Today's MBA programs are "outdated" and in desperate need of an upgrade, according to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.
Speaking at Fast Company's Innovation Festival on November 1, Nooyi criticized MBA programs for cramming in as many as 50 cases into a semester and failing to focus enough on technology. Nooyi and PepsiCo vice chairman Mehmood Khan were featured for a discussion on innovation in the food and beverage industry.
"I don't know why we can't teach five or six cases, focus on each case for a week or two, and really get to understand the business aspects, the economic aspects, the political aspects, the environmental aspects," she told Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian, who was moderating the talk.
She argued that doing a deep dive on a limited number of case studies would allow students to better understand the "multi-faceted and complex" nature of business.
Nooyi also criticized many MBA programs for failing to teach computer sciences: "It's the new foreign language that you have to learn," she says.
Both of these issues should prompt business schools to take a hard look at their curriculum, the PepsiCo CEO says.
"We have these kids who don't know anything about business in great detail," Nooyi says. "Well they come out saying they've got an MBA and they've got an education but not knowledge. I think there's a better way to teach these courses."
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