In 1986, when Russell Ackoff, a pioneer of management education, retired as Professor at the Wharton Business School, he was asked what were the benefits of a business education. With savage irony he replied that there were three.
- To equip students with a vocabulary that enabled them to talk with authority about subjects they did not understand.
- To give students principles that would demonstrate their ability to withstand any amount of dis-confirming evidence.
- To give students a ticket of admission to a job where they could learn something about management.
