I think you sum it up in your first sentence: an MBA involves the study of the <i>discipline</i> of business. It&#x27;s distinct from the practice of actually running a business, and the courses&#x2F;classes are almost always highly theoretical and research based. I have a masters in business and I can assure you that no company will let me manage shit, because the course didn&#x27;t confer &#x27;experience&#x27; unto me.<p>I&#x27;m sure that all competent managers of programmers respect the craft. I&#x27;ve met several managers who didn&#x27;t respect programmers though, but my perception of them was that they weren&#x27;t competent ;)