 80 good people losing their jobs. As you might imagine I’m not over keen on MBAs although I’m sure there are a few good ones about.”

He’s right there. My old boss Sir Martin Sorrell has a Harvard MBA, if my memory serves me right. But that is not what impressed me about him. He has three far more important characteristics besides native talent. First, he never gives up even when most people would go into a corner and curl up. Second, he works astoundingly hard. Third, he always replies almost immediately to messages – or he has to mine – which is astounding in someone so busy running round the world.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

5 Comments

  1. You're not entirely wrong. There was study done in the U.S. a few years ago (which I can't find now) that emphatically proved that U.S. companies who are over-reliant on MBA's are not doing that great. Denny Hatch actually wrote about it:

    http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/index.php?controllerName=article&contextId=26307

  2. And here it is: “CINCINNATI (AdAge.com) — A Master of Business Administration degree is not only worthless, it can work against a marketer, according to a survey of marketing executives from 32 consumer-products companies by consulting firm Ken Coogan & Partners. The study found that marketing executives from under-performing companies were twice as likely to have been recruited out of M.B.A. programs than marketing executives from out-performing companies.”

  3. getting bounced back re commenting on videos, using firefox today…yesterday it was google chrome….

  4. I've been in meetings and writing copy all day today, Steve, but I have passed your message on to Al who is i/c all e-mail nightmares. I do know there have been problems with people who use gmail, but I also believe the server was down at one point. If you e-mail al@draytonbird.co.uk he will reply and help

  5. I've been in meetings and writing copy all day today, Steve, but I have passed your message on to Al who is i/c all e-mail nightmares. I do know there have been problems with people who use gmail, but I also believe the server was down at one point. If you e-mail al@draytonbird.co.uk he will reply and help

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