the gordon and howell report on business education in 1959

The Birth of the Modern MBA

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Business education as it exists today came out of a massive mid-century philanthropic effort to transform the field. Why would an American foundation take this on and what was the program’s impact?

Mid-Century Bureaucratic Ideals

A new philanthropic giant, the Ford Foundation, came onto the scene in a big way in 1949. That year, Ford was the largest American foundation ever to exist, and was on track to become the first billion-dollar foundation. After an intensive study period looking at how such a great fortune could be put to use to solve world problems and social concerns, Ford trustees approved a strategy that prioritized peace and prosperity through democracy and economic development.

Throughout the post-war economic boom, the notion prevailed that a rising tide would lift all boats. Ford leaders were looking for ways they could encourage economic growth and stave off the negative aspects of economic cycles. Bureaucratic efficiency was everywhere evident, indeed characterized the cultural fabric of the times, but a real theory of business practice was absent.

In 1954, Ford began what would later be deemed a “revolution” in American business education, launching the development of the Master of Business Administration as we know it today.

Ford Vice President Thomas Carroll, who had received his PhD from the Harvard Business School , was one of the Ford staffers leading the charge. More influential than personal staff interest, however, were strategic and programmatic reasons to support business education, a field that had been overlooked by foundations and rigorous academic study alike. Ford’s Program in Economic Development and Administration (EDA) had been set up in 1953 under the guiding assumption that “economic well-being does not assure human welfare, but it is essential to it.” Program in Economic Development and Administration, “ Evaluation and Statement of Current Objectives and Policies ,” (December 1961), 1. Report #004741, Ford Foundation records, Catalogued Reports, Rockefeller Archive Center.

Although many elites recognized the business sector as central to American economic prosperity, business education at this time was by and large vocational. Programs focused more on the day-to-day operations of business, not on underlying fundamentals such as economic cycles, statistical analysis, consumer behavior, etc. Furthermore, even the most rigorous programs, such as Harvard’s (where the case study method and the MBA had been invented in 1908 ), had difficulty attracting top students.

An internal Ford memorandum described business schools as “unimaginative, non-theoretical faculties teaching from descriptive, practice-oriented texts to classes of second-rate, vocationally-minded students.” Internal memorandum cited in James E. Howell (September 1966), 3-4. One document from 1957 put it more bluntly: the Ford program was trying to bring about the “intellectualization” of business education. “ ‘Big Push’ in Business Schools ,”(October 1957) 1. Report #002971, Ford Foundation records, Catalogued Reports, Rockefeller Archive Center. Internal memorandum cited in James E. Howell, (September 1966) 3-4.

Something else motivated Ford trustees and staff: a flashy philanthropic program to help the private sector could make for good public relations. On the heels of the early 1950s congressional investigations into foundations, with their attacks on the “liberal” Ford Foundation, and with intimations of communist sympathizing in the conservative press, the focus on business would testify to Ford’s commitment to both democracy and the free market within the Cold War context.

To public relations conscious trustees and officers, the proposed program in business education was indeed welcome. James E. Howell, reflecting back on the program in 1966 James Howell, “ The Ford Foundation and the Revolution in Business Education: A Case Study in Philanthropy ,” (September 1966) 2. Report #006353, Ford Foundation records, Catalogued Reports, Rockefeller Archive Center.

Business Education: From Practice to Theory

The “big push” in business education, as Ford staff came to dub the new program, first targeted the supply of qualified faculty. Five large-scale grants created “centers of excellence” at Harvard, Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), Columbia, Stanford, and the University of Chicago.

These centers — already elite institutions with model programs — received millions in support for research and doctoral training. Their highly-trained students would become the leaders of a network of business schools across the country. As a 1961 evaluation explained:

The purpose was not to help the rich grow richer, but to increase the supply of competent, research-oriented teachers of business administration who would be equipped with analytical habits and a command of the underlying disciplines. Program Evaluation, 1961. Program in Economic Development, Evaluation (1961), 6.

Basic research firmly grounded in economics, statistics, mathematics, sociology, and psychology would contribute to building a theory of business practice. As Neil Chamberlain, an economist on Ford’s EDA team, put it: this theory would mean that “business schools may forge ahead of business practice and thus contribute to its development.” Neil W. Chamberlain, “ Ford Foundation Activities in the Field of Business Education ,” (1958) 2. Report #002970, Ford Foundation records, Catalogued Reports, Rockefeller Archive Center.

To spread the new curricular approach to the six-hundred other business programs, Ford sponsored summer seminars and short training programs for faculty and deans.

In parallel to its other efforts, Ford funded Robert Gordon and James Howell’s 1959 groundbreaking study of business education. The study argued that higher education should make students into problem solvers and ethical thinkers (Carnegie Corporation also funded a concurrent study that reached similar conclusions). To Gordon and Howell, business education should be career preparation, not just instruction on how to get through the day-to-day activities of your first job.

Gordon and Howell described an ideal business education as “a process of self-development, in which the student develops the capacity to see the relevance of what is being learned and to build on this knowledge an ability to deal with problems that he will meet in later years.” Robert Aaron Gordon and James Edwin Howell, Higher Education for Business (New York: Columbia University Press, 1959), 109.

Ford staff ensured the book was sent to every full-time business school faculty member in the country.

The MBA Becomes the Gold Standard

By 1965, Ford had spent $46.3 million on business education reform (approximately $375 million in 2019 dollars) — half of it to business schools, and the rest to fellowships, research projects, workshops, and publications.

Writing in 1966, James E. Howell called the Ford program a “revolution in business education.” James E. Howell, “T he Ford Foundation and the revolution in business education: A case study in philanthropy ,” (1966). Report #006353, Ford Foundation records, Catalogued Reports, Rockefeller Archive Center.

[The Ford Foundation] was the strategic force behind the reorientation of one of the largest sectors in American higher education; and it was by far the single most powerful force in bringing about that reorientation. James E. Howell, 1966. James Edwin Howell, “The Ford Foundation and the Revolution in Business Education: A Case Study in Philanthropy” (1966), 27.

Research This Topic in the Archives

• “ 67. Economic Development and Administration Program (EDA) – Business leadership education ,”
• “ EDA Business Conferences ,” 1958, Ford Foundation records, Administration, Office of Communications, Press Materials, Record Group 1, Accessions 2017:062 and 2017:078, Recordgrp 1, Press Releases, Series 1, News from the Ford Foundation Releases, No. 1-295, Subseries 1, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ B-799: Fellowship Program for Master of Business Administration (MBA) Graduates ,” 1955-1956, Ford Foundation records, Central Index, Projects, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ The Ford Foundation and the revolution in business education (Reports 002591) ,” 1960, Ford Foundation records, Programs, Catalogued Reports, Reports 1-3254, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ Ford Foundation activities in the field of business education (Reports 002970) ,” 1958, Ford Foundation records, Programs, Catalogued Reports, Reports 1-3254, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ Gordon-Howell Report on Business Education – Robert Aaron Gordon and James Edwin Howell ,” 1959, Ford Foundation records, Administration, Office Reports, Photographs, General, Program, and Project Photographs, Series 3, Economic Development and Administration (EDA), Subseries 3 2, Rockefeller Archive Center.
• “ The commonwealth: official journal of the Commonwealth Club of California, vol. 31, no. 12, March 21 (Reports 015068) ,” 1955, Ford Foundation records, Programs, Catalogued Reports, Reports 13949-17726, Rockefeller Archive Center.

“Investment Philanthropy” Investing for Social Good, a Century Ago

An early twentieth-century foundation tried using its endowment to support for-profit projects that also would achieve a social goal.

Photo Essay: Supporting Minority Enterprise in the late 1960s

In 1968, the Ford Foundation began to make social investments using a new tool borrowed from the for-profit world, the Program-Related Investment.

The Origins of the Rockefeller Foundation Equal Opportunity Program

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Supporting Economic Justice? The Ford Foundation’s 1968 Experiment in Program Related Investments

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Higher Education for Business

• Robert Aaron Gordon and James Edwin Howell
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Copyright year: 1959
• Audience: College/higher education;
• Main content: 492
• Published: May 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9780231883597

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HENRY MINTZBERG COMMENTS ON THE GORDON-HOWELL REPORT OF 1959

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So, five decades down the line, what are the long-term effects of Gordon-Howell? Its critics echo Dr. Mintzberg from the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University: thanks at least in part to Gordon-Howell, business education's emphasis has moved too far away from practice towards theory. Perhaps. But it would be easy to move too far (once again) from the research role, at the expense of the academic rigour necessary in a university environment.

The Economist , June 4, 2009

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Law and Business: Comparative Perspectives

• First Online: 09 August 2016

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• R. Rajesh Babu 3  

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This chapter is an assessment of the place of law in the contemporary business education, specifically from the perspective of Indian institutions. The chapter attempts to capture the debate on the structure and treatment of the business law and the challenges of integrating the same in the broader context of business education. A survey of the literature reveals that despite the importance attached to the study of law in the business education, there has been a literal absence of quality debate and discussion on its content and treatment in the Indian academia. Drawing on and comparing with the decades of debate in the US academia on “place of law in business school curriculum,” the paper shall start with an overview of the function and importance of law in the society at large, and specifically to the business. Thereon, the paper looks at the substantive aspects of the course on law in the business school curriculum, with the specific focus on the content and pedagogy suitable for an introductory business law course. The chapter shall also briefly dwell on the question of the appropriateness of teaching ethics through law.

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For the UN, the Secretary General defines the rule of law as “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency” (UN 2004 ).

The law and justice is treated as fundamental institutions of the basic structure of society mediating “between political and economic interests, between culture and the normative order of society, establishing and maintaining interdependence, and constituting themselves as sources of consensus, coercion and social control”.

See also Johnson et al. ( 2000 ).

While the author understands that the “management education” is the set objective of the IIMs in India and has wider bearing than “business education,” this paper traces the narrow aspects of business education, which has been the dominant approach across management/business schools across India at the graduate level.

The accreditation process presumes the inclusion of all degree programmes delivered by the institution that permit 25 % or more of the teaching for undergraduate programmes or 50 % or more of teaching for graduate programmes to be in traditional business subjects. Traditional business subjects include accounting, business law, decision sciences, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, human resources, international business, management, management information systems, management science, marketing, operations management, organizational behavior, organizational development, strategic management, supply chain management (including transportation and logistics), and technology management. See, AACSB Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation Adopted: April 8, 2013 Updated: January 31, 2015 at 9 < http://www.aacsb.edu/~/media/AACSB/Docs/Accreditation/Standards/2013-bus-standards-update-jan2015.ashx >.

Gordon–Howell’s conclusions called for more research and less consulting work by faculty, improved regulation, fewer case studies, more theory and analysis, and more teaching of ethics. < http://www.economist.com/node/12762453 >.

HBS/HLS JD/MBA programme < http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experience/joint-degree-programs/Pages/harvard-law-school.aspx >.

Indian Legal System (IIMC); Legal Aspects of Business (IIMA); Legal Aspects in Management (IIML); Business Law (IIMK); Legal Environment of Business (FMS); SP JIMR; Business Law (TAPMI—3credits) Business Law (XLRI); Legal Aspects of Business (SOM IITB).

See, IIMB Courses, < http://www.iimb.ernet.in/node/5567 >.

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Introduction to business law, business law, legal aspects of business, legal environments, legal environments of business, legal and regulatory aspects of business, Indian legal system, etc.

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Babu, R.R. (2017). Law and Business: Comparative Perspectives. In: Thakur, M., Babu, R. (eds) Management Education in India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1696-7_10

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Local news | swat team raids rapper sean kingston’s southwest ranches home; mother arrested on fraud and theft charges, local news | judge sides with fort lauderdale man who complained neighbor’s yacht was too big for lot.

Michael Meldeau did. It wound up getting him sued by one Steven Howell, owner of the yacht.

The two men live on Delmar Place in Fort Lauderdale’s upscale Las Olas Isles , just north of Las Olas and west of the Intracoastal.

The yearslong feud isn’t your run-of-the-mill neighborhood dispute . The lawsuit, filed four years ago, touched on not only property rights but also, in the case of the defendant, the right to free speech.

Reed Tolber, Meldeau’s attorney, attempted to get the lawsuit thrown out, accusing Howell of trying to muzzle Meldeau from complaining to Fort Lauderdale code officers if he notices anything amiss on Howell’s property.

The case was heading to trial in June, but all that changed May 16 when Broward Circuit Judge Martin Bidwell signed an order granting summary judgment in favor of Meldeau, saying there was no need for a trial.

“The record evidence firmly establishes that (Howell) knowingly and routinely moored his yachts behind his home in violation of the city’s code,” Bidwell wrote in his order. “Although it must be vexing to have (a neighbor) constantly report one’s code violations to the city, these actions by (his neighbor) cannot be said to be unreasonable.”

It remains unclear whether Howell and his legal team plan to appeal.

Howell, 64, declined to comment. His attorneys, Brent Gordon and Brian Gottlieb, could not be reached for comment.

Howell’s lawsuit had accused Meldeau, 77, of embarking on a campaign of harassment and urged the court to require him to employ an attorney licensed to practice law in Florida to report any future potential code violations on Howell’s property.

To keep the peace, Howell was forced to rent out dock space and pay dockage fees, his lawsuit says. Those dockage fees, according to the lawsuit, are special damages that Howell would not have to pay if the boat were docked behind his home.

A matter of size

Meldeau bought his three-bedroom home on Delmar Place in 2000 for $825,000, according to the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office. Howell moved into the neighborhood a decade later, paying nearly $2.7 million for a four-bedroom home two houses away, appraiser records show.

The trouble began when Howell started docking his yacht on the 100-foot lot behind his waterfront home in late 2018, both parties say. The boat, named #OMG, was sometimes docked behind the homes of neighbors with their permission, according to the lawsuit.

Most waterfront homes in Fort Lauderdale have a 10-foot setback on either side for boat dockage. So a property that’s 100 feet wide like Howell’s would be prohibited from docking a boat bigger than 80 feet in length.

Meldeau and his attorney say the #OMG is just shy of 105 feet in length — 25 feet too long for Howell’s property.

A former attorney of Howell’s told a city board the yacht is 96 feet long. And Howell testified during a deposition that he’s not quite sure how long the boat is, records show.

Meldeau took exception to the yacht extending into his property line when it was docked behind the home of a different neighbor whose home sits in between his home and Howell’s, according to court records.

He called the city to report the yacht for violating the setback code in late 2018.

The city’s inspectors found the yacht to be in violation and ordered Howell to remove it, Meldeau’s attorney wrote in his motion to dismiss the case. When they returned to verify compliance, the yacht was gone and the complaint was closed.

But once the case was closed, the yacht was back at the dock, according to Meldeau’s motion to dismiss the case.

“This ‘dance’ occurred several times,” Tolber wrote.

Meldeau complained again and again. But when the city’s inspectors would show up, the yacht would be gone, Tolber wrote.

Then one day, a code inspector spotted the yacht docked behind the house in between Howell’s and Meldeau’s and found it to be in violation of the city’s setback code.

‘It’s time to stop it’

A hearing was scheduled before a magistrate, who agreed the yacht was too big for the lot.

Howell took his case to the city’s Board of Adjustment in January 2020 to request a variance that would allow him to keep the yacht behind his home.

The board denied his request, citing its failure to meet the code’s hardship requirement.

Before the board’s vote, Meldeau spoke up against the variance. He told the board that Howell “started bragging” that it was saving him $8,000 a month in dockage fees to keep his yacht docked behind his home.

“So this is not a hardship,” Meldeau told the board. “This is an economic benefit. And I say we’re not for sale. It’s time to stop it. If you can’t bring a boat in your neighborhood that doesn’t meet the code, don’t bring it in.”

In February 2020, the following month, Howell filed suit against Meldeau.

During a deposition last year, Meldeau’s attorney asked Howell to explain the timing of his lawsuit.

“I don’t know the exact dates of how all this timed out,” Howell said. “But the truth of the matter was that there were all sorts of challenges all around this at different times. We had to manage different risk levels while all this stuff was going on. And that’s why I escalated this to where we are now because I just decided I wasn’t going to live like this any longer. We did everything we could to try to mitigate this and not end up where we are right now.”

In March 2020, the magistrate fined Howell $14,000.

The fine remained unpaid as of Tuesday, May 21, city officials said. During last year’s deposition, Howell said he hadn’t paid the fine because it was “not correct” and he didn’t consider the matter resolved. The yacht was moved from his home in late 2021 and was docked at the RMK Marina, Howell testified.

Howell told Meldeau’s attorney he doesn’t remember details about the boat being moved around after Meldeau started making calls to code officers.

“I don’t recall its movement, but boats come and go,” Howell said. “That’s what they do.”

When asked to confirm that the #OMG yacht is 105 feet long, Howell said he was under the impression the boat was 105 feet when he bought it. But during last year’s deposition, he testified that he was no longer sure.

“When we bought the boat, we thought that it was 105 feet,” Howell said during the deposition. “We’ve since learned, since all this started with Mr. Meldeau, that it’s a Model 105, not 105 feet. And I have multiple documents that confused us all about the exact size, including certifications from the manufacturer. We never measured our boat. We tried and we can’t figure it out.”

The lawsuit, which was amended in 2022, accused Meldeau of making repeated complaints to code enforcement about Howell’s property.

Twice in 2019, Meldeau called the city to report that sewage from the yacht was possibly being dumped into the canal, according to the lawsuit. The city came out to investigate but found no evidence to support the claim, the lawsuit says.

“Plainly, Meldeau is obsessed with Howell,” the lawsuit said, “and he shows no signs of stopping with his continued social media posts (though he subsequent to this lawsuit removed or made such posts private), his unsupported accusations to the president of the local homeowners association, and complaints to the marine patrol just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic on or about as of February 9, 2020.”

‘I don’t want him to do that’

According to the lawsuit, Meldeau “spread lies” on Facebook that Howell was dumping sewage in the canal and renting out dock space to other boat owners. The lawsuit references this comment posted on Meldeau’s Facebook account: “Las Olas Isles will turn into a Commercial Marina full of supersized yachts looking to rent docks on the ‘Cheap.’ And so goes the Venice of America.”

In his order, the judge makes mention of a Facebook post where a relative of Meldeau’s commented, jokingly suggesting he shoot holes in the yacht. “I am ready,” Meldeau replied under the comment.

“The record further establishes that Defendant at one time made a Facebook post suggesting that he would shoot holes into the OMG,” the judge wrote. “However, the record does not show that (Meldeau) has ever pointed the gun at someone, made threats towards anyone, or otherwise caused (Howell) to suffer irreparable damage.

The lawsuit alleged that Meldeau set out two chairs on his dock turned east toward the Howell property, then sitting in one and leaning a rifle against the other. In a motion for summary judgment, Meldeau’s attorney says the “rifle” Meldeau was holding was actually a pellet gun his client used to kill iguanas on his sea wall.

The matter came up during Howell’s deposition last year.

“I think sitting with a rifle and looking down at my house is, especially in today’s culture, no, I don’t think that’s acceptable and I don’t want him to do that,” Howell told Meldeau’s attorney. “I wouldn’t sit with chairs and a rifle facing his house.”

But in his findings, the judge noted that Meldeau maintains the device was an air-powered pellet gun used to kill iguanas.

“Regardless, (Howell) last witnessed (his neighbor) on his dock with the device about three years ago,” the judge wrote.

Toward the end of last year’s deposition, Tolber asked Howell whether he had any plans to bring the yacht back and dock it behind his house.

“It’s undetermined right now,” Howell said.

Tolber asked again, rephrasing the question.

“It will not go back behind my house,” Howell replied, “but it’s possible that it could come back here to a neighbor’s.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at [email protected] Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

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