Future relevance of business degrees?

[JanusthePhoenix]

Given the tumultuousness and volatility of business, economics, and indeed the very framework of modern society as a whole in the last few years as well as expected into the future, are our educations really going to be all that relevant or applicable in 5 or 10 years?

I'm not worried that I am wasting my time or anything; at worst, I'm building a foundation for the entirely unknown future in which we will all have to adapt and learn or sink. I would like to know everyone's thoughts on this. How much different will the future be in a few years? How much of our business education will we have to unlearn and relearn? Should students new to the fields take things like Keynesian economics or modern business strategy with a grain of salt? How far behind the curve might we be already?

[P00057870]

If you have not already seen this video, take a look:

Karl Fisch: “Shift Happens”

This actually came out of a high school, trying to get the teachers a few years back to understand how quickly things are changing. Enjoy!

Judy

[P00057870]

My current career is Medical Records Transcription but we are on the crux of major changes. Typewriters and dictation machines, to word processorsk to computers with voice files recorded on them, to the internet with voice files being transmitted, encryption, and learning how to edit voice recornition. Needless to say, we have lived through a lot in a relatively short period of time but now we are facing the actual implementation of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) which has been funded by legislation that Pres. Obama put into effect making huge sums of money available as grants (not loans) to hospitals and doctors offices to implement these changes. This will go into effect in February and is expected to be hit like the C.A.R.S. program -- but there is no standard established at this time. All kinds of questions, like will each communicate easily, or at all, with the others.

Also, HIPAA was enacted a long time ago but now there is a law that has put money in place to send out what we used to lovingly call the "HIPAA police", as there was no money to fund it before (actually 9/11 came and it was rerouted to Homeland Security) and it was not being enacted to any great degree. Now they are not only going to enact it but pay large sums of money to those who turn in others who do not comply and all will be held accountable, even the person who hired the person who committed the illegal act (so, not only whistle blowing but a very lucrative one to boot). Everyone again is very confusing, because no one knows were to go with this and how it is going to impact all of our jobs in the future. It certaily will be creating new ones for those who are aware.

So -- don't feel alone.

Just remember, we all seem to be going through this and as things change, they will be looking to the people with the degrees to help make these decisions. That means we have to be involved, proactive, and be prepared to be ready to make the shift when it happens to each of us.

Those who chose not to pay attention and tell you that "they have been talking about this for years" have their heads in the sand -- and you know which part of the anatomy is sticking up when you take that position.

Judy

[marianne202]

I'm currently working on a healthcare management degree and am seriously considering an MBA. I don't think the basics of business will change, but the methods in which we communicate, transact business and sell our services are changing. I believe a lot of this is due to the advancements in technology. I believe that we will learn to work faster and more efficiently by learning to use technology to our advantage. The biggest change will be in learning the technology, but the basic skills will remain the same. I'm actually excited about the prospects for the future.

[ideafx]

Business doesn't change very much over time. Degrees in IT, computer science, biotech, or engineering are much more likely to become irrelevant after a period of time.

[alleycat]

I think business is a very important subject and we are all affected by business. I believe that more people should be taking business classes even if they are not business majors so they can have a better understanding on how things operate.

[94steve]

The world's always going to need managers, accountants, finance people, and other assorted pencil pushers barring any kind of end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenerio (US defaulting on a bond, thermonuclear war, etc.).

I ditto the comment on technological type degrees facing a greater threat from change. Imagine if you earned an AAS in lithography, offset printing, typewriter repair, etc. 20 or 30 years ago. I mean times are always changing but the closer you are to being a professional (doctor, lawyer, military officer, professor, mba, etc) the more insulated you are from technological change and the business cycle.

Now while this seems paradoxal as medicine, academia, the law, business, etc. are extremely face paced and changing, you never see these people on the breadline. Perhaps this is because they dictate the change, or maybe because the professions are allegedly occupied by our best and brightest but their incomes, standard of living, social status, and unemployment rate are always more favorable than the rest of society at large.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY: Ditch the blue collar working class hero shtick, test out of undergrad, attend professional school, reap the benifits.

[perrik]

I mean times are always changing but the closer you are to being a professional (doctor, lawyer, military officer, professor, mba, etc) the more insulated you are from technological change and the business cycle.

It's not a matter of being white-collar or blue-collar. It's all about learning the basic principles thoroughly and then CONTINUING TO LEARN! My father was born the year the first talking picture hit the theaters. He trained as an engineer with paper and slide rules; by the time he retired, he was running the calculations on mainframes and advising me on what size hard drive to buy for my new Mac Plus. My brother is in building maintenance, and has never stopped acquiring valuable (and marketable!) skills. They learned the basics, but neither expected that their fields would remain static. Live like a shark: swim or die.

Professionals are not insulated from technological change. A physician now has diagnostic tools and treatment options that couldn't even be imagined a decade ago. Would you go to a doctor who refuses to read those fancy medical journals or take continuing education units?

Someone who graduated with a computer science degree in 1990 will have learned technology which has long since become obsolete. That doesn't mean that the brain which earned the degree is also obsolete. The problems and tools have changed, but the basics of analyzing a problem and working through the alternatives haven't.

If all you learned in your business studies is how to memorize and regurgitate facts, yes, the degree will become worthless as the business world evolves. If your business studies taught you how to analyze, communicate, plan, and adapt... then your degree and brain will continue to be valuable. Warren Buffett's econ degree from 1950 is still pretty darn worthwhile, wouldn't you agree?

[JanusthePhoenix]

Thanks for the interesting answers, people. I would like to add though, that I was thinking a little bigger in the 'change' department. As opposed to the difference between VHS and DVD, I was thinking of the difference between the way wars were conducted pre and post Napoleon. Fundamental changes in the way things are done. Example: people keep talking about how the stock market will never be the same, it's a whole new ball game, etc. If the structural changes in finance and banking are as significant as 'they' say they will be, then all of us will have to unlearn almost everything about finance and a lot of every other subject that finance ties into. The consequences of something like that would not be entirely clear for decades, at least to most people. (Or perhaps the media is blowing things out of proportion again...I don't know, I'm not a finance expert)

Perrik, you've got the right attitude. I think perhaps being unemployed for so long and having never really been in the big business world and therefore having my finger solidly off the pulse is making me a bit nervous.

[94steve]

It's not a matter of being white-collar or blue-collar.It's all about learning the basic principles thoroughly and then CONTINUING TO LEARN!

Yes and no. Blue collar workers, particularly in the manufacturing sector, are extremely vulnerable to becoming structurally unemployed. When was the last time a doctor or a lawyer experienced structural unemployment?

My father was born the year the first talking picture hit the theaters. He trained as an engineer with paper and slide rules; by the time he retired, he was running the calculations on mainframes and advising me on what size hard drive to buy for my new Mac Plus. My brother is in building maintenance, and has never stopped acquiring valuable (and marketable!) skills. They learned the basics, but neither expected that their fields would remain static. Live like a shark: swim or die.

This goes without saying and is one of the things that separates the professional class and skilled tradesman (to an extent) from the lower socioeconomic classes. Even a tradesman, however, can end up structurally unemployed. Coopers, horseshoe guys, and typewriter repairmen come to mind as examples.

Professionals are not insulated from technological change. A physician now has diagnostic tools and treatment options that couldn't even be imagined a decade ago. Would you go to a doctor who refuses to read those fancy medical journals or take continuing education units?

Professionals are 100% insulated from technological change. They have to evolve and adapt to new ideas and new technology, but they will rarely find themselves replaced or made irrelevant by a new invention. Advances in manufacturing technology have eliminated thousands of manufacturing jobs while the invention of steel drums eliminated the need for coopers.

Example: people keep talking about how the stock market will never be the same, it's a whole new ball game, etc. If the structural changes in finance and banking are as significant as 'they' say they will be, then all of us will have to unlearn almost everything about finance and a lot of every other subject that finance ties into. The consequences of something like that would not be entirely clear for decades, at least to most people. (Or perhaps the media is blowing things out of proportion again...I don't know, I'm not a finance expert)

As we've discussed, the person left in the cold isn't the psuedo professional CFA or the guy with the NASD series 7. Although he will have to change, his head is not on the chopping block. Those further along down the line are certain to be adversely affected, such as the guys cold calling in the call center who don't have a series 7, the administrative people working for the subprime lender who are sans education, etc. For example, the advent of the fax machine coupled with electronic trading have all but eliminated the need for messengers on wall street. 20 years ago when the major markets were open for trading downtown manahattan sidwalks were clogged with these guys. I was just down there the other day and the streets are empty, save for rush hour. In fact the NASDAQ, a virtual exchange from day one, killed the AMEX and supplanted the OTC pink sheet exchanges. All of those jobs running those brick and mortar exchanges have been eliminated.

Anyway, my point is that the closer you are to being in a profession, the more job stability you gain. Switching over to the ear thermometer from the rectal one is far less earth shattering than having you job eliminated at the Ford plant because somebody invented a robot to do tighten the 3 bolts you have been tightening on the crown vic for the past 20 years.