Critical Thinking to Harness Global Social “Wicked” Problems: New Curriculum, Content, and Challenges in the Redesigned MBA Program

Abstract

Executive Summary

We revisit the problem of redesigning the Master in Business Administration (MBA) program, curriculum, and pedagogy, focusing on understanding and seeking to tame its “wicked problems,” as an intrinsic part and challenge of the MBA program venture, and to render it more realistic and relevant to address major problems and their consequences. We briefly review the theory of wicked problems and methods of dealing with their consequences from multiple perspectives. Most characterization of problems classifies them as simple (problems that have known formulations and solutions), complex (where formulations are known but not their resolutions), unstructured problems (where formulations are unknown, but solutions are estimated), and “wicked” (where both problem formulations and their resolutions are unknown but eventually partially tamable). Uncertainty, unpredictability, randomness, and ambiguity increase from simple to complex to unstructured to wicked problems. A redesigned MBA program should therefore address them effectively through the four semesters in two years. Most of these problems are real and affect life and economies, and hence, business schools cannot but incorporate them into their critical, ethical, and moral thinking.

Citation

Mascarenhas, O.A.J., Thakur, M. and Kumar, P. (2024), "Critical Thinking to Harness Global Social “Wicked” Problems: New Curriculum, Content, and Challenges in the Redesigned MBA Program", A Primer on Critical Thinking and Business Ethics, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 147-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-312-120231005