Business school output: A conceptualisation of business school graduates

Extant literature has illustrated that business schools are currently pre-occupied with promoting and teaching optimization, efficiency and effectiveness, maximization and profitability. Too little attention is afforded to promoting the skills of analysis and critical thinking or the mastery of theories, abstract conception or a wider appreciation of moral principles. Our contribution deepens the debate about the purpose of business schools by creating a typology of ‘types’ of Business School Graduates (BSGs). We suggest that, as well as influencing the future of their graduates, business schools should be responsible for what ‘type’ of BSG they produce. Our typology offers four types – the Replacer, the Effectiveness Increaser, the World Improver and the Reflectionist. We propose that in future business schools should place emphasis on providing a wider education balancing human, environmental and economic perspectives. More credence must be given to the latter two types of BSG as opposed to the first two, who are the favoured choices of today.