Is it as simple as CEOs with MBA training are, in fact, better equipped to lead companies? Does this, in effect, vindicate MBAs programs battered by criticism in the past year about their role in the ethical and strategic lapses that, in turn, led to the current economic crisis?

Perhaps it’s not that simple. Thinking through this question, we reflected on changes in MBA programs over the past couple of decades. As eloquently documented by Rakesh Khurana, there was a massive influx into MBA programs over the past 20 years. And, curriculum and faculty foci underwent a transformation from generalist topics taught by faculty grounded in the world of business to a specialized (read: analytic) curriculum taught by a research faculty increasingly disconnected from the practice of management.