Are the business disciplines unreliable?

Have you ever felt that your MBA gives you more questions than answers? Let me give you an example; I look forward to hearing from you if you would like to share other examples with your NSHMBA colleagues; I promise to give you full credit for your idea!

As MBAs, most of us have spent between 1.5 and four years of our lives -as well as several thousands of dollars- applying for, studying through, and transitioning from a graduate program into a better, brighter future. Clearly, we expend all of these resources because we believe there is a lot of value in studying an MBA -and, indeed, there are studies out there that show that people with graduate degrees earn more money, promotions, and similarly desirable work outcomes for themselves and for their families!

Of course, these outcomes do not come about just by showing a new piece of paper to an employer; I do not know many MBA's who have obtained salary raises or promotions when they graduate while working for a particular company in the private sector. For part-time MBA students, newer responsibilities come their way as they learn new tools while studying the different business disciplines. Full-time MBAs are more likely to experience a radical shift in their work before and after the degree, but I know that there are many variations along these lines.

Our MBA classes give us access to knowledge that would be difficult to find on our own, in addition to providing us with access to social capital -our professors and fellow MBA students- and ultimately to a diploma that signals proficiency in the disciplines required for managing organizations.

Yet, from time to time, those classes might give us more questions than answers, as in the topic about the importance of money in motivating employees. If you have read chapter five in Jeff Pfeffer and Bob Sutton's book Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense (2006, Harvard Business Press), you might be under the impression that using money as your main tool for motivating employees is extremely dangerous and very likely to lead you to disaster! Pfeffer and Sutton mount a very solid case against placing too much importance on money by reviewing studies and providing examples of companies that suggest that money (in particular pay-for-performance plans) should be used only under very limited conditions.

On the other hand, Sara Rynes and her colleagues state in a recent peer-reviewed article (Academy of Management Executive, 2002; 16(3): 92-102) that money is indeed a major source of motivation -perhaps the most important one that managers will have at their disposal to accomplish their job. They also marshal evidence from a variety of studies to support their thesis: money is the most important motivational incentive (page 100).

What gives? Obviously, the relationship between money and work motivation might be more complex than meets the eye. What do you think? What's your evidence that makes you think this way? How do you make sense of the fact that two highly respected sets of researchers seem to hold widely divergent views on the same--and extremely important issue! Clearly, this is not a trivial matter!

When asked about this dilemma, Regina Cuellar-Lee (President of the Indianapolis Chapter of NSHMBA) reflected on the fact that some jobs are so demanding on our personal lives that we expect higher pay than for other jobs that are more fulfilling. On the other hand, Mickey Quiñones (Associate Editor of NSHMBA's Business Journal of Hispanic Research) and I discussed how difficult it is for men to even think about a cut in pay -yet many women experience it frequently due to life events such as the arrival of children or the need to take care of relatives in difficult health conditions!

Maybe you have faced similar dilemmas in other business disciplines. I look forward to hearing from you via email, fax, snail mail or blog --the latter is preferred; just post a comment using the link below...