The cult of the MBA: Implications for European post-experience public management education

Abstract

The existence of MBA cultures is well established; with such cultures often being posited as a career enhancing feature of such programmes. However, does the MBA’s sister qualification for the public sector, the MPA, hold the same cachet, or should it? After all, it is incumbent on national governments to recruit, develop and retain its brightest and its best. The aim of this article is to analyse the cultural attractiveness of MPA programmes when compared to the MBA and what MPA programme designers can do to maximise the potential in terms of content and the ‘added value’ that a MPA should bring. The authors bring over 30 years’ experience of teaching on both MBA and MPA programmes to base their analysis on. The article considers the following. First, while there is no ‘right way’ to develop public administrators there may be an opportunity to learn from successful MBA programmes in relation to course cohesion and despite the considerable differences in curricula. Rhodes (2016) refers to the craft skills of the senior public administrator; skills that are very difficult to ‘teach’. This difficulty notwithstanding, concepts such as leadership and strategy are assessed across programmes. Other factors such as the provider, accreditation and opportunities for professional development are also assessed. The article develops the basis for a research design to evaluate the cultural value of such programmes. If MBA programmes are marked by rituals and a rejection of academic theory (Orta, 2019), does the same hold true for the MPA participant and what can MPA providers learn from this?.