MBA is useful to get overall picture of individual areas from 10,000ft so that you don't need to re-invent everything and have some semi-automated way to process things that are thrown at you while building/managing some organization. You should walk away with knowledge about what financial instruments are at your disposal, how not to completely mess up your organization with one's stupidity or lack of leadership, how to recognize phase of a company you are in etc. This is important when you get under permanent stress while running a company when quality information will be scarce and obfuscated, people's motives will be a mixed bag, and only subjects you mastered and networking circle you built will be with you.
I'm not saying that the skills taught are not useful, what I'm saying is that the concept of a generalized "business administration" course that somehow qualifies you to run any and all businesses is basically flawed.
Management is a skill or craft, not a profession. Harvard's model of case studies is a useful skill training technique, but anecdata doesn't make a science.
Blatantly false - and I say that as someone with experience with multiple HBS classes. This might be the case for a small minority at those schools, but in no way is it the prevailing wind.
You can easily go through an entire MBA program and concentrate in something like Marketing where the most technical class you'll take is Stat 102.
I know they like to select the smart people who have lots of extra money, but when in the program is all this stuff taught?
Being managed by someone with shallow technical skills and bunch of book knowledge about how to manage doesn't like a good time.
Tell this to anyone in C-suite please.