NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003

Al & Laura Ries On Branding the B-School Unlocking Leadership Potential Multimedia Classrooms

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ContBiezEdnts 30 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 VOLUME III, ISSUE 1

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DEPARTMENTS FEATURES 24

6 From the Editors 16 Battling for the Brand 36 Picking the Perfect Peers Branding gurus Al and Laura Ries Schools seek to improve themselves 8 Headlines discuss the power of effective brands by benchmarking themselves 50 Technology and the immutable rules of teaching against their peers. But what’s the students how to create them. best way to choose a comparison 54 Your Turn school? The Zen of B-School 56 Bookshelf 24 Branding 42 Lights...Camera...Learning! 58 Calendar Branding experts offer their advice High tech leads to enhanced for stamping a business school learning as business schools 60 Classifieds with its own brand identity. incorporate a variety of multimedia presentation systems into their 64 Spotlight 30 The Leader Within classrooms. Today’s management students develop leadership skills by facing . challenging situations inside and I- Cover photo: Bob Mahoney outside the classroom.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 1 E.

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Fromthe Editors

Raising the Bar

In September, I attended AACSB International’s Continuous Improvement Seminar in St. Louis, Missouri. At one session, I heard plenary speaker Douglas Eder, a professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, draw an intriguing analogy between establishing a learning assessment program and, of all things, training killer whales. To teach a whale to jump over a bar, said Eder, the trainer first submerges the bar under water and waits for the whale to swim over it. Then, he gives the whale a fish and raises the bar a bit higher. The process is repeated until the whale associates the task with receiving a fish. Eventually, the trainer raises the bar out of the water and the whale jumps over it with ease. The same strategy works for other mammals. Whether it’s teaching business students or motivating faculty, you’ll need three things, Eder suggested: “First, there’s got to be a bar. Second, that bar must be held steady. And third—there’s got to be a fish.” For a business school, pursuing learning assessment without rewards is like training whales without fish. There would be no point to jumping any higher or getting any better. For whales, the rewards are simple; but for people, they’re not so cut-and-dried. While some might argue that improvement is its own reward, most people expect a more tangible payoff. A good grade. A fat paycheck. A big promotion. In many cases, however, the rewards we pursue are misconceived. In this issue, for instance, we explore the idea of branding, as it applies to a business, school, or individual. How do we choose fea- tures that identify our culture and seek rewards that motivate us to improve? Branding guru Al Ries, whom we interview for this issue with his daughter and business partner, Laura, notes that students too often confuse hefty paychecks with success, and hard work with self- improvement. Ries would “rather see people focus on what they like to do rather than on what they think they should do to get ahead.” JAN KOPEC/GETTY IMAGES Their paychecks might not be as fat, but the payoffs would be huge. There’s no question that the bar of competition has been raised for everyone. But it’s not enough to pass over it successfully. One must succeed on levels that are meaningful. That depends on setting appropriate goals and pursuing them with fervor. Whether it’s a school defining its aspirations, an educator assessing a course, or a student planning a career path, the act will be only as successful as it is well-conceived. Therefore, seek your fish wisely and set the bar high. Then, of course, go ahead and jump. ■z BILL BASCOM

6 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 Headlines

Doctoral Crisis Looms, The solution to the doctoral Says Commission shortage also will rely on increased levels of public and private funding, The Doctoral Faculty Commission of AACSB maintains DFC’s chair, Judy Olian, International has released its report dean of The Mary Jean and Frank on the shortage of doctoral candi- P. Smeal College of Business Ad- dates for business degrees, and the ministration, The Pennsylvania news isn’t good. The commission State University. Currently Na- believes that, unless decisive action is tional Science Foundation (NSF) taken to reverse declines in business funding for key science, engineer- doctoral education, universities will ing, and social science initiatives be faced with an inevitable erosion in is more than $2.2 billion, but the quality of business education and less than $10 million is directed research. In turn, that erosion could to business schools. Olian sug- lead to a generation of ill-prepared gests the NSF and similar gov- corporate leaders with incomplete ernment sources worldwide should business skills and inadequate leader- of our shared objective to advance be identified and lobbied for in- ship training, who will be at risk of such knowledge will be a threat to creased support. making poor business decisions. the eventual academic legitimacy of In addition to Olian, members of The DFC, which was appointed our discipline and compromise our the DFC include Stuart I. Feldman, by AACSB’s Board of Directors, ability to serve students and other vice president of internet technology, studied the problem for nearly a year constituents.” IBM Global Services; Howard before releasing its report, “Sustain- To combat the crisis, the DFC Frank, dean, Robert H. Smith ing Scholarship in Business Schools.” recommends: School of Business, University of Members of the commission con- ■ Attracting alternative sources by de- Maryland; Daniel R. LeClair, direc- ducted extensive research, examined veloping post-doctoral and bridge tor of knowledge services, AACSB historical data, and projected de- programs, expanding doctoral pro- International; Bernard J. Milano, mand for doctoral faculty by business grams for executives, legitimizing al- president and trustee of KPMG schools. They concluded that, if ternative faculty tracks, and clarifying Foundation; Jone L. Pearce, interim steps are not taken now to make up professionally qualified standards. dean, Graduate School of Manage- for the deficit, within five years the ■ Increasing production of Ph.D.s by ment, University of California, U.S. shortage of business Ph.D.s initiating new funding from federal, Irvine; Stephen R. Watson, principal, could be greater than 1,100. In ten corporate, and joint sources; recom- Henley Management College; and years, it could exceed 2,400. They mending National Research Council Doyle Z. Williams, dean, Sam M. also noted that the production of rankings of business schools; and Walton College of Business, Univer- doctorates in business and manage- growing the size of existing Ph.D. sity of Arkansas. ment is down 7 percent since 1996; programs. The report of the DFC is merely a the five largest producers of business ■ Promoting business Ph.D.s to prospec- first step in bringing attention to the doctorates have reduced their output tive students through improved issue’s importance. “AACSB Inter- by nearly 30 percent combined. marketing of Ph.D. programs, national will play a leadership role by Carolyn Woo, chair of the Board development of dedicated recruit- facilitating dialogue with university of Directors of AACSB International ment channels, and special funding provosts, presidents, and business and dean, Mendoza College of Busi- for highly qualified applicants. leaders,” says Woo. “It is a global ness, University of Notre Dame, ■ Fostering innovation in Ph.D. delivery, effort, supported by the major man- says, “The real threat is to the very possibly through test use of consortia agement education associations core of collegiate business schools models, use of technology to reduce around the world.” The DFC’s and institutions of higher educa- costs, and sharing information about complete report can be viewed on tion—scholarship. Any diminishment best practices. the Web at www.aacsb.edu.

8 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 “IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO HAVE A THRIVING ENTREPRENEURIAL CLASS TODAY; BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO THINK AHEAD AND WORK HARDER TO GROOM NEW GENERATIONS OF ENTREPRENEURS WHO WILL CONTINUE TO INNOVATE, CREATE JOBS, AND CONTRIBUTE TO A MORE PROSPEROUS NATIONAL ECONOMY.” —Carl Schramm, Kauffman Foundation

Entrepreneurship generations of entrepreneurs who to start or grow a new business. Holds Steady will continue to innovate, create The GEM data also showed a solid jobs, and contribute to a more pros- correlation among entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial activity in the United States perous national economy.” education, and job creation. Nearly a held steady in 2002 after a sharp The study also found that, in the third of entrepreneurs with less than drop in 2001, according to the U.S., “informal investing” was hold- a high school education expected to “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor” ing up better than venture capital in- remain self-employed over the next (GEM), an annual study of entrepre- vesting. According to the survey, 4.6 five years, while 35 percent of the neurship and economic growth adults reported investing money in most highly educated entrepreneurs conducted by Babson College in entrepreneurial firms, with 50 per- expected to employ 20 or more peo- Wellesley, Massachusetts, and funded cent of those proceeds going to ple over the next five years. For the by the Kauffman Foundation of companies owned by relatives. The full text of the GEM report, go to Kansas City, Missouri. study also found that women con- www.kauffman.org. The 2002 U.S. entrepreneurial tinue to be less engaged in entrepre- activity level—which found just over neurial activity than men. In the 18- ASU Goes to Shanghai one in 10 Americans creating or to 24-year-old age bracket, men are growing new businesses—remained three times more likely than women Top-level executives and government 50 percent higher than it leaders in China began classes last was in 1998, according to month at the W.P. Carey MBA the GEM report. In what E for Effort Shanghai, offered by Arizona State researchers considered an- ESADE in Barcelona, Spain, is changing its corporate identity to University’s Carey School of Busi- other good sign, 37 percent ness in Tempe. The program was de- reflect the school’s emphasis on all things “E”—enterprise, of Americans were opti- veloped in cooperation with China’s excellence, evolution, and ethics. The school’s new logo and mistic in 2002 about the cli- Ministry of Finance and will be deliv- mate for starting a new busi- bold letter “E” are being used in all corporate and communica- ered in collaboration with the Shang- ness; that figure held steady tions support media, from labels to brochures to Web sites. hai National Accounting Institute. from the previous year. As the school renews its strategic focus on consolidating its The W.P. Carey MBA Shanghai will “The good news here is position among European business schools, it wants the new be delivered in Mandarin, through that the 2001 slump in en- visual identity to help strengthen its brand. The new logo com- translators or by professors who trepreneurship bottomed bines a classical typeface speak that language. out in 2002 and may with a modern one to Officials at the Carey School be- have set the stage for a express the conjunction lieve it is the first U.S. business return to new growth between ESADE’s 45-year school to partner with the govern- this year,” said Kauffman history and its plans for ment of the People’s Republic of Foundation President China. Classes are designed to pro- the future. According to and CEO Carl Schramm. vide senior executives with the skills Carlos Losada, ESADE “This report makes a that will allow them to compete in powerful case for step- director general, “The global business. Two-thirds of the ping up the best efforts new visual identity is not first class of 65 hold the position of of the Kauffman Founda- the changing of a sym- chairman, chief executive officer, or tion and others to get bol, but rather a symbol executive/senior vice president in more new entrepreneurs of change.” some of China’s largest state-owned into the pipeline. It is vi- The makeover project was carried out by SUMMA, a consult- enterprises. Faculty consists of Carey tally important to have a ing firm specializing in the creation and management of brands. professors as well as professors from thriving entrepreneurial School officials describe the appearance of the new logo as one other top U.S. schools, including class today; but we also that “implies punctiliousness, a personal style, and a willingness Massachusetts Institute of Technol- have to think ahead and for innovation.” ogy, New York University, Stanford, work harder to groom new and Yale.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 9 Headlines “THE REALITY IS TOO MANY MBA STUDENTSSTILLGRADUATEWITHOUT AN UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL IMPACT AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT.” —Judith Samuelson, Aspen Institute

Name Change for Six Schools Cited for Brandeis B-School Environmental Impact

Brandeis University’s Graduate School of Six business schools have been recognized International Economics and Finance, as being on the cutting edge in giv- ness, Toronto, Canada. In addition, Waltham, Massachusetts, has become ing students solid training in manag- nine other schools were recognized Brandeis International Business ing for environmental and social as having significant activity in these School, or IBS. The new name reflects impact. Their achievements have areas, and 21 schools for having a host of changes that have occurred been highlighted in Beyond Grey Pin- moderate activity. since the school was established a stripes 2003: Preparing MBAs for So- “We’ve seen positive change this decade ago, particularly the school’s cial and Environmental Stewardship, year and a lot of innovation taking increased emphasis on international a new report issued by The Aspen place in selected schools,” said Judith finance, economics, and business. Institute and the World Resources Samuelson, executive director of the School officials say the core content of Institute, New York City. The survey Aspen Institute’s Business and Society the degree programs will remain the includes data from 100 business Program. “But the reality is too many same, though current courses will be schools in 20 countries. MBA students still graduate without updated and new ones offered at the The schools cited for having MBA an understanding of social impact start of each semester to reflect devel- programs that focus on the relation- and environmental management.” opments in the world economy. The ship of social, environmental, and fi- Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2003 also name change, however, is expected to nancial factors are: George Washing- cited seven outstanding professors for benefit the 85 percent of IBS students ton University’s School of Business their contributions to scholarship and who seek jobs in private companies. and Public Management, Washing- outreach in the business sector. The The school will be undergoing ton, D.C.; University of Michigan Faculty Pioneer Award recipients are: other changes as well. A new build- Business School, Ann Arbor, Michi- for Lifetime Achievement, Thomas ing is slated to open in mid-October, gan; University of North Carolina N. Gladwin, University of Michigan roughly doubling capacity. In addi- Kenan-Flagler Business School, Business School; for Institutional tion, the school has established the Chapel Hill; Stanford Graduate Leadership, James E. Austin, Harvard Rosenberg Institute of Global Fi- School of Business, Stanford, Califor- Business School; for External Impact, nance, which will become IBS’s prin- nia; Yale School of Management, Chi Anyansi-Archibong, School of cipal research platform in the field of New Haven, Connecticut; and York Business and Economics at North international finance. University’s Schulich School of Busi- Carolina A&T State University and S. Prakash Sethi, Zicklin School of Busi- ness at Baruch College; for being a Global Corporate Responsibility on the Agenda Rising Star, Andrew J. Hoffman, Boston University School of Manage- This fall, the Audencia Nantes School of Management hosted a Global Corporate Responsibility Conference ment; for Academic Leadership, Tim- that allowed business managers, lawyers, nongovernmental organizations and others to join academics in othy L. Fort, University of Michigan a debate on the topic of corporate social responsibility. During the two-day conference, Business School; and for Academic roundtables and workshops brought together experts from Canada, the U.S., Finland, Leadership/European Faculty Pio- Germany, the U.K., Belgium, and France to discuss the role corporations, universities, and neer, Alyson C. Warhurst, Warwick Business School. NGOs should play in social responsibility. At the conference, the school also unveiled its own Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2003: charter of responsibility to demonstrate its commitment to the cause. Preparing MBAs for Social and Envi- The school’s conference partner was the European Academy of Business in Society, a group of higher ronmental Stewardship is the fourth education providers, business organizations, and firms that form part of the wider European Business in a series of reports started in 1998. Campaign on Corporate Social Responsibility. Its aim is to place corporate social responsibility at the heart More information and the complete of business theory and practice through research, training, and education. report can be found at www.Beyond- Grey Pinstripes.org.

10 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 “THE REALITY IS TOO MANY MBA STUDENTSSTILLGRADUATEWITHOUT AN UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL IMPACT AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT.” —Judith Samuelson, Aspen Institute

Rotman Fills Five Chairs tiveness of both regions and nations. School’s faculty full-time as the head Joseph R. D’Cruz, professor of of the School’s Sanford Bernstein The University of Toronto has announced strategic management, has been Center for Leadership and Ethics. five key appointments in the Rotman named the first chair holder of the During Feldberg’s tenure at the School of Management. Brian R. Murray B. Koffler Chair in Pharmacy school, applications tripled, the cur- Golden has been named the Sandra Management, a partnership between riculum was revamped to meet the Rotman Chair in Health Sector the Rotman School and the Leslie international business needs of the Strategy at the University of Toronto Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. The $2 21st century, and executive MBA and the University Health Network. million chair was established to programs expanded internationally. Golden is currently a full professor of honor philanthropist and alumnus Within the last three years, Feldberg strategic management at the school’s Murray B. Koffler. initiated partnerships in the executive Rotman School of Management, MBA program with London Business with a joint appointment in the De- Feldberg to Step Down School and the Haas School of Busi- partment of Health Policy, Manage- ness at the University of California at ment and Evaluation at the Univer- Meyer Feldberg, dean of Columbia University’s Berkeley. Fund raising also increased as sity of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine. Graduate School of Business in New he tapped into the school’s network of Golden also will launch and direct York City, will step down on June alumni, recruiters and business leaders the Rotman School’s Centre for 30, after 15 years in the post. As the to raise more than $250 million. Health Sector Strategy in partnership longest-serving dean of an elite busi- with University Health Network. The ness school, Feldberg has presided GE Awards Grant $5 million chair is the result of a gift over the graduation of more than to PhD Project from the Rotman Family Founda- 40 percent of Columbia Business tion, the University Health Network, School’s living alumni. Feldberg has The GE Foundation has announced it will and the Toronto General & Western accepted the Sanford C. Bernstein continue its support of The PhD Hospital Foundation. Professorship of Leadership and Ethics Project, a program designed to in- Glen Whyte, a professor of orga- and plans to join Columbia Business crease diversity in America’s business nizational behavior and associate schools, with a $100,000 grant for dean for curriculum at the school, the 2003-04 academic year. By en- will be the first holder of the Cana- Carleton Preps for China couraging African Americans, His- dian Credit Management Founda- panic Americans, and Native Ameri- tion Chair in Integrative Thinking. Carleton University vice- cans to apply to business school and The third chair, the John H. Watson president Feridun Hamdul- pursue a doctorate, the PhD Project Chair in Value Investing, has been lahpur has signed an hopes to diversify faculty at business made possible by a $3 million gift to agreement with officials schools and prepare all business stu- the school from alumnus John Wat- from the University of Donghua in China to offer dents for today’s multicultural work son. Eric Kirzner, an authority on in- Carleton’s MBA degree program to mature Chinese environment. vestment finance who has been with students. The faculty of the Sprott School of Busi- “Diversity in education is an issue the university since 1989, has been ness in Ottawa, Ontario, will teach the MBA courses that demands commitment,” says named the inaugural chair holder. Bernard J. Milano, the PhD Project’s in Shanghai, while Donghua faculty will teach Daniel Trefler, a professor of busi- founder. He also is president of the ness economics, has been named the preparatory courses. The Sprott School currently KPMG Foundation, which is the J. Douglas and Ruth Grant Chair offers degree programs in Iran and India. creator and lead sponsor of the pro- in Competitiveness and Prosperity. While in China, Hamdullahpur and the MBA team gram. “The GE Foundation’s gener- Made possible by a gift from Dou- from Carleton met with representatives from the ous contribution will help continue glas and Ruth Grant, the $2 million National Education Examination Authority of China the momentum of The PhD Project, chair will focus on the development (NEEA) in Beijing to finalize details to implement the which has more than doubled the and dissemination of innovative use of a language assessment tool in a number of number of minority business profes- strategies to enhance the competi- test centers throughout China. sors in its nine years.”

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 11 Headlines

SHORT TAKES 2002. The Smith School will use part ■ Anjan V. Thakor of Jane Frank’s gift to stimulate fund has been named ■ The U.S. Army has awarded $2.5 raising by providing the matching the John E. million to two research centers at the dollars often needed to secure other Simon Professor University of Maryland in College Park donations. The gift will also support of Finance at the to design and test a supply chain general operations. John M. Olin management system for the military’s School of Business at Washington new High Mobility Rocket Artillery ■ Henley Management College in Henley- University, St. Louis, Missouri. System (HIMARS). HIMARS is a on-Thames, England, has launched Thakor joins the Olin School from highly-mobile weapons system that a new International Centre for the the University of Michigan, where he can launch guided rockets and then study of Media, Technology and served as the Edward J. Frey Profes- move away from its location at high Culture (ICMTC), with Michael sor of Banking and Finance from speed to avoid detection. The Hulme taking the position of direc- 1996 to 2003 and as the chairman Supply Chain Management tor. The center’s goal is to become a of the finance department from 2000 Center at the university’s research and future insight center to 2003. Thakor is the editor of the Robert H. Smith School of examining the role of communica- Journal of Financial Intermediation Business and the Center for tions technology usage, applications, and the author of four books. Public Policy and Private Enterprise and development. at the School of Public Affairs will ■ Daniel S. Fogel has joined the Bab- collaborate on the 12-month project. ■ The University of cock Graduate School of Manage- Hawaii at Manoa College ment at Wake Forest University in ■ In other news from University of of Business has named Charlotte, North Carolina, as the as- Maryland, the Smith School has recently James R. Wills Jr. interim sistant dean of the Babcock School, received two key donations. Real es- dean. Previously, Wills dean of Charlotte MBA programs, tate developer Robert H. Smith has served as associate dean and executive professor of strategy. pledged an additional $3 million to of the college. The pro- Fogel will be responsible for the uni- the school; the funds will be used to fessor of marketing has versity’s evening and Saturday MBA build and enhance the school’s tech- served in a number of academic programs at the university’s Char- nology resources over the next three leadership positions before serving lotte campus. Starting in January, he years and to finance a three-year as associate dean. also will be responsible for nonde- marketing initiative. The Robert H. gree executive education programs. Smith School of Business was named ■ The University of Texas at San Antonio in honor of Smith in 1998, when the announced today a $2 million gift ■ Wayne Shaw, a professor of account- business school alumnus provided an from Richard Liu, the chairman of ing at Southern Methodist Univer- endowment of $15 million. In addi- Superior Holdings Limited of Hong sity’s Cox School of Business, Dallas, tion, Jane Frank, owner of the Worlds Kong. The gift will be used to fur- Texas, has been named the Helmut of Wonder art gallery in McLean, ther expand the Liu’s Family Foun- Sohmen Distinguished Professor of Virginia, has pledged $500,000 to dation U.S.-China Business Educa- Corporate Governance. Shaw is an the school to recognize the contribu- tion Initiative that Liu established in expert on financial disclosure and re- tions of her husband, school dean 1998 with a $1 million contribution. porting, as well as mergers and ac- Howard Frank. In recognition of the Key components of the Liu’s Family quisitions and initial public offerings. gift, the school has named its largest Foundation program include gradu- Shaw plans to use the resources of auditorium the “Howard Frank Au- ate student and faculty exchanges, the Sohmen Chair to develop multi- ditorium.” The 250-seat auditorium executive educational opportunities, disciplinary courses that explore ethi- is located in the school’s new research collaboration, and joint pro- cal decision-making and corporate 103,000-square-foot wing, which grams between the College of Busi- governance, in particular board rela- opened for classes in September ness and top universities in China. tions and board management issues.

12 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 ■ David Stout has been named the It’s surprising John S. and Doris M. Andrews Chair in Accounting at the Williamson College of Business Administration of Youngstown State University in where some Ohio. Stout will be responsible for establishing new partnerships with the accounting profession and busi- students go after ness community; enhancing the curriculum, faculty development, strategic partnerships, and student services; and increasing the visibility Harvard and Yale. of the YSU accounting program through speaking engagements. The Andrews Chair in Accounting was established in 2001 with a $1 million gift from the Andrews Trust. Here.

■ Keith J. Crocker has been named to the William Elliott Chair in Insur- ance at the Smeal College of Busi- ness, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania. Crocker will provide research leader- ship in insurance and risk manage- ment, bridging across disciplines into areas such as finance and accounting.

■ Saint Joseph’s University in Philadel- It shouldn’t be surprising, because the phia, Pennsylvania, and China Pharma- Zicklin School of Business is the largest ceutical University in Nanjing recently business school in the nation and one of launched a joint Pharmaceutical the most respected. In fact, our graduate Marketing MBA pro- programs attract students from the most gram, and classes competitive universities here and around began in August. the world. This is the fifth part- nership Saint Joseph’s has signed with a Chi- nese university. As part Baruch College of the programs, Saint Joseph’s fac- Zicklin School of Business ulty teach a portion of their courses 646-312-1300 in China and students come to [email protected] Philadelphia for a summer semester Web: http://zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu ZICKLIN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS to complete their curriculum re- quirements. The remaining required ZICKLIN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS THE AMERICANThe CityDREAM University of New York STILL WORKS. courses are taught at the respective Chinese university.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 13 Headlines

SHORT TAKES ■ In other news from Fisher, the partment. In addition, associate dean school has announced the appoint- Jane Mutchler will return to her role as ■ Four new appointments have re- ment of Anil Arya, professor of ac- director of the School of Account- cently been announced at the School counting and MIS, as the John J. ancy. Mutchler, who was recently ap- of Business at Quinnipiac University, Gerlach Chair in Accounting. pointed president of the American Hamden, Connecticut. Patrice A. Accounting Association, will remain Luoma, professor of management, has ■ Mike Page has been named the new in her role as associate dean for the been appointed director of the mas- dean of the Erasmus Graduate School remainder of the year. ter’s in business administration pro- of Business at the Rotterdam School gram. Patrick S. Frazier has been ap- of Management in ■ Two appointments have recently pointed director of international the Netherlands. been announced at the Richard T. education, a position that allows him He succeeds Kai Farmer School of Business, Miami to provide international educational Peters, who has University, Oxford, Ohio. Joseph (Jay) experiences for undergraduate, grad- accepted a position Kayne has been appointed the Cintas uate, and professional students. He as chief executive at Chair in Entrepreneurship and will also will increase the international Ashridge. Page, who has served as oversee the teaching and research activities of faculty and staff and in- dean of academic affairs since 2000, activities in the Thomas C. Page ternationalize the curriculum. Angela also is an honorary professor of the Center for Entrepreneurship in the Mattie has been appointed assistant University of Cape Town at the School of Business. Christine Adamow professor of management in the Graduate School of Business and has been named the new director of School of Business. Christopher P. Ball holds professorial appointments at the school’s Thomas C. Page Center has been appointed assistant profes- Henley Management College and for Entrepreneurship. sor of economics at the school, Stellenbosch Business School. where he specializes in international ■ Richard A. Highfield has been named macroeconomics, industrial organi- ■ The Anderson School at the Univer- the dean of the Peter J. Tobin zation, and econometrics. sity of California at Los Angeles and the College of Business of St. John’s Business School of the National Univer- University in Jamaica, New York. He ■ Three accountants have sity of Singapore have launched a dual- replaces Peter J. Tobin, who moves been named as the 2003 degree EMBA program. The inten- to a new role as special assistant to Accounting Hall of Fame sive program comprises six two-week the president of the school. inductees: Philip W. Bell and residential segments in Los Angeles, Edgar O. Edwards, authors of a Shanghai, and Singapore over 15 ■ Ball State University in Muncie, Indi- seminal book on business months, providing in-depth exposure ana, is receiving nearly $17.2 million income measurement; and to the intellectual and business cul- from the estate of Wallace T. Miller James J. Leisenring, who has tures of all three of these cities. Jr., the largest single played a key role in the de- private gift from an velopment of financial re- ■ Several new appointments have individual in the porting standards. The been made at Georgia State Univer- school’s history. The Accounting Hall of Fame sity’s Robinson College of Business gift, which establishes was established in 1950 at The Ohio in Atlanta. Irene M. Duhaime, professor the Phyllis A. Miller State University’s Fisher College of of management and Zwerner Chair Professorship in health Business in Columbus and has since for Entrepreneurship and Family economics, will result in the business honored 73 influential and respected Business, has been chosen to chair school being renamed the Miller accountants from academe, account- the management department. Kenneth College of Business. In addition to ing practice, government, and busi- L. Bernhardt, Taylor E. Little Jr. Profes- creating the professorship in eco- ness. The Hall of Fame’s international sor of Marketing and Regents Pro- nomics, the gift will allow the school board of electors selects the honorees. fessor, will chair the marketing de- to offer new programs, provide new

14 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 opportunities for faculty and stu- dents, and improve the college’s abil- ity to communicate with alumni and supporters.

■ The Mays Business School at Texas A&M University in College Station received a $500,000 gift from alum- nus Brandon C. Coleman Jr. The money will provide for a business chair in the marketing department in Coleman’s name. The gift was matched by the A&M’s Vision 2020 Matching Program to create a $1 million endowed chair.

■ Minnis Ridenour, executive vice presi- dent and chief operating officer of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, will be stepping down from his position during the summer of 2004. He he will coordinate the Leeds School’s sity of Pennsylvania, where he was plans to continue teaching at the business and society initiative that founder and director of the Wharton graduate and undergraduate levels examines the impact business has on Enterprising Families Initiative. in financial management for govern- society. The initiative also includes He will hold the President’s Term mental and nonprofit organizations related programs such as the annual Chair in Family Enterprising and during the academic year 2004-05. Japha Symposium on Professional and serve as an assistant professor of He will also handle resource devel- Business Ethics and the Leeds Sum- entrepreneurship. opment and special projects as re- mit Award for Social Impact. quested by the administration. ■ The Weatherhead School of Man- ■ Richard L. Nolan, professor agement at Case Western Reserve ■ The Leeds School emeritus of The Harvard Busi- University, Cleveland, Ohio, has of Business at the ness School, has been named announced two new appointments. University of Colorado at the inaugural Philip M. Condit Scott Shane has become a full-time Boulder has received a Endowed Chair in Business professor in the school’s economics $1 million donation Administration at the Univer- department, while Edward M. Morrison from Dick and Jean Engebretson, sity of Washington Business School is the new executive director of the both alums of CU. The money will in Seattle. The professorship was es- Weatherhead Center for Regional be used to support various initiatives. tablished in 2001 with gifts totaling Economic Issues (REI). Shane, who Dick Engebretson is the executive $1 million from The Boeing Co. will also serve as academic director of vice president of DMG World REI, is a leading scholar in the study Media, an international exhibition ■ Babson College of Wellesley, Massa- of entrepreneurship and technology and publishing company. chusetts, has established the Insti- transfer. Morrison, an economic de- tute for Family Enterprising within velopment consultant for 18 years, ■ In other news from Leeds, the the Arthur M. Blank Center for has developed strategies for organi- school has announced that Robert Kolb Entrepreneurship. Founding direc- zations around the country and has been appointed assistant dean for tor of the institute, Timothy Habbershon, manages a joint venture in China business and society. In this position, comes to Babson from the Univer- for American investors. ■z

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 15 Battling Brandfor the Any organization can go from boom times to bankruptcy on the back of a poorly planned marketing strategy or a lackluster brand. Only by being first in the mind of consumers, according to father-daughter marketing team Al and Laura Ries, can any business—or business school—succeed.

f war is hell, then so is marketing. At least, it is when You spend a great deal of time trying to help compa- it comes to developing effective strategies to win the nies distinguish between advertising and PR. Why do loyalty of consumers, says Al Ries, one of marketing’s you think it’s so difficult for them to tell the difference? I think they’re under a lot of pressure. Any good-sized com- most prominent figures for the last two decades. Ries I pany has an advertising agency and a PR agency working for often compares marketing to warfare, both in conver- it. The advertising agency will always say, “Spend more sation and in the 1997 book he co-wrote with Jack Trout, money on advertising”; and the PR agency will always say, Marketing Warfare. He emphasizes that it’s really a battle out “Spend more money on PR.” Most of our clients throw up there—any manager who doesn’t quickly seek the high their hands and say, “We don’t know what to do.” So they ground and secure his territory is almost sure to lose. give the advertising people some money, they give the PR Ries has come to this conclusion after spending years help- people some money, and then they hope for the best. ing businesses differentiate themselves from their competitors. We try to show companies the difference between the two After graduating from DePauw University with a degree in lib- functions. We don’t downgrade either function, but at certain eral arts, Ries worked for General Electric and then two New times, you should focus on one or the other. For example, at York advertising agencies before starting an advertising the launch of the brand, when the brand has no credibility, agency with Trout. After a few years in the business, he and you need to power PR. PR has many disadvantages, but its Trout realized that most companies were in market- one advantage is its credibility—people tend to ing trouble. They didn’t see that advertising and PR by Tricia Bisoux believe the message. Once a brand has been estab- lished, you should focus on advertising. Advertising weren’t separate entities, but two halves of an photos by Bob Mahoney has many advantages, but its main disadvantage is inseparable whole. that it’s not believable. The only thing you can really say in “We would present advertising programs to our clients that advertising is what people already believe. For example, if an called for a change of product name, a change of strategy, or ad says Volvo is a safe car, people will say, “Yes, that’s right. a change of marketing direction. The client would say, ‘Wait Volvo is a safe car.” If an ad says Dodge is a safe car, people a minute, we hired you for advertising. We do the market- will say, “No it isn’t. I’ve never read anything about Dodge ing—you do the ads,’” says Ries. “We realized that compa- being a safe car. That’s just an ad.” nies didn’t know that if the marketing is wrong, it doesn’t mat- ter how good the ads are. They’ll still fail.” Marketing and branding are significant parts of the In response to what they perceived as a widespread mis- business school curriculum. What do you think is the understanding of marketing, Ries and Trout wrote several biggest misconception about these topics still taught in other books, including Bottom-Up Marketing; Positioning: The a business school classroom? Battle for Your Mind; and The 22 Immutable Laws of The biggest misconception that colleges include in their Marketing. Ries now frequently speaks to employees of glob- courses is the notion that you should start with advertising al companies to give them new perspectives on advertising, and develop the concept—what advertising people like to call “the big idea.” Then, you use PR to publicize the ads. What PR, and branding. In 1994, Ries and Trout parted ways. Ries we’re saying is, “No, go in the opposite direction.” Use PR now partners with his daughter Laura in their business Ries & to start the fire, and use advertising to fan the fire. Ries in Atlanta, Georgia. (See “Like Father, Like Daughter?” on For instance, when you start a war, the first thing you do page 20.) The two have co-authored The Fall of Advertising is use air power to soften the defenses. When the defenses are and the Rise of PR, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, and softened with air power, then you move the infantry in to The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding. occupy the territory. When you study strategy at West Point In an increasingly crowded field of business schools, the or another military school, they don’t teach infantry strategy true battle isn’t in the rankings, says Ries, but in establishing a and air force strategy separately. They teach military strategy brand identity in the minds of consumers. And it’s not enough and consider both elements. One’s not more important than for a school to get its message to the masses or even to have the other. the best product available, he emphasizes. To win over con- The same thing is true with marketing. You use PR to soft- sumers, any organization has to find its true identity, focus its en the consumer’s defenses and establish credibility in the products, and, above all, fight to be first. consumer’s mind. Then, when you have that credibility, use

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 17 Technological change—it may be the Internet or something in the way business is managed—will allow business schools to focus on something different, something that advertising to move in and hold that territory and hold those consumers. A student who studies advertising or PR sepa- might eventually undermine the rately will never get the right combination of ingredients and will never be a very good marketing person. power of Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, Northwestern, From your viewpoint, how would you teach Marketing 101 students to take a long-term approach to brand- and other well-established schools. building and marketing, especially when so many cor- —Al Ries porations and stockholders are now interested in short-term results? That’s a big problem, as a matter of fact. Many people might Companies located in small countries say, “This is Guatemala. believe what we’re saying, but then they go to work for a We can’t do that.” They think they’ve got to live in the U.S. company that’s focused on short-term, quarter-by-quarter to build a big brand. So, Nokia is a very good example of a results. They often find the strategies that we suggest will not company that has built a world-class brand from Finland, necessarily improve short-term results, only long-term. I which only has five million people. think a young person working for a big corporation is in a very difficult position, because the pressures of the organiza- Would you say that the only reason for Nokia’s tion will force him to do the opposite of what we think are success is that it focused its product line? good strategies. And corporations don’t change at the bot- No, that was just the first step. And I’m not saying that every tom; they have to change at the top. company that focuses its product is going to be successful. For young business graduates today, it’s probably better I’m saying the opposite, that if a company doesn’t focus, it not to start with a big company. They should start with a will never be successful. I don’t care how good it is, how smaller company that has more control and more interest in good its products are, or how good the management is. doing things differently. I find that there’s often not much Without that first step, focus, it’s not going to be successful. room for innovation in a large company that already has exist- Here’s further proof of that—the other half of the story. ing ways of working. Nokia competes with a much bigger U.S. company, Having said that, I have seen indications that big compa- Motorola, which had the inherent advantage of inventing the nies are beginning to rethink their approaches. For example, cell phone. But Motorola is the typical big company that’s I recently spoke at Proctor & Gamble’s worldwide marketing into everything. It’s into semiconductors, personal comput- meeting. For Proctor & Gamble to invite me to talk about ers, mainframe computers, satellite communications system. the use of PR versus advertising shows that even the biggest Without focusing on one product, Nokia would not have companies are thinking that their current way of launching been as successful against Motorola. new brands is not necessarily correct. And what is a failing corporate strategy students There are many examples of good and bad corporate should study? marketing. What would be the two corporate brand- Kodak is an interesting case. Kodak is a company that stands ing stories—one a success and one a failure—that you for photographic film. Today’s business is going to digital think absolutely should be taught in the business photography, yet Kodak is still trying to play the game with classroom? its film. Every year it’s falling further behind by trying to The success of Nokia, which now owns 35 percent of the make the Kodak brand stand for two different things, regular world’s market for cell phones, is a very good example. Nokia film and digital photography. What Kodak needs to do is to once made everything from tires to personal computers. It develop a second brand, to do what Toyota did with Lexus, followed one of our key principles: It focused its products. It what Black & Decker did with DeWALT, what Levi’s did decided to focus on cell phones. Now, according to the brand with Dockers. evaluation firm Interbrand, the Nokia brand is the sixth most The other side of the coin is Polaroid. Polaroid stood for valuable brand in the world. instant photography, and then it tried to take the Polaroid Most businesspeople in small countries feel they can’t brand name into a lot of different products unrelated to build big brands because they live in a small country. instant film photography. It eventually went bankrupt. The

18 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 In this issue, we’re also featuring an article on b- school branding. In your book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, you write, “Marketplace Darwinism is survival of the fastest.” That is, an organization should avoid being second at all costs. In many mar- kets, such as athletic shoes, computers, or even cars, there are usually just a few competitors. But with business schools, there are thousands. Trying to be first can be a daunting prospect. How would you advise a business school to find effective ways to same thing happened with Western Union, which tried to make a name for itself in such an expansive market? take its telegram brand name and use it for telephones. That If a business school decides to focus on something, it can rap- was a disaster, and it eventually went bankrupt, too. idly develop a reputation for being first or the best. Thunderbird is a good example, with its focus on global stud- In Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, you and Jack ies. In fact, Thunderbird is one of the very few schools I know Trout wrote that, “Too often, management people of that has actually focused its curricula on something, rather don’t know how to manage their own careers. They than just creating a perception of being focused. Wharton at think that hard work is all that counts.” Business the University of Pennsylvania has the perception of being schools teach management at an organizational level. focused on finance, but it’s not. If you look at its curriculum, Do you think they adequately teach business students Wharton is no different from Harvard or many other business the skills of self-management and self-promotion? schools. The same thing goes for Harvard. It has the percep- Well, most young people I know have no strategy except tion of being focused on management, although its curricu- working hard. I have a son-in-law who works 12 hours a day lum isn’t focused on management. and on the weekends; he’d work 24 hours a day if he could. I’m not saying that hard work isn’t helpful, but hard work Schools like Wharton and Harvard are juggernauts in isn’t a strategy. It’s just like warfare: Your army can try very the business school industry, and there are many hard, but if it’s positioned wrong, it’s going to lose. other schools with aspirations to those top spots in Students need a strategy, similar to those we talk about in people’s minds. Are top-tier schools ever truly safe? our books. They need to focus on something. Schools should For example, IBM’s dominance was once unques- ask them, “If Volvo means ‘safety’ and BMW means ‘driving,’ tioned, but now it’s beset by its competitors. Can what do you mean?” Most students will say, “Uh, I don’t that happen in the business school market? know. I’m a hard worker.” That’s not good enough. What undermines an established brand most is technological change, as it did with IBM. IBM was very powerful when the Do you think many business school career offices view mainframe computer was the biggest thing in business. But their work preparing students for their careers as a technology changed and the personal computer became big. form of branding? IBM didn’t make the right decision. It should have launched They should. I’ve advised people on their careers on an infor- a second brand, the same thing Kodak should have done. mal basis. One of the first questions I ask is always “What do The same is true for business schools. Technological you like doing?” as opposed to “What are you good at?” change—it may be the Internet or something in the way busi- Because students may be fundamentally good at something, ness is managed—will allow business schools to focus on but if they don’t like what they’re doing, they probably something different, something that might eventually under- aren’t going to be very successful in the long run. Students mine the power of Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, have to a have a focus, but I’d rather see people focus on Northwestern, and the other well-established schools. I think, what they like to do rather than on what they think they frankly, globalization is also a factor that may undermine an should do to get ahead. They may not make as much money established business school brand. You could have the most doing the things they like to do, but they’ll be more suc- powerful business school in the world if you were focused on cessful and happier. That’s a better goal in life than just mak- global business. Right now, Thunderbird is doing this, but ing money. I’m not sure it’s in the right location or has the right

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 19 Like Father, Like Daughter?

Laura Ries has marketing in her blood—literally. As Al Ries’ daughter, she has been influenced significantly by his expertise in the marketing biz. After graduating with a degree in commu- nications from Northwestern University in 1993, Ries worked as an account executive with New York City’s TBWA Advertising, handling such brands as Woolite and Evian. She partnered with her father in 1994 to form Ries & Ries Consulting and to co- author a number of best-selling books. In 2002, she was named a “management guru” by Business 2.0 magazine. Your father mentioned that you and he think fairly The lessons she has learned from her father have been invalu- alike when it comes to marketing. However, you able, says Ries. As a marketing consultant in the 21st century, look through the perspective of a different gender Ries has moved away from being “Al Ries’ daughter” to making and generation. Is there a point at which you, per- a name for herself as a respected marketing strategist. And she haps not disagree, but approach the field differently has a distinctive point of view on what companies are doing from your father? right—and wrong—to get their marketing messages across. We definitely agree on the basic principles of marketing. On the execution side, however, I have more knowledge of trends You’ve obviously been strongly influenced by your among younger consumers, especially women. Although we father, but many children want to go in the opposite have worked together on a strategy for a tampon company and direction from their parents! When did you first he had some good insights. But there is nothing more embar- discover that you wanted to make marketing your rassing than discussing tampons with your dad all day. career? My father very wisely never pushed the business on me. He only Do you think that today’s upcoming younger genera- encouraged what became my own interest in advertising and, tions are influenced by and respond to brands in the later, marketing. Growing up I loved going into New York City same way as past generations? with my dad to his advertising agency. I always knew deep I think that brands have only become more important to the down that I wanted to be involved in the business somehow. upcoming generations. Brands are used by people to define their First, I wanted to act in commercials. Then I wanted work in identities. You are a Pepsi drinker, Volvo driver, Mac user, TiVo advertising. And, finally, I wanted to work as a marketing devotee, Timberlake fan, Wall Street Journal reader, etc. In addi- strategist with my dad. tion, the Internet is having a greater influence on people’s daily lives and the speed at which information can be shared. Had it not been for the proximity of your father’s expertise, do you think you would have gone to What areas of marketing do you think are most business school? neglected by business schools? I certainly would have chosen to go to business school to study I think the basic principles of positioning and branding are marketing. In fact, I applied to Harvard and Kellogg my first underemphasized, and the principles of public relations in terms year out of college. Of course, I was rejected, due mostly to my of brand building are very much neglected. Business schools lack of experience in the post-college working world. But the place too much emphasis on advertising and extending brand rejection pushed me to quit my job in advertising and start my equity through line extensions. Instead, schools should spend partnership with Al sooner rather than later. I figured, why wait more time teaching the principle of focus and showing that two or more years to start doing what I already knew I wanted brands are strengthened by narrowing, not extending, their to do? I had a lot to learn in the first couple of years, but I stud- focus. Think Starbucks and coffee, Subway and submarine ied hard and got to learn from the best. My dad has given me sandwiches, Red Bull and energy drinks. They should also the best education in marketing that money could buy. emphasize that great brands are built with PR, not advertising.

20 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 Business schools place too much emphasis on advertising and extending brand equity. then they decide where and how to buy it—by phone, on the Instead, schools should spend Internet, or at the store. Almost every company should be evaluating its information, communications, and activities via more time teaching the principle Internet. This is a shift in advertising, too. It used to be that people used advertising to convey information about prod- of focus and showing that brands ucts and services, like the Sears Roebuck catalog. But these are strengthened by narrowing, days the Internet is a more efficient way of doing that. People can search for specific information on the Internet much not extending, their focus.” more easily than they can go through the pages of a catalog. —Laura Ries Can the way you present information on your site interfere with your brand? Or is it that when you put resources to execute that strategy. INSEAD is also very good up information that’s true for your school, the brand at global branding. and perception take care of themselves? That’s an interesting point. That’s where the power of having You mention two dominant forces—the Internet and a focus comes in. If you’re a business school that offers all globalization. The two are really interconnected, in that sorts of things, what is your site? It will be like everybody the Internet has in large part made globalization possi- else’s. The way to make the site look different, feel different, ble. But they represent huge minefields for business, and act different is to have some sort of focus, which will linguistically, culturally, technologically. How can busi- immediately make your site more powerful. A lack of focus ness schools overcome those hurdles in order to mar- will make it messy and complicated. Look at Amazon.com. ket themselves to such a heterogeneous audience? Amazon used to be simple, and now it sells everything. It’s There are a lot of professors writing articles and books on the more complicated, and that’s hurting the company. subject, but nobody really knows how it’s all going to work Designing an Internet site that’s really helpful and useful is out. You can really only build brands at the periphery of these not an easy task these days. The best way to do it is to sim- trends, if you will. That is, you’ve got to get in early. Apple plify. Interestingly enough, I think over time most institutions got in early with the first personal computer; Intel got in early of higher learning have just accumulated all sorts of courses with the first microchip. The Internet, global branding, glob- and programs. As a result, everything becomes way too com- al marketing, and developing global corporations that aren’t plicated, and that shows up on their sites. really located in any one specific country—an institution that focuses on these developments could be very powerful. Say that a business student or young manager is Institutions should focus on these developments rather given a seemingly impossible assignment—to develop than focus on finance and try to upstage Wharton, or focus a brand-building campaign that will succeed in sup- on management and try to upstage Harvard. It’s better to planting the current dominant brand in the consumer’s pioneer new territory and hire professors who are recognized mind. Is that even possible? experts in new disciplines. That would take a business school The fundamental way to accomplish that is to be the oppo- a long way toward building a perception of being first in these site. The difference between Home Depot and Lowe’s is a new areas. good example. Home Depot is perceived to be messy, male- oriented. So Lowe’s, the No. 2 brand, became clean and The world where everything was going to happen on female-oriented. Today, Lowe’s is making a lot of progress the Internet obviously never happened. Magazines are and doing better than Home Depot. printed, shopping still happens at the mall. But the Likewise, Wal-Mart is perceived as being downscale and Internet is still a very powerful force. What role does inexpensive, so Target became the opposite. It’s perceived as and should the Internet play in an organization’s “cheap chic.” Coca-Cola is the old established cola, so Pepsi efforts to brand itself? said, “We’re for the younger generation, the Pepsi genera- In one word—information. There will be some buying on the tion.” The fundamental strategy is that if you want to build a Internet, but in almost every situation today people use the brand against a dominant competitor, you must try to figure Internet to get information about a product or service. And out what No. 1 is and be the opposite of No. 1. In the busi-

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 21 Most students do a very good job of learning in the classroom, but they don’t do as well in following what’s happening in the world of business. I find that a lot of younger people think they know everything. But if you ask them what happened yesterday to General Motors, they’ll say, “Well, I don’t know about that.” —Al Ries

ness school area, decide who you want to go against and be the opposite of that school. That’s the concept, although I’m not saying it’s easy to do.

If a business student wanted to become the best marketer and brand-builder in the world, what early experience do you think would prove most valuable to him or her? Most students do a very good job of learning in the class- room, but they don’t do as well in following what’s happen- ing in the world of business. I find that a lot of younger peo- ple think they know everything. But if you ask them what happened yesterday to General Motors, they’ll say, “Well, I don’t know about that.” If students want to be really good in this business, they have to pay the price, which is spending a considerable amount of time every day reading about what’s happening in business around the world. Students must be able to form opinions about what’s good and bad through observation of what companies are doing or not doing. Unless they’re up- to-date on what’s happening with the larger companies in the world today, they can’t really form a good conceptual approach to marketing. And in marketing, things are constantly changing, so to be really good, students have to read the business press and the newspapers—The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Forbes, The Economist, The New York Times, USA Today. I subscribe to five newspapers and maybe 200 or 300 magazines. I don’t think there’s a magazine of any note that I don’t read.

It also seems, then, that another challenge for stu- dents is not only being up-to-date, but also being

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capable of producing a timeline of what’s happening some of your books make them out to be? Is it possi- with a company. ble to oversimplify branding, advertising, and market- Oh, yes. When students read about a company doing this ing and how they all interact? or that, they need to ask, “Is this good or bad?” Then, I would certainly agree with most people that nothing about they need to continue to observe what’s happening with a marketing is at all simple. The process is complicated. But company. That’s the only way to develop confidence. even in a complicated situation, such as warfare, if you don’t Students will never be good at marketing unless they have have a simple analogy or a simple way of looking at what confidence, and they develop confidence by making pre- you’re doing, you probably aren’t going to be successful. dictions and then watching them happen. If they make That’s my main complaint about most marketing managers— predictions that don’t happen, students should realize that they know everything, but they don’t know enough to apply they’re doing something wrong. That should be constant- simple, logical, conceptual ideas to what they’re doing. They ly in their minds as they read about what these companies run off in all directions doing hundreds of different things. are doing. They might do each individual thing well, but they don’t have an overall grasp of what they’re trying to do. You have spent your career examining the roles of Look at Burger King, for example. Burger King has spent advertising, PR, branding. In your opinion, what’s hundreds of millions of dollars every year on all sorts of pro- the next mountain to climb in the marketing arena? grams. Instead, it should be the opposite of McDonald’s. Get What’s the next wave that organizations should rid of the swings and slides. Get rid of all those value meals. expect to affect their marketing strategies? Let that business go to McDonald’s—it’s going to go there Laura and I are working on a book on innovation. We want anyway. Burger King should become the grownup business to explore the areas that companies should focus on in order and focus on a different customer. to innovate and how they should use technological innova- This may be a simple way of looking at it. But after you tion to advance their causes and build their brands. simplify it, you need to work out a program. You need to think of the complicated ideas and do the complicated work. How do you respond to critics who say that branding, But first you’ll always need an overall, simple, conceptual advertising, and marketing aren’t quite as clear-cut as analogy to guide you. ■z

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 23 The

of B-School Branding

en practitioners often ask the enigmatic ques- view book or look at its Web site, it’s almost always focused tion, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is on product characteristics. That’s sales,” says Westerbeck. there to hear, does it make a sound?” The elusive “Branding is based on who you are, not what you do.” answer may be best left for Buddhist mystics and A business school brand should also take into account its acoustical scientists to ponder. A more straight- hopes for the future, adds George Sopko, vice president of forward question to ask might be, “If a business school offers New York City’s Stanton Crenshaw Communica tions, “As educational programs and no one identifies with its offerings, we put it, branding should capture both the ‘is’ and the does it matter how good they are?” Here, the ‘ought.’ It should describe not only who you are, answer is unequivocal: No. By Tricia Bisoux but also what you aspire to be.” Yet, business school marketing programs often Increased attention to business school brand- confuse the quality of their programs with their identities ing has led to much soul-searching within the adminis- in the marketplace. That can be a mistake, says Tim trations and faculty of individual schools. Branding is Westerbeck, executive vice president of Lipman an art, both Westerbeck and Sopko admit, but it isn’t Hearne, a marketing consulting firm with offices in rocket science. Rather, it’s a culmination of discus- Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. Creating sions that start with business school staff and stu- a recognizable name that resonates meaningful- dents asking and answering one single ques- ly in the public mind—that is, a powerful tion: “Who are we, really?” To develop a dis- brand—is not about a school’s characteris- tinct brand, say consultants, business tics, he says. A brand is less about a schools must look at their histories, their school’s rankings and test scores, and legacies, and their ambitions to uncov- more about its culture and mindset. er what it is they truly stand for in the “When you pick up a school’s business school market.

24 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 AARON WINDSOR/PHOTONICA Establishing a brand identity for a business school is not about what its students, faculty, and staff can do, say branding experts. It’s about how they think.

“Your Brand Is Not ‘Excellence’” table and follow a basic ‘we make it, you take it’ psychology. For decades, business schools have banded together to explain They’ll decide what their brand will be, then they’ll go out the value of the business degree to the public. Now that the into to the marketplace and figure out how to make everyone MBA and other business degrees are better understood, the believe it. That simply doesn’t work,” says Westerbeck. drive to differentiate has come once again to the forefront. What a school’s culture and brand truly are can come as a “Branding will become one of the most prominent drivers surprise, even to those most closely involved with a school’s of value across the increasing number of business schools in inner workings. “I’ve done many focus groups to ask people the next decade,” says Martin Roll of VentureRepublic, a what they thought of a business school. I can’t think of a time Singapore-based strategy consulting firm specializing in when school administrators weren’t shocked to hear what branding. “The branding strategy and program need to go far alumni and corporate leaders think of them,” says beyond the product portfolio and embrace the whole offering Westerbeck. “Sometimes they’re angry, sometimes they’re from the business school, including products, people, pleased. Almost always, what people think is very different price/value, and place.” from what the administrators expected.” Even so, when asked what makes their schools special, While it may be nearly impossible to change perceptions many deans will point to their “commitment to academic that are based on what the school actually is and on the prod- excellence,” says Westerbeck. By touting excellence as their uct it offers, this doesn’t mean that a school is limited by the main distinguishing characteristic, many business schools have public’s current perception of its culture. Rather, it should unintentionally mired themselves in a sea of sameness. base its brand on what it already does well, or alternatively, “There has been a shocking degree of similarity across the what it has the resources to change. board in the way business schools position and market them- “Sometimes people believe they can achieve their aspira- selves. I do brand presentations for business schools and say, tions through marketing alone, by going out and telling peo- ‘Your brand is not “excellence”—that brand is already ple that we’re no longer regional, we’re a national player,” says taken,’” says Westerbeck. “Nor is it ‘global education,’ nor is it ‘teamwork.’ Those buzzwords have already been used.” The problem, submits Sopko, is that being classed as “dif- Sure Paths to Bad Branding ferent” has not always paid off for business schools in public venues of evaluation, such as the rankings. On the one hand, business schools want to differentiate themselves. On the When developing a brand, business schools often fall into other, they all want to be part of the same club. some common psychological traps, experts say. It’s impor- “For the most part, business schools want to produce stu- tant that a b-school brand be focused enough to represent dents who have all the qualifications and expertise that com- its true value to the market but flexible enough to grow with panies hiring MBAs want,” says Sopko. “Employers aren’t the school as the market changes. “Big picture” thinking will looking for ‘radical’ or ‘unique’ institutions. Those words help schools avoid creating a brand with a focus that’s too scare businesses, at least when they’re hiring MBAs.” narrow. That mindset seems to be changing though, says Sopko, as The “one great department” trap. Schools fall into this businesses seek more innovative ways to master their individ- trap when they try to limit their brand to only one part ual markets, while addressing prominent issues such as ethics, of the faculty, says George Sopko of Stanton Crenshaw entrepreneurship, and competitive strategy. As a result, Communications. “Many schools fixate on only one they’re looking for business schools with distinct and identifi- department to the exclusion of others. But all of a school’s able cultures and brands that best coincide with their own. departments should support the larger brand.” To avoid this mistake, Martin Roll of VentureRepublic A Reality Check advises schools to look closely first at what each individual Because a brand refers to a school’s identity, however, it can- department has accomplished to discover the common not be forced. A brand should be based on the reality of a thread that holds them all together. “A business school school’s present situation and culture. And above all, says needs to pick one or two of its strongest selling points and Westerbeck, it must be believable. build a consistent and unique ‘brand package’ around “Schools are notorious for ‘deciding’ what the school’s them,” says Roll. continued brand is. The deans, administrators, and faculty sit around the >>

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 25 The common mistake among brand marketers is to try to embrace too many messages in brand-

Westerbeck. “It makes much more sense for a regional school who answers the phone, to the marketing departments, to the to build a brand on the aspiration to be the best regional librarians, to the upper management. It’s not enough to get provider and to build the scope of its product in its region than everyone on board with a business school’s brand message. to decide it’s going to be in the oranges business after it’s been It’s also imperative that they communicate it through almost in the apples business for years. You have to decide that it’s OK everything they do internally and externally. to be what you are and become better at that. Or you have to Likewise, it is also important to target a brand to each be willing to change your product offering.” audience a business school reaches. “Imagine how different Sowing the seeds of branding where a school already is your school looks to a 24-year-old MBA student, versus a 50- makes eminent sense, agrees Sopko of Stanton Crenshaw. year-old professor applying for a job, versus a 68-year-old “Many business schools fall into the trap of thinking they have potential donor. These are radically different market seg- to have a national or international reputation, when they ments, all of whom are surrounding the same product offer- should really start at home, looking at the impact of their ing. If your message doesn’t speak to these different markets, brands locally and regionally,” he says. “Business schools your branding won’t be successful,” says Westerbeck. often aren’t as defined as they should be in their local markets, He adds that many business school departments remain especially those that are part of a larger institution.” segregated when it comes to marketing and branding efforts, AACSB International’s recent mission-based accreditation which can sink a brand before it is even launched. “For the standards have gone a long way toward allowing schools to be vast majority of schools, what goes on in admissions and true to their own strengths and aspirations, Westerbeck adds. recruiting is considered their marketing, yet they are only Mission-based standards allow schools to create a brand that small segments that mark the impact of that institution,” he truly illustrates where they fit in the marketplace. says. “In business schools, rarely are all of their departments integrated, rarely do all work from the same strategic plan, A Single Message rarely do all communicate the same message.” Branding, say these consultants, is only effective when it infil- Instead, Westerbeck advises schools to examine every trates the mindset of an entire organization, from the person avenue that they use to communicate their messages to

The “we do it all” trap. The flip side of the first trap tions to people who already identify with the school in some >>occurs when schools try to do too much, Roll adds. “Less way is only getting half the picture, emphasizes Tim is more in this context. The common mistake among brand Westerbeck of Lipman Hearne. marketers is to try to embrace too many messages in brand- “To do this the right way, you don’t just go out and sing building efforts. Target audiences get confused as the com- to the choir,” he says. “While it’s helpful to speak to alumni munication does not come through clearly and with the and donors who already love the school, canvass those who desired impact. The messages are diluted because the audi- haven’t developed an affinity with the school. You also ence finds it difficult to get an idea of what the business should approach as many people as possible about their school’s brand is all about.” perceptions of the school—especially those who didn’t The “it’s all about the logo” trap. Just as a single choose to apply or attend, who didn’t donate money, or department should not carry a school’s brand, neither who don’t recruit students. Why did they never develop should a logo or graphic design motif, no matter how visu- an affinity with the institution?” ally appealing that motif may be. “I’ve seen many schools The “we’re done” trap. Branding, say these experts, mistake their logos for their brands,” says Sopko. “The is not a terminal project. It’s important to recognize school wants to build a brand, but ends up focusing only on that branding efforts must be ongoing and perpetual. design. That’s a huge mistake. The design and the logo are “Sometimes, higher education institutions go through this the easy stuff. The brand is a position, a way of thinking.” whole branding exercise, and then say, ‘Whew, we did it! The “singing to the choir” trap. To create an effective We’re done.’ Then, they put that work into a drawer and brand, business schools should ask people at the school, in forget about it,” says Sopko. “The key is to communicate it. business, and in the general public what they think of when Start internally, because your best brand ambassadors are they think of the school. However, limiting these conversa- your faculty, staff, and students.”

26 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 building efforts. The messages are diluted because the audience finds it difficult to get an idea of what the business school’s brand is all about. – Martin Roll, VentureRepublic

‘Worthy’ Efforts at Mendoza College of Business

A strong branding message has the power to change the “Impact,” carried a way a school’s faculty, staff, and students think about them- theme of responsi- selves and their school. For example, the Mendoza College bility. The report’s of Business at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana gold award isn’t recently released its annual dean’s report—this year titled as important as “Worthy.” It asks the question, “What makes a business the fact that the college worthy?” The report, which plays on the words brochure’s mes- “worth” and “worthy” throughout, struck a chord with read- sage—and with ers and even won a gold award in the League of American it Mendoza’s Communications Professionals’ 2002 Vision Awards Annual brand—was effec- Report Competition. tively conveyed. Not only that, it resonated with the staff as a reinforce- ment of their collec- tive accomplishments and aspirations. In addition, the school’s brand is expressed through everything the school does, says Woo. For instance, Mendoza’s new classroom wing, the Giovanini Commons for Collaborative Learning, has an aesthetic and atmosphere that reinforce a feeling of communal interaction and responsibility. She also weaves the school’s brand throughout her own speeches and articles, and encourages her faculty to do the same. “I don’t give speeches called ‘Worthy,’” she says, “but, for example, I’ve given a speech titled Giovanini Commons for ‘Grace in a Competitive World.’ I’ve written an Collaborative Learning, article for BizEd called ‘Personally Responsible.’ Mendoza’s new 8,500 That particular theme is repeated in everything classroom wing. we do.” A brand is both an identity and an outcome, “Everything we do has a branding implication,” says Woo believes. In fact, Woo has found that once a faculty and Carolyn Woo, dean of the Mendoza College. “Because we staff understand a school’s brand they develop a sense of are a Catholic institution, our entire mission is about achiev- pride in that identity. More important, they bring the brand’s ing academic excellence in the context of a faith-based spirit into their work and research. In this way, they perpetu- institution. It’s not just about success, but about achieving ate and enhance what the brand signifies. success with an understanding of the responsibility that “Of course, it’s wonderful if people like the work and comes with success.” understand the message,” says Woo. “Even so, my greatest Past reports have also followed the lead of the school’s moment of satisfaction came not when I received the notifica- overall brand. Mendoza’s last report, titled “Bursting,” pic- tion that the Worthy brochure won the gold award, but when tured a seedling unfolding and followed a theme of finding a faculty member said, ‘I received the magazine and I felt so expression, explains Woo. The report before that, titled proud that I was a part of this.’”

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 27 At a cost of $60,000 to $100,000, an MBA is a very carefully considered purchase. It’s not a

internal and external audiences. Business school administra- its product in a way that connects to his or her aspirations tors often forget that their staff, faculty, and students have a and individual beliefs. Therefore, when a school focuses too great impact on how a brand identity reaches the public, much on product characteristics, class offerings, or academ- whether through a conversation, an article, or a television ic specialties, it risks missing the point of branding. interview. When everyone doesn’t just understand the “I don’t mean to diminish in any way the huge amount brand, but believes in it and communicates it as “brand of work that schools put into defining their curricula,” says ambassadors”—that’s b-school branding at its best. Westerbeck. “But it’s amusing to me that most prospective MBA students don’t really care much about the details. A Brand of One’s Own They just want to know that they’re going to an institution Even if a school’s academic offerings are excellent, a student that will be well-matched with their aspirations and that will may still look elsewhere if the school does not communicate help them achieve something in their careers.”

‘No Dominant Culture’ at INSEAD discuss how we can keep sight of the bigger picture,” says Hawawini. In addition, the school works regularly with a mar- keting consultant and asks everyone to adhere to strict corporate Diversity. Ideas. Independence. Community. Entrepreneurial identity guidelines. In this way, everyone knows what they can spirit. These terms represent the core principles behind the and cannot do with colors and the INSEAD name and logo. brand of INSEAD, with campuses in Fontainebleau, France, The values that make up INSEAD’s brand have been slowly and Singapore. “It is a combination of these elements that fuels woven into the school’s identity since its inception. The school our ambition, which is to be the most innovative and influential has not done so deliberately, stresses Hawawini, but rather it global business school,” says its dean Gabriel Hawawini. has looked back at its history and based its current identity “That’s what we see our brand as being all about.” and ambitions on its evolution. And that strategy has worked. They are grand aspirations for a relatively young school, The school’s international reputation is now backed by its “no Hawawini admits. INSEAD graduated its first class of MBA dominant culture” mantra, which ensures that no one nationali- students in 1960. But without clearly defined, stated, and ty—not even the French—make up more than 10 percent of communicated goals, emphasizes Hawawini, the school’s the student body. The notion of ‘minority’ is a very positive one students, faculty, and staff would have no consistent voice at INSEAD, Hawawini points out. “We say, ‘Everyone is a with which to communicate what INSEAD stands for. minority at INSEAD.’ There is no dominant culture. It’s truly Like most business schools, INSEAD comprises multiple multicultural.” departments including its MBA, executive education, and To further establish the multicultural aspect of its brand, the development and fund-raising departments. “They all are school also cut ties with the origin of the INSEAD name, which looking after their own programs. So, we get together to used to be a French acronym standing for the “European Institute of Business Administration.” The school dropped the acronym 13 years ago in favor of the simpler “INSEAD” moniker. “The ‘E’ stood for European, so we made the decision to drop the acronym and forget its origin,” says Hawawini. “We are first an international and global institution,” he added, so limiting its association to Europe was no longer appropriate to the school’s identity. Branding, says Hawawini, is important for any business school that strives to be known for its unique qualities, rather than for its general offerings. “In the larger business school market, people go to ‘get an MBA.’ We want to position our- selves this way: It’s not an MBA. It’s the INSEAD experience,” INSEAD’s campus in Fontainebleau, France he says. “If the term ‘MBA’ is banned, that’s fine with us. That’s the point of branding.”

28 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 $60 pair of shoes or a $1,000 computer. The selection of a business school becomes a part of a student’s personal branding process. – George Sopko, Stanton Crenshaw Communications

Branding goes beyond a product or school, says Over the long term, the degrees students eventually earn Sopko, to an individual’s view of the world. “At a cost of will comprise a much larger portion of their identity than $60,000 to $100,000, an MBA is a very carefully con- the shoes they wear, the cola they drink, or the cars they sidered purchase. It’s not a $60 pair of shoes or a $1,000 drive. Students will identify with the business schools they computer,” says Sopko. “The selection of a business choose, and so they will choose those schools carefully. It school becomes a part of a student’s personal branding only follows that business schools, as well, must very care- process.” fully create their brands. ■z

A Bold New Brand at Weatherhead The Peter B. Lewis Building at the Weatherhead School of Management

“Bold ideas. Lasting impact.” Those four words, which are the foundation of the new brand for Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, have 18 months of work and soul-searching behind them. The school, based in Cleveland, Ohio, worked in part with Stanton Crenshaw Communications to develop its new brand, which was recently launched in a schoolwide celebration. Michael Devlin, Weatherhead’s executive director of rela- tionship management, notes that it took some time for school staff to come to an agreement about what the larger busi- ness school represented, to itself and to the public. “Every of internal and external communication in the school. The two weeks, everyone who communicated with various audi- goal, he says, is that the school’s faculty, students, and staff all ences met, and I asked, ‘What is unique about Weatherhead? begin to tell the same story. What makes it different from Duke or Emory?’” “Beyond that, I hope that it becomes so much a part of our However, because they all came from different depart- culture that it becomes second nature to people,” says Devlin. ments within the business school, they all had their own sto- “I hope that when you meet someone from Weatherhead, that ries to tell, says Devlin. “The exec ed department said, ‘We person will be talking to you in terms of the school’s ongoing teach leadership better than anyone else.’ Our admissions legacy of bold ideas.” staff said, ‘We treat our applicants with more consideration.’ Such an internalization of the message is already clear in Our health systems management department said, ‘We teach some of the world’s biggest companies, Devlin points out. health systems management better than any other school, “Look at Ford, which proclaimed that ‘Quality is job one.’ That and we’ve been doing it for 35 years.’” was a statement not just to customers, dealers, and suppliers, While those claims may or may not be true, Devlin adds but also to its employees. No matter whether an employee with a laugh, the theme that ran through all of those stories works on the production line, in the marketing department, or became evident. “Finally, we came to the conclusion that in the finance department, Ford is going to stand for quality, our history is punctuated with some really radical ideas, and so you’d better come to work with that in mind.” that those ideas that peppered our history were really what Weatherhead’s brand is only a few months old, says Devlin, makes Weatherhead unique. So, that’s where ‘Bold ideas. but it already has taken hold of the imaginations of its staff. Lasting impact’ came from.” “I was at a marketing meeting, and someone offered an idea Those four words are taken from the following, longer that we host a major annual conference on a particular area brand statement: “Among the world’s best business schools, of expertise. Immediately, all the barriers went up and every- Weatherhead is a leading catalyst for advancing bold ideas one started saying, ‘Yeah, but…’ that have a lasting impact on business and society.” What’s “The person simply responded, ‘Hey, this is a bold idea important about that statement, says Devlin, is not just that and it would have a lasting impact on the school.’ That people hear those words, but that they internalize the stopped everyone. The idea won instant respect,” Devlin says. brand’s message, which will become a part of every form “The brand is already at work. I think that’s wonderful.”

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 29 LeaderThe our years ago, the U.S. Army published a manual on professor of management and director of the Center of leadership with three words imprinted on the cover: Change and Leadership at Wharton. “Be—Know—Do.” References to that manual on Sorensen expects leadership eventually to become as leadership Web sites brought a flood of calls and e- important as technical skills at b-schools. That’s certainly true mails from people who felt the U.S. Army had devel- at Virginia Tech, which has made an emphasis on leadership Foped the perfect shorthand phrase to describe the concept. almost as high a priority as its emphasis on the IT skills that “Ten years ago, that wouldn’t have happened. These days, are the school’s hallmark. The b-school administrators who people are hungry for meaning and significance,” says Frances share Sorensen’s views on the importance of leadership are Hesselbein, chairman of the board of governors of the Leader realizing that their next hurdle is to figure out how to teach to Leader Institute, formerly the Peter Drucker Foundation the concept in a classroom setting. for Nonprofit Management, New York City. Her own defini- tion of leadership is even simpler: “It’s a matter of how to be, Leadership Deconstructed not how to do. We may spend much of our lives learning how For the most part, today’s business educators are trying to to do and teaching others how to do it, yet in the end it is the break leadership skills into a variety of teachable chunks, quality and character of the leaders that determine the per- some of them experiential and some of them observational. formance, the results.” “We can’t teach people how to Teaching potential CEOs not lead, but we can provide ideas, only how to do, but how to be, justification, and a few devices has become the challenge of Business students learn to uncover to help students develop their business schools as they deter- own leadership styles,” says mine how to coax their students their leadership potential by studying Useem. “We conjure up in the into developing the practical and classroom situations where they ethical frameworks that will are put on the line and have to enable them to be leaders. The role models, developing self-awareness, think strategically.” increasingly urgent focus on Students also study leaders leadership has partly been a and facing challenging situations inside who have operated with and byproduct of corporate scandals without integrity. “Through case and partly a response to a cry for and outside the classroom. analysis, along with an introduc- leadership from the business tion to more conceptual ideas, community. we provide students with a “About 20 years ago, business by Sharon Shinn framework to think about their schools became more focused on illustration by Craig Larotonda own character development and teaching technical skills, and integrity,” Useem says. these hard skills began to crowd out softer skills,” says Richard Leadership is taught on multiple levels, says Lee G. E. Sorensen, dean of the Pamplin College of Business at Bolman, Marion Bloch/Missouri Chair in Leadership at the Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. “Then businesses started to say, Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the ‘Hey, your graduates have great tech skills, but they can’t lead University of Missouri-Kansas City. Not only must students different types of task forces.’ Some of them also couldn’t run acquire an understanding of the concepts and strategies that a meeting, communicate with people, or get teams to agree to result in good leadership, they must learn about themselves common goals.” and their own beliefs. To create students with those abilities, more and more “Leadership is a performing art in which self is the vehi- schools have put leadership skills at the heart of a business cle,” says Bolman. “In some ways it’s like acting. In knowing degree. Since 1992, all MBA students at the University of who I am, knowing something about how people see me, Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia have been knowing what I care about, what my goals are, or what’s required to take a leadership course in their first year. “The important to me, I can understand who I am as a leader.” underlying premise was that companies that hire our students Therefore, to learn leadership, students undergo a three- want them to come out of the program having acquired all part learning process that fairly closely follows the dictate of the skills that define great leadership,” says Michael Useem, that old Army manual. They are exposed to case studies so

30 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 Within

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 31 they know about good and bad leaders; with multifunctional faculty supervising they experience challenging situations them,” says Noel M. Tichy, professor of where they have a chance to do exercises in organizational behavior and director of leadership; and they develop an awareness the Global Business Partnership at of their own skills and personal beliefs so Michigan. “We have 60 projects, 25 of they know how to be excellent leaders. which are now global.” Exposing students to an array of good Tichy also runs a global health-care and bad role models might be the easiest program for vice presidents of medical part of teaching leadership. At Wharton, centers who come to Michigan for a week students look at executives from AT&T, to work on a project framed by their HP, IBM, Toyota, Daimler-Benz, and CEOs. Participants return to their jobs British Airways to deconstruct what cor- and continue to work on the projects for porate leaders did right and wrong and another six months. “These are real proj- what they should have done differently. ects with real decisions made at the end of “I tell them, ‘Don’t try to emulate any- the program,” he says. body else, but look at the best and the Such real-life experiences are crucial to worst to know how you want to behave,’” developing leadership skills, Tichy believes, says Useem. He stresses how eBay’s Meg Whitman built a comparing the learning system at business schools to medical top-notch management team that saw her through rough schools. “You do not learn open-heart surgery from the best times, whereas Ken Lay had no such talent to draw on when researcher. You learn it from a cardiologist who has cut 1,000 Enron started going down. “I tell students, ‘You don’t want times and takes you with him into the operating room.” to copy Meg Whitman or do the exact opposite of what Ken Other schools have crafted a variety of experiential learning Lay did, but borrow from the best of Meg Whitman and avoid opportunities, some of which take place in the classroom, some the worst of Ken Lay. Decide what you need personally.” outside. “We offer mentor/mentee experiences, where stu- Bolman notes, “Students can learn a great deal from dents spend time shadowing someone in the real world,” says wrestling with leadership challenges, even if they’re doing it Bolman. “We also send students into real-world situations.” vicariously.” At UMKC, teams of students research leadership For instance, in UMKC’s EMBA program, second-year issues at Enron and Andersen, drawing some background students are put in consulting teams and assigned to assist information from a multimedia presentation put together by small, struggling, inner-city businesses. “Many of the busi- the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at nesses have very weak management systems—they’re very the University of Virginia. “There are wonderful video clips loose and entrepreneurial,” says Bolman. “Inevitably, what of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay and the whole senior cast of char- the students find out is that a lot of the challenges rise from acters at Enron talking about their values and their ethics. working with the people, particularly whoever is in charge.” That gives you a very interesting set of questions. When they Partway through the consulting project, Bolman says, the fac- say these things, are they sincere? Are they lying? If they’re ulty leads the students through a leadership assessment not lying, what happened at Enron? We also look at more process so students can study the links between leadership, heroic examples like Jack Welch of GE or Ricardo Semler of strategy, and culture. Semco in Brazil. I look for a range of people.” At Virginia Tech, students in the business leadership minor practice leadership through voluntary activities. For instance, Leadership Through Experience the career fairs are all student-run, and about $3 million of Providing students opportunities to exercise leadership in Virginia Tech’s investment portfolio is managed by students demanding situations is at least as important as discussing the working in self-led teams. A number of students, primarily issues of leadership. At the University of Michigan Business scholarship recipients, also participate in a special leadership School in Ann Arbor, incoming MBAs participate in a pro- program set up at one of the residence halls. Through this gram called Multidisciplinary Actions Projects (MAP), in program, they work on leadership development and experi- which teams of four to six students analyze business problems ential learning by providing high school and campus leader- and offer solutions to real-world problems. “They spend ship training, supporting events like Earth Day, developing seven weeks in the field full-time on multifunctional projects campus diversity initiatives, and working on other projects.

32 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 One of the key components of today’s theory of leadership is that more experienced executives must constantly teach leadership skills to those coming after them.

Some leadership activities, however, can take an even more thing people do with their subordinates. One of the things adventuresome turn. For instance, Wharton students can that people who are reasonably sensible realize is that, no, choose to participate in a series of Leadership Ventures, out- leadership is something you do with subordinates, with peers, of-classroom experiences that allow them to make decisions with people outside, and very much with your boss.” under stressful conditions. These excursions include treks Most business schools require students to function in through the Himalayas, Ecuador, and Patagonia, as well as a teams at least part of the time to hone their ability to work day at the U.S. Marine Corps training center in Quantico, with others. At Wharton, incoming MBA students are divid- Virginia. “Going through the pressures of a Marine Corps ed into teams, as balanced as possible in terms of genders, drill helps students become better at making tough decisions nationalities, and business backgrounds. To complete their when the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket,” various projects, the teams rotate leadership responsibilities says Useem. “Getting through the Marine Corps training will among the members while the others take on different roles, give them the confidence to get through their current expe- such as background researchers. “The best projects come rience, whatever it might be.” from the teams that learn to act together and exercise shared These experiential learning opportunities tend to kick-start leadership,” says Useem. a student’s sense of self-awareness as well. For instance, at Hesselbein of the Leader to Leader Institute refers to this UMKC, a one-hour simulation gives students a chance to shared leadership responsibility as “circular management,” practice leadership skills—but also forces them to make some and it’s a style she has employed for at least 30 years. She self-assessment. That simulation, which is centered around an acknowledges that it’s not easy for many of today’s organiza- organization trying to produce a product, includes among its tions to dismiss the old command-and-control form of lead- players a client, a top manager, and various workers. The sim- ership. “If you throw out the old hierarchy, that old chart that ulation is set up so that every player feels a high level of pres- everyone inherits, then you have to look at the language. You sure to achieve his particular goal. have to purge it of ‘up’ and ‘down,’ ‘top’ and ‘bottom,’ and “It gets intense,” Bolman says. “I’ll interrupt the exercise ‘superior’ and ‘subordinate.’ We find when people move into halfway through so we can reflect on what’s going on and stu- a circular system, enormous energy is released. But you have dents can get feedback from the people around them about to have faith in your own people and your own ability to lead how they’re responding to challenges. This is one important to move an organization into this kind of structure.” way that people can learn about themselves.” You also have to be willing to teach leadership concepts to To encourage that sense of self-awareness, Bolman also has others, for one of the key components of today’s theory of his students write a “leadership autobiography” in which they leadership is that more experienced executives must constant- describe the people and events that have influenced them. ly teach leadership skills to those coming after them. At the “That history is enormously influential in a lot of ways, but University of Michigan, Tichy leads five-day workshops for most people haven’t really thought about it or used it to think incoming MBAs that explore the “virtuous teaching cycle,” in about where they are now or where they might go,” he says. which learners become teachers who continue to learn inter- actively from their own students. The program is designed to Leaders as Teachers help them develop a platform for their own “teachable point Students become most aware of their own leadership strengths of view” that they can then pass on to others as they enter the when they begin training others to be leaders, and those lead- corporate world. ership qualities are developed most rapidly when the learning This concept is also in play at Wharton. Through its occurs in teams. While history primarily has viewed leaders in Cadre of Leadership Fellows, select students receive addi- “great man” terms, says Bolman, significant shifts in the work- tional training in how to help teams lead themselves more ing world have led to shifts in the view of leadership. effectively. While working with study teams, students devel- “As we move to more complex organizations existing in a op their own leadership capabilities and learn how to devel- fast-changing turbulent world, the old model of one person op leadership in others. “One of the defining elements of at the top making the decisions just doesn’t work,” Bolman leadership is being good at helping others develop leadership says. “As businesses have decentralized and moved decision- in themselves,” Useem says. making to a variety of nodes, they inevitably need more lead- Useem also drives home that point when he finishes teach- ership from more people in more places in the organization. ing a course on leadership. “I tell students, ‘You’ve gone Historically, the assumption has been that leadership is some- through a number of ways to conceive, define, and illustrate

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 33 Good leaders not only understand how change will affect their people emotionally, but they forecast when change might occur, so that they can be more prepared to deal with it.

leadership. Now your calling is not only to exercise it but to for granted no longer apply. “In organizations, not only does help everybody around you, especially subordinates, become change disrupt patterns, but it often means that you’ll be better at it as well. Leadership is not just about your making asked to do things that you might not understand how to the big decision, but about your training the next generation do,” he points out. “All of a sudden, in a sense, you’ve been below you to be the best leaders they can possibly be.’” de-skilled. That can be really scary—and infuriating.” Good leaders not only understand how change will affect Change and Ethics their people emotionally, but they forecast when change Not only must today’s leaders develop self-awareness and might occur, so that they can be more prepared to deal with learn how to teach concepts of leadership to others, they must it. The Leader to Leader Institute suggests that organizations know how to cope with two of the most critical issues in busi- undergo a self-assessment every three years, revisiting their ness today: change and ethics. missions and scanning the environment for two or three “Without question, the No. 1 theme in business in the last major trends that will have the greatest impact in upcoming few years has been teaching people how to create change and months. “If the board of governors and the management to know when to do it,” says Useem. About six years ago, he team keep watching for change, they will always have the mis- says, Wharton created its Center for Leadership & Change sions and goals that serve them best,” says Hesselbein. Management, dedicated to helping people understand how to “That’s one of the best ways to lead change. Then there are “lead and how to make decisions during times of enormous no surprises—that you have any control over, that is. There uncertainty and stress. So when markets are volatile, when the are always earthquakes.” world is really unpredictable, when competitors are appearing Just as important as the subject of change is the topic of in the backyard, and when globalization leads to the lowering ethics. “My own view is that you can’t talk sensibly about of national boundaries, they can be swift and sure-footed.” leadership without talking about how leadership is based on Change and leadership are strongly linked, agrees Bolman. certain criteria and values,” says Bolman. In the past, he Leaders—who are often the change agents—do not always notes, leadership classes took more of a how-to approach. understand that even positive change produces a sense of loss, “How do you lead? Should you be more task-oriented or he says. Because the leaders have already integrated their own more people-oriented in your leadership style? But inevitably sense of loss into the project, they have moved past its effects you get to the question of purposes and values, and those and are not prepared for its impact on the people around them. have to be part of the subject matter that’s taught.” “But if they aren’t aware of its effects, they might not be able In fact, the ethical base at the core of any leader determines to make sense out of what are often surprising, powerful, but what kind of leader he will be, maintains Sorensen of Virginia sometimes subtle and hidden ways people resist change.” Tech. “You can have a very effective leader who has no ethics, One of the frightening things about change, says Bolman, such as Hitler or Stalin; but a leader who does not have ethics is that it reconfigures basic routines, so that things once taken creates a disastrous situation,” he says.

Corporate Challenge ing children. “If you had kids, would you hire a consultant or a professor to sit at your breakfast table and share your values with your children?” Since the answer is clearly “no,” he believes Universities that don’t find ways to offer MBA students more some of the strongest leadership programs in existence are those practical experience will find themselves left behind by corpo- at companies like GE, PepsiCo, Royal Dutch Shell, and Best Buy, rations that engage in their own leadership training pro- where top executives engage directly with rising managers. grams, believes Noel M. Tichy of the Michigan Business Tichy taught for many years at GE’s Leadership Development School. It’s a trend he predicts will continue, even if universi- Center in Crotonville, New York. At the time, executives were ties create strong leadership programs. learning from case studies and hearing lectures from professors “Fundamentally, the leaders will be doing much more of the based at a variety of elite business schools. Tichy helped reor- teaching inside the organization,” he says. “Leaders develop ganize the center so that managers began to focus on “action leaders. Professors and consultants are the worst people in the learning”—real work projects. “We decided to throw out the world to develop them.” He likens teaching leadership to rais- cases and bring the top executives in so we could wrestle with

34 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 While many schools have incorporat- ership to high school students. The ed ethical discussions into their basic lec- local police associations identify and rec- tures for more than a decade, Useem ommend the students for the program, admits that these issues have taken on “a which is run by Virginia Tech under- certain degree of salience in the past 18 graduates, giving them a chance to prac- months, particularly in terms of character tice their own leadership. and integrity.” Hesselbein, too, believes “The high school program, as you that recent corporate scandals have might expect, is also a way to try to increased overall interest in hard-to-pin- interest these students in applying to down qualities of values and principles. Virginia Tech,” says Sorenson—and the “Ten years ago, people who would school finds other ways to stress the have said, ‘Oh, those are nice concepts value of leadership to potential appli- but they don’t apply in the real world’ cants. Brochures about the leadership are very interested in that kind of leader- program are mailed to all students ship,” she says. “As times grow more offered admission to Virginia Tech, and tenuous, people tend to examine not just the school’s Web pages are filled with what they’re doing, but why.” information on the topic. “We focus on the whole issue of leadership so we can The Impact of Leadership get a higher percentage of students While today’s business schools are deter- with that background coming to mined to share all the concepts of leader- Tech,” says Sorensen. ship with their students, many of them aren’t content to stop Leadership is also one of the criteria for granting under- there. For instance, at Virginia Tech, the emphasis on leader- graduate scholarships. “We look at students’ leadership ship permeates the entire campus and spills over into com- involvement in church groups, athletic teams, or honorary munity outreach programs. Through its Institute for societies,” says Sorensen. “We think that student participation Leadership in Changing Times, Virginia Tech shares in development activities at the high school level will lead to resources among business, military, and women’s leadership student participation here on the Virginia Tech campus. This programs. It also teaches leadership concepts to executives in turn predicts their job participation when they graduate.” and police officers, who need to learn management skills on Such an unrelenting focus on leadership skills has an ulti- top of pure technical skills to advance in their careers. mate benefit to students once they graduate, says Sorensen. In addition, the school runs a program, co-sponsored by He believes that recruiters will “increasingly look for some the Virginia Police Chiefs Association, designed to teach lead- kind of validation that students have experiential skill sets, rather than just looking at what students earned on the CPA exam and grade point average.” To give students a tangible their problems,” says Tichy. In addition, during Tichy’s tenure credential to show prospective employers, Virginia Tech has there, teams of executives were trained in concepts of market- developed a leadership minor that shows up on student tran- ing, finance, and geopolitics, and then sent to southeast Asia scripts. Sorensen says that recruiters are highly interested in to look for new joint business ventures that would work for GE. this proof that students have such skills. “We find that it Tichy says that programs like Michigan’s Multidisciplinary amounts to a $2,000 salary differential. That’s certainly an Actions Projects take steps in the right direction of providing attraction to students participating in the program,” he says. real-world experience to MBAs. Nonetheless, he believes most As leadership centers proliferate and books about leader- schools only take students “one quarter of the way” to full ship crowd the shelves of bookstores everywhere, both stu- development; they can only go the rest of the way through sig- dents and corporate executives have many opportunities to nificant, practical experience. If programs don’t become more further their understanding of this critical business skill. It’s a grounded in real-world problems, he says, business schools skill that virtually everyone in the workplace, at every level, will exist merely to screen candidates for corporations looking will be expected to exercise at some point—and those who to hire “smart people interested in business.” have practiced and prepared for it are the most likely to suc- ceed when faced with their first real-world chance to lead. ■z

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 35 Every business school is interested in continuous improvement. Administrators often get their best ideas for making strate- gic or comprehensive changes by benchmarking their own programs against schools that are much like their own. Yet some schools might expose themselves to even more innovative initiatives if they investigate institutions that aren’t exactly peers, including schools or organizations that operate in less familiar ways. Picking We recently conducted a survey on interorganiza- tional monitoring to learn how administrators choose the schools to serve as benchmarking institutions. Our Web-based survey was e-mailed to deans, associate deans, and top administrators at all AACSB-accredited business schools, as well as major accredited interna- tional business schools—a total of 448 business schools. Seventy percent of the schools responded. We learned that most business schools compare Perfect themselves to institutions that are extremely similar to theirs in terms of “structural” factors: size of the school, region, religious affiliation, type of degrees granted (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral), and owner- ship (public versus private). Those salient structural factors are related to major resource constraints. Schools also tend to compare themselves against institutions that are similar in “identity-related” Peers factors. These include reputation, image, and val- ues in areas such as research, teaching, service Benchmarking against peer schools is commitments, and activities such as cooperative learning. Those factors help form the rich texture a time-honored way for b-schools to of the school’s identity and often are crucial dur- ing the comparison process. seek improvement. The key is to choose An Innovative Approach the right mix of diverse institutions for Benchmarking against an identical school can be very efficient since similar business schools face study and comparison. many of the same challenges. What one adminis- trator learns from another institution will be fair- ly easy to transfer to his own business school. Further, when people are dealing with a com- by James F. Fairbank and plex, changing environment, they find it com- Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca forting and validating to know that other busi- ness schools are facing equal challenges and illustrations by Dave Jonason making similar decisions. However, administrators encounter two key problems when they compare their schools only to institutions that are similar in both structur- al and identity-related ways. First, such a choice limits the diversity of information that emerges

36 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 37 How Schools Choose to Benchmark

School Identity Comparison Schools

What is your school’s single most What qualities do you most admire What areas are you most likely to target for important program? in an aspiration school? improvement in your own school?

BACHELOR’S BUSINESS DEGREE OVERALL REPUTATION FACULTY’S RESEARCH OUTPUT 60% 1.78* 48% GENERAL MASTER’S STUDENT QUALITY STUDENT QUALITY 30% 1.36 48% EXECUTIVE MASTER’S PROGRAM OFFERINGS SCHOOL’S FINANCIAL RESOURCES 5% 1.17 44% SPECIALIZED MASTER’S FACULTY’S RESEARCH OUTPUT OVERALL REPUTATION 3% 1.14 41% DOCTORAL DEGREE SCHOOL’S FINANCIAL RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY 2% .87 38% TEACHING QUALITY TEACHING QUALITY Where do you focus most of your energy .71 31% in recruiting and placement? MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES .61 25% LOCALLY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM OFFERINGS 43% .33 25% REGIONALLY 39% What components are you most What has changed at your school NATIONALLY likely to imitate? in the past three years? 11% INTERNATIONALLY PROGRAM OFFERINGS PROGRAM OFFERINGS 7% 1.67* 4.2** OVERALL REPUTATION TECHNOLOGY Which of the following is of primary .97 4.2 importance at your business school? MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES .68 4.0 TEACHING STUDENT QUALITY STUDENT QUALITY 68% .65 3.9 RESEARCH TEACHING QUALITY OVERALL REPUTATION 32% .59 3.8 SERVICE FACULTY’S RESEARCH OUTPUT TEACHING QUALITY < 1% .47 3.7 SCHOOL’S FINANCIAL RESOURCES FACULTY’S RESEARCH OUTPUT In the first three questions of the survey, adminis- .37 3.7 trators rated the strategic choices that govern the TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL’S FINANCIAL RESOURCES identities of their schools. The majority of respond- .36 3.3 ing schools indicated that they focus on attracting *Scale: 2=very important, 0=not important at all **Scale: 1=significantly worse, 3=no change, regional and local students to their undergraduate 5=significantly improved programs, where the emphasis is on teaching. Forty- one percent of respondents were deans, 47 percent Even though administrators indicate that their “school’s financial resources” and “faculty research output” are were associate or senior associate deans, and 12 the areas that most need to improve, in reality, these are the areas that are less often targeted for change. percent were other top administrators such as MBA In general, business schools are more likely to change areas that are most readily available and convenient to program directors or directors of development. monitor—such as program offerings and school mission—and not the areas that are more difficult to monitor but that are clearly more important to gaining competitive advantage.

38 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 We have found that a relatively small number of schools make an active effort to study institutions very different from their own. Among our survey respondents, 15 percent benchmark organizations other than business schools.

HUGE 1%

VERY through the benchmarking process. Second, from a strategic LITTLE perspective, choosing a benchmark school that is nearly iden- 6% tical makes it more difficult for a school to differentiate itself from its closest competitors. Thus, the school loses a chance SUBSTANTIAL LITTLE 14% 22% to develop a competitive advantage. The answer to both problems is to look also at schools or organizations that are not at all familiar. During such com- parisons, administrators might find it more difficult to trans- late what they have learned onto their own campuses, but they likely will encounter more innovative practices and ideas. We have found that a relatively small number of schools make an active effort to study institutions very different from MODERATE 57% their own. Among our survey respondents, 15 percent bench- mark organizations other than business schools. Of that 15 percent, slightly more than half compare themselves to other professional programs, such as law, medical, and engineering programs, as well as liberal arts programs on campus. About seven percent compare themselves to organizations outside traditional academia, specifically for-profit businesses. The most popular for-profit businesses to benchmark include con- Effort Devoted to Benchmarking sulting firms, for-profit training companies, and service-based organizations. Hotels such as the Ritz Carlton are often In general, survey respondents only put a moderate amount of effort into the named, possibly because the business schools benchmarking process of benchmarking other institutions, monitoring competitors, copying them are considering adding on-campus facilities. Schools other organizations, and emulating other schools. that benchmark against such businesses report that their external reputation has improved significantly.

Best Practices How Data Is Gathered While looking outside the academic arena might be going

THROUGH DISCUSSIONS WITH DEANS too far for some administrators, we do believe that all OF OTHER BUSINESS SCHOOLS schools can benefit by using a wider lens when viewing com- 92% parison institutions. In fact, to administrators choosing THROUGH INFORMATION EXCHANGE comparison schools, we would make four recommenda- DURING INDIVIDUAL NETWORKING 89% tions: Be broad, be involved, be bold, and be true to the BY ACCESSING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE goals of benchmarking. INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER SCHOOLS Be broad. As administrators go through the benchmarking 86% process and select competitive, peer, and aspiration groups, BY BUYING SURVEYS FROM OUTLETS they should make certain they have a broad range of com- SUCH AS AACSB, EBI, AND GMAC 70% parison organizations. While the peer comparison group DURING CAMPUS VISITS TO might consist of schools that are nearly identical on structur- OTHER BUSINESS SCHOOLS al and identity-related features, the aspiration group might 57% consist of schools and organizations that are dissimilar, but THROUGH USE OF EXTERNAL which offer many new ideas. CONSULTANTS 27% Be involved. In our survey, we found that schools that most improve their reputations and financial resources are those Administrators combine a variety of methods to benchmark other institutions where administrators, faculty, and staff are most directly or gather information on comparison schools. involved in the benchmarking and comparison process. When benchmarking is done through reciprocal exchange

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 39 The Financial Times ‘‘ gives my students a global perspective that no other journal can. – Rufus Waters, Professor of Finance & International Business Better Benchmarking California State University, Fresno ’’ To determine the most effective benchmarking practices, we conducted regression analyses of responding schools.

Business schools whose reputation and prestige improved were more likely to: Now includes ■ Buy surveys from AACSB, Online EBI, and GMAC. Access! ■ Exchange information through networking. ■ Benchmark or monitor organiza- The new Education Program tions other than business schools.

from the FinancialTimes Business schools whose financial A powerful combination of print and online resources improved were more likely to: news resources– at huge discounts. ■ Buy surveys from AACSB, EBI, and GMAC. Students at more than 500 colleges across North America ■ Visit the campuses of other schools. subscribe to the Financial Times. Professors teaching all levels – from undergraduates, to MBAs and executives – tell us how much they value the FT’s unmatched global methods such as campus visits and individual networking business coverage and thought-provoking analysis. They use it in class to: with other business schools, reputation and financial resources improve. Those findings hold regardless of the • Promote global awareness and perspectives degree-granting type of business school, its operating budg- • Relate class concepts to the real world • Keep students engaged and up-to-date et, and whether it is a public or private institution. We do not detect any significant improvement in those factors when Now including FT.com In-Depth (Level 1). benchmarking is limited to the use of such arm’s length New for 2003, each subscription now includes access methods as examination of publicly available information or to valuable online content and tools, including searchablethe use of external consultants. archives, breaking news, special reports, and more. Incidentally, our survey reveals that fewer than one in four Available at substantial student discounts business schools is exerting a substantial amount of effort on and at no additional cost for professors! the benchmarking process, and one in five is exerting little or Discover how the Financial Times can enhance your no effort. The overall level of benchmarking among business students’ learning experience – at 75% discounts for schools is surprisingly low, but we believe that the new students and educational institutions (just 32¢ per issue).accreditation standards approved by AACSB International Please visit www.ftsubs.com/professor. will stimulate efforts in this area. Professors: get a one-year print and online Be bold. Many schools today are facing an increasingly subscription when seven students sign up! threatening environment—one where their school’s financial Call (800) 628-0007 to get started today. and reputational status is under escalating pressure. Many For customized programs, please contact our Education Sales Director: administrators react by choosing comparison schools that [email protected],tel(415) 445-5650. will make their own schools look good. For example, a school that is facing a sudden drop in reputational rankings

40 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 might change its comparison group from a wide range of “top” schools to a narrower range of top “small” schools or top “quantitatively oriented” schools. In essence, they are introducing a greater number of structural and identity-relat- ed variables to define their relevant comparisons. We found that schools under greater threat also choose comparisons that are lower in reputational status, which has the short- term effect of making comparisons look more positive. While making a school appear to be a big fish in a smaller pond might make some constituents feel better in the short term, in the long run such a strategy chokes off the influx of diverse ideas that could be gathered from the benchmarking process at a time when a particular school most desperately needs to break out of a slide. We’re not saying that bench- PREPARING marking lower-ranked schools is bad in all cases—there is a TOMORROW’S LEADERS great deal to learn from many different types of schools and organizations. But it is not a winning long-term strategy to focus only on lower-ranked schools in an attempt to look better in comparison. TODAY Be true to the goals of benchmarking. Use the new AACSB International comparison standards as an opportunity for productive change. Benchmark and change the things that The Erivan K. Haub School of Business is provide a better upside potential, even though they might nationally recognized for its quality graduate be more difficult to change. Many times business schools business programs tailored to full-time professionals. benchmark easily visible aspects of their comparison choic- es such as reputation, student quality, program offerings, Executive MBA and mission. Such data can be retrieved from publicly avail- Executive Pharmaceutical Marketing MBA able sources such as school Web sites and popular business periodicals. Executive Master’s in Food Marketing A school will be more successful if it can improve factors Professional MBA such as teaching quality, faculty research, and the develop- Human Resource Management M.S. ment of financial resources. These are factors that require Financial Services M.S. gathering richer information over a longer period of time International Marketing M.S. and using more intensive benchmarking practices such as campus visits and individual networking with peer adminis- trators. These efforts require more commitment from top Ranked in the top 20 for administrators, but they ultimately will pay off by providing part-time MBA programs a competitive advantage for the business school. We realize that creating these comparison groups will pose a challenge for many schools. If done properly, howev- er, interorganizational monitoring can serve as a catalyst for major improvements in business schools across many levels of teaching, learning, and research. ■z HAUB SAINT JOSEPH’S UNIVERSITY Jim Fairbank is assistant professor of management at The Behrend College THE ERIVAN K. HAUB SCHOOL OF BUSINESS at Pennsylvania State University in Erie. Joe Labianca is assistant profes- 888-SJU-GRAD www.sju.edu/hsb sor of organization and management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, Georgia.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 41 Lights …

By Tricia Bisoux

42 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 Advancements in multimedia

Camera… technologies and an emphasis on audiovisual prowess are turning business school class- … rooms into true theaters of educational presentation.

In the “command center” of the 135,000- square-foot Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, a row of televi- sions is positioned above a large console of switches, gauges, and computer monitors. Technicians sit beneath the array of equipment, monitoring the activity in each classroom, from a professor’s movement in the classroom, to the quality of the audio and lighting, to the status of each piece of equipment. This bustling room—known at the Knight Center as “mis- sion control”—looks more television production studio than computer lab, more Hollywood than higher education. Anyone who enters is almost sure to think the same thing: This isn’t the typical IT support for a business school. With its growing reliance on distance learning, videocon- ferencing, and multimedia presentations, business is embrac- ing the latest in audiovisual technologies, perhaps more than any other discipline. And now that most higher education institutions have adopted the latest computer and Internet technology, presentation technologies represent the next frontier for business schools to explore. “In the past, IT support and AV support were two differ- ent functions. Now, the technology has really come full circle. IT and AV have become so interconnected, they’re almost the same,” says Russell Just, an AV technician and head of the audiovisual command center at Washington University. Technicians in the audio - Equipped with everything from document cameras to data visual command center at projectors, CDs to DVDs, the classroom, in many cases, has the new Charles F. Knight become both stage and recording studio, as educators deliver Executive Center at more sophisticated multimedia presentations to more media- Washington University in savvy students. As a result, the staging, production, and for- St. Louis monitor and con- mat of educational materials promise to become almost as trol audio and video in each important as the materials themselves. classroom simultaneously.

Learning!BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 43 “AV cannot be an afterthought. Multimedia is an integral part of the instructional environment, like the markerboard.” —Gerry Ewing, Stetson University

Not an Afterthought integrator works directly with the architect to coordinate the Audiovisual technicians emphasize that educators should electrical system and structural requirements in the design.” think of AV first, not last, when planning a major redesign or The Olin School of Business at Washington University new construction. James Westbrook of A Visual Image in knows this all too well. Although it eventually turned to an Irving, Texas, served as the consultant for the installation of audiovisual consultant for help, it did so after the Knight state-of-the-art AV equipment in 150 classrooms at Texas Center had already been constructed, which caused difficul- Christian University in Fort Worth, including 30 rooms at ties. Most prominently, says Brian Bannister, associate dean of TCU’s Neeley School of Business. Westbrook notes that finance and administration, the initial design did not include when schools hire an AV technician-consultant too late in the enough space to accommodate the vast range of audiovisual game, they often end up spending more money than they equipment needed or the office space required for the staff originally planned. who would oversee its operation. “AV has traditionally been an oversight in both higher “The room where the command center is now was sup- education and commercial business. If AV isn’t taken into posed to be a storage room,” says Bannister. “When the account from the beginning, electricians may have to rezone audiovisual consultant came, he told us he needed a place for lights in the classroom or redo conduits after the fact,” says ‘the rack.’ We mistakenly thought the AV rack could be Westbrook. “A business school can save time and money in placed in a closet. We were totally taken by surprise when we the long run by hiring an experienced AV systems integrator saw how much equipment was involved.” Not only did the as a design consultant in the initial planning stages. A systems Knight Center lose its storage room, but closets throughout

■ Screens today are slightly rectangular, in a ratio of 3.0 The Metrics of Audiovisual Technology (height) to 4.0 (width). Because of the use of DVD and HDTV, however, screens that are 30 percent wider will be necessary in the future. Information addressed to the design of the 21st-century ■ Ideally, the vertical viewing angle should be about 90 classroom is still a bit scattered, says Gerry Ewing, director degrees. To assure that those seated at the front sides of any of instructional services at Stetson University. Therefore, he room can properly see the projected image, the maximum compiled a 21-page list of criteria for design of the modern horizontal viewing angle should not exceed 110 degrees. multimedia classroom. The list represents an assemblage of pertinent information culled from other schools’ past experi- Video/Data Projectors ences, data from classroom consultants, and presentations ■ Multimedia projectors are permanently mounted to the ceiling. at venues such as InfoComm. The following guidelines Calculate 2.2 times the width of the screen to approximate the are adapted from Ewing’s document titled “Classroom distance between the screen and the lens of the video projector. Technology: Design Criteria and Considerations”: Sound Screens ■ Major sound system components should include a mixer, loud- ■ Many sources that Ewing found recommend that screen speakers, amplifiers and processing, and microphones. The system height should be one-sixth or one-seventh the distance to the should be designed for continuous operation and include feed- room’s back row. But those same documents recommend that back suppression, not just for speakers at the podium but also for the information on the screen be no more than six words presenters who roam the auditorium using wireless microphones. across and six rows down. “When was the last time you ■ Facilities seating 150 people or more should include a mon - saw a professor do that?” he asks. Ewing recommends that aural single-source sound reinforcement system to be used to screens should be at least one-fifth as high as the distance reproduce speech and general background audio from auxiliary from the screen to the last row of seats. A rule of thumb is sources such as multimedia computers, CD players, or televisions. that no one should be closer than two times the image ■ For U.S. schools, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires height or farther than six times the height of the screen. assistive listening devices for at least 4 percent of the seats, ■ A screen should be mounted high enough for students in the with a minimum of two seats equipped. These requirements back row to see its bottom, typically four feet from the floor. may differ from country to country.

44 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 Podiums now have become pieces of technological equipment in and of themselves. For instance, the Sympodium L-150 ᮣ from Smart Technolo gies allows users to control applica- tions, annotate over those applications, and deliver multime- dia presentations. The Wharton Lectern ᮢ—co-developed by instructors at The Wharton School and KI, a furniture manufac- turer in Green Bay, Wisconsin—is height-adjustable. The podium incorporates touchscreen controls, power outlets, adjustable note- light and microphone, keyboard tray, mousepad, laptop storage, a repository for power and data cables, and even swing-out drink caddies. the building were repurposed to accommodate audiovisual racks for individual classrooms. Gerry Ewing, director of instructional and media services at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, agrees that planning for AV at the outset is crucial to any classroom design. Stetson recently completed renovations of its Lynn Business Center, which included the input of an audiovisual consultant and systems integration company. In addition, Ewing developed exacting specifications and guidelines for incorporating AV equipment into each classroom, combining his past experience in adapting AV technology to the class- room with a wealth of current research. AV, like any technology, Ewing believes, “cannot be an afterthought. Multimedia is an integral part of the instruc- tional environment, like the markerboard.” Now that AV has become more integrated with computer technology, the field has become quite specialized, says

Lighting podium and put the computer monitors under the surface, ■ Low-voltage controlled switch systems provide control of zoned under glass. A 39” height has become the standard.” lighting systems, both incandescent and fluorescent fixtures. ■ Fluorescent dimming, via electronic dimming ballasts, pro- Walls vides flexible, reliable, and cost-effective control of standard ■ Walls that provide a backdrop behind anyone likely to be drop-in ceiling fixtures. on camera should have a neutral color (such as blue or gray) ■ All light switches and controls should be located adjacent to and a smooth, nonglare surface. Wall surfaces will become the multimedia console, as well as each doorway. Switches more important as more video is recorded digitally, because should be designed to include (or to allow the addition of) low- textured surfaces and bright colors require more memory to voltage interfacing with an external audiovisual control system. store and more bandwidth to transmit via the Internet.

Control Classroom Size ■ Touchpanel technology simplifies the operation of the entire ■ Rectangular classrooms should be wide and shallow, to system by offering an intuitive, visually based control panel for allow professors the best access to students. An “ideal room the presenter. The touchpanel can allow faculty to create per- dimension ratio” is 1.0 (height) to 1.5 (width) to 2.5 (length). sonal light settings or recall preset scenes and greatly reduces ■ Large classrooms should not include a raised stage, since the complexity of system control, allowing users to concentrate it does not keep faculty on the same level with students and on their presentations. hampers their movement throughout the classroom.

Podiums Infrastructure ■ Podiums no longer are the focal point of the modern ■ HVAC vents should be located away from ceiling-mounted classroom, as professors prefer to interact more directly with projection equipment and document cameras. Furthermore, students without a barrier between them. Some schools in vents should be placed away from projection screens so that corporate height-adjustable podiums, and others, like Stetson air circulation does not move the screen. University, use podiums built at writing, not reading, height. “We wanted to avoid those lecture halls where the person was For a complete copy of “Classroom Technology: Design almost like a preacher standing behind a massive wooden Criteria and Considerations,” contact Ewing at gewing@ structure,” says Ewing. “We’ve minimized the height of the stetson.edu.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 45 Sophisticated computer software and the newest Web-based technology make it possible for a technician to detect—and fix—a problem before a professor even knows one exists.

Westbrook. With modern classrooms incorporating smart Hollywood Productions podiums, DVD/VCRs, digital document cameras—and the The comparison between the classroom and a theater is noth- lighting, sound systems, wiring, and control systems that come ing new. But the comparison is now going beyond analogy. with them—a school’s regular IT staff may not be enough. Increasingly, a business school classroom is taking on the “AV technology is advancing very rapidly,” Westbrook accoutrements of a professional theater, complete with lights, says. “A traditional consultant may not be able to keep up in cameras, microphones, and acoustical panels. Many schools the same way as a dedicated AV technician who is in the field are paying close attention to light, wall color, and sound qual- installing the equipment every day.” ity in anticipation of digitally recording classes for replay via Organizations such as the International Communications DVD and online streaming video. Industries Association (www.icia.org) headquartered in Classroom lighting has also come to the forefront to add Fairfax, Virginia, and the National Systems Contractors more drama to the classroom. Easy-to-use touchpanel con- Association (www.nsca.org) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, offer trols allow professors to act as their own lighting directors, business schools a place to start when contemplating the AV choosing the level and areas of lighting most appropriate for equipment and support for a new facility or renovation; they a presentation. In addition, professors who once avoided offer listings of qualified consultants, as well as information using projectors for fear their students would fall asleep in the about the latest technology. In addition, the ICIA sponsors darkness now can use them throughout class and still keep InfoComm, an international trade show showcasing the latest their connection with students. Lights in projectors are now in presentation technologies. bright enough for images to be viewed in only slightly To stay up on the latest AV technologies, Washington dimmed or even full light. University’s Bannister and Just regularly attend InfoComm to Lighting, automatic screens, ceiling-mounted projectors, keep up with the technologies available. They emphasize that and other media—matched with the power of the Internet— creating the right balance of audiovisual technologies in the classroom isn’t about buying the most expensive products. New data walls, including this one manufactured by Trans-Lux ᮢ, can display It’s about planning ahead, staying informed, and getting the anything from stock ticker information to CNN. The data wall shown here is at best products to suit a school’s needs. the University of Sasketchewan in Saskatoon.

46 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 Smart Technologies has just introduced its newest SMART Board tech- nology, which incorporates “DViT” (or digital vision touch). The tech- nology allows for more sophisticated touchscreen controls for com- puter applications and Web site navigations. Professors can write notes over any application, including video; no special pen is required, because digital cameras in the corners of the screen and software detect any object in view of the screen. The 2000i also can record activity on the screen and the instructor’s voice simultaneously for later playback. DViT is available in the interactive Rear Projection SMART Board 2000i ᮣ and SMART Board for Plasma Displays. have given educators new freedom to be cre- newest Web-based technology make it ative in the classroom, says Larry Kitchens, possible for a technician to detect—and director of instructional services at Texas fix—a problem before a professor even Christian University. Professors can create an knows one exists. entire multimedia presentation at home, post it Jason Frenchman of Crestron, a to the Web, and download it to the classroom manufacturer of audiovisual control computer. There is no need to photocopy systems headquartered in Rockleigh, handouts, hook up laptops, or even order that New Jersey, says that level of control soon-to-be-obsolete AV-cart-on-wheels. has been very attractive to the budget- “There was a time when we didn’t have conscious higher education market. enough projectors to circulate among For instance, its touchscreen product classrooms,” says Kitchens. “Now, we Media Manager offers centralized con- have projectors, screens, VCRs, DVDs, trol of everything from the lights to the and CD players in each classroom. document cameras to the PowerPoint Professors have really changed the way they design their pre- presentation on a PC. It allows control sentations, to include PowerPoint, commercial CDs, and not only within the classroom, but also videotapes.” from remote locations. Although some educators were reluctant to integrate tech- “There has been a convergence of audiovi- nology into their course delivery just a decade ago, now they sual technologies with computer presentation technologies. In are the primary drivers for change in the market for presenta- addition, distance learning has become a huge phenomenon. tion technologies, says Nancy Knowlton, president and co- Therefore, the ability to control audiovisual equipment and CEO of Smart Technologies, a manufacturer of interactive presentation technology remotely has become more impor- SMART boards in Calgary, Alberta. “Educators have asked us tant,” says Frenchman. “With today’s technology, a school’s to make the workspace as flexible as possible, yet still easy to director of instructional services can know that a lamp in a par- use,” says Knowlton. “They don’t want to use just one Web ticular classroom is going to go out tomorrow and that he site or one CD-ROM or one software application. They want needs to replace it, which can make his life easier.” to combine them all.” That kind of technology is called “e-control,” referring to With more access to presentation technologies, business the Web-based management and diagnosis of equipment and students are using the equipment as much as the business fac- technology in the classroom. Only a few higher education ulty, creating everything from PowerPoint presentations to institutions are using e-control to its fullest extent, says Ewing. full-fledged commercials. The shift from teacher-generated The functionality it adds to the classroom, however, makes it materials to student-generated materials is an exciting side likely to become a standard feature on most campuses. effect of having the equipment so readily available. “The technology is now at the point where every class- “We frequently check out camcorders and digital cameras room can have its own IP address,” says Ewing. “I can pull to students. We’ve helped students edit video for marketing up a duplicate of the touchscreen that operates a classroom and advertising classes. Some students have done fictitious ads several buildings away. I can see what options the professor for beauty products and motorcycles, using their roommates has chosen. I can turn the lights on or off, log lamp life, or as actors,” says Ewing of Stetson University. “Some of the ads see that someone’s in a room who’s not supposed to be and are better than what I see on television.” notify campus security.” As a result, tasks that once took a collective of staff members can now be conducted by only From Mission Control to e-Control one person. A primary driver in the increasing popularity of AV equip- AMX Corporation of Richardson, Texas, is another com- ment in the classroom has been advancements in AV controls. pany in the control systems market. AMX has recently intro- For instance, wireless remotes and laser pointers now allow duced products tailored to the education market. Its 17-inch professors to change PowerPoint slides, start a DVD, change Modero display offers more space for the increasing number a television channel, or point out specific data from anywhere of touchscreen buttons required by a multimedia classroom. in the room, so they never have to turn their backs to the Another product, Meeting Manager, allows instructors to audience. Likewise, sophisticated computer software and the preprogram integrated presentations before class even

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 47 Not only can educators control all classroom equip- ment via a podium with touchpanel technology, but technicians can access that same equipment off-site via the Internet. AMX’s 17” Modero touchpanel and Crestron’s e-control interface are two products available for internal and external room controls.

place,’” says Coyne. “That reaction can be a big recruitment tool.” Bannister of the Olin School agrees that the “wow” factor can be a way to enhance a school’s public persona. In fact, he believes the Olin School may have missed an opportunity to take full advantage of its IT and audiovisual command center, now located in the back of the Knight Center behind closed doors. Had Olin School administra- tors known then what they know now, says Bannister, they might have chosen to place the command center in a more prominent place in the building, behind glass, so that visitors could easily pause for a moment to view it in action.

begins, explains Scott Norder, AMX’s vice president of busi- New Challenges ness development. Educators know that students are bound to become more “If an instructor wants to present pre-recorded content, accustomed to the “wow” of multimedia and may be less than he can schedule a classroom to have the VCR cued to dis- satisfied with the static presentations of the past. The implica- play the show and the TV monitors and projectors in the tions for educators may be significant. Schools may put more room tuned to the right channels,” Norder explains. “Such into producing their course videos, to create more sophisti- control systems make the more complex presentation sys- cated videos for students who watch the recording outside the tems effortless to operate and easy to maintain. Rather than classroom. They may move more courses to be broadcast via worry about the equipment, instructors can focus on what streaming video, or require that courses be recorded in mul- they do best—educating.” tiple formats for flexible access. They may become, in essence, more like Hollywood than ever before. The “Wow” Factor Bannister of the Olin School points out that its executive Enhancing the functionality of classroom AV equipment is MBA and executive education students are developing high- only one reason b-schools are tapping into this new technol- er expectations when it comes to the quality and aesthetics of ogy. They’re also using the visual impact of audiovisual tech- taped classes. The format of recorded classes is also becom- nology to enhance their campuses. Colorful data walls that ing an issue. Some students prefer to watch the recordings display a range of stock information and video in real-time on the road, but they are unable to watch VHS tapes when have offered business schools a way to send a message to the they travel. Likewise, streaming video requires a high-speed public that they stand at the forefront of the information age. Internet connection that not all hotels provide. Con - Gene Coyne is vice president of sales for Trans-Lux of sequently, students are requesting that courses be recorded Norwalk, Connecticut, a provider of electronic display walls. straight to DVDs, which can be viewed on a laptop anywhere In the past, he says, Trans-Lux primarily served the corporate in the world. and investment market, but business schools are becoming a “Production issues have become a greater challenge,” says growing presence on his client list. One reason for this bur- Just. “If we don’t go straight to DVD, it’s a huge process to geoning interest in real-time displays, he believes, is business transfer a digital signal to DVD. And if you have 13 hours of schools’ pursuit of that ever-elusive “wow” effect. courses to transfer at the end of a weekend—and everyone “When students and potential donors tour a school, the wants their media by Tuesday—your time is limited.” school wants them to walk in and say, ‘Wow, look at this On a recent trip to InfoComm, Just saw a new generation

48 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 “At this stage, the technology is fairly robust and almost bulletproof. We don’t have to run to the next building to fix a problem, and we don’t have to train users as much. We can get on with the business of teaching.” —Gerry Ewing, Stetson University

of recording technology that intrigued him. “We found a focus on the professor and track his or her movements. $5,000 classroom device that will take video straight to Eventually, that will keep us from needing a dedicated tech- DVD,” says Just, “and think that going straight to DVD is nician,” says Bannister. what we need to do for this audience.” Ewing of Stetson University, for one, is excited about the future of classroom AV technologies. He looks forward to the The Next Wave advancement of streaming video and high-definition televi- Courses for some disciplines, such as literature or mathemat- sion, or HDTV, to enhance the classroom experience even ics, may never become multimedia havens. The subject mat- further. “For a long time, I worked mainly as an AV techni- ter does not require such an approach. But in disciplines such cian, but now I think I’m back to the job I always wanted to as the sciences, the performing arts, and business, audiovisu- do, which is instructional design and development,” Ewing al technologies will make more possible in the classroom than says. “At this stage, the technology is fairly robust and almost ever before. bulletproof. We have touchscreen panels and Web-based con- “Students want to be engaged in the classroom just as trols, so we don’t have to run to the next building to fix a they’re now engaged in their ordinary lives,” says Knowlton problem, and we don’t have to train users as much. We can of Smart Technologies. “Multimedia is everywhere, so if all an get on with the business of teaching.” instructor does is talk, that isn’t going to make an impression As Ewing has found, audiovisual technology is changing on many of today’s students.” the way educators present information in their classes just as Bannister and Just of the Olin School already are looking profoundly as computer technology changed what informa- at the next progressions in technology, including an audience tion they presented. The better the lighting, the more invit- response system that will allow students to respond to class- ing the sound, and the more exciting the presentation, some room questions electronically. They’re even considering believe, the more interactive and effective the class. The dan- adding motion-activated cameras to classrooms. “That cam- ger, of course, is that once students have a taste of classes that era technology will enable us to have a ‘follow-the-professor’ take advantage of the full range of multimedia options, there’s automatic camera system that will be motion-oriented. It can no going back to the chalkboard again. ■z

The popularity of distance learning has been an important driver in the increase in the implementation of AV-infused classrooms. Stetson University, for example, incorporated three distance learning rooms in the renovation of its business school building.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 49 Technology

Walkers Welcome at digital and wireless network, smart ment is not for the new building Georgia Tech’s ‘Technology podiums, multimedia and distance itself, but about the opportunity it learning equipment, and white- offers,” says Blum. “It will allow us Square’ boards that can electronically save to expand our imaginations that The Georgia Institute of Technology recently and archive content. have been locked away for lack of opened Technology Square, a new The expansive space of the new space.” $180 million multibuilding complex facility translates into greater capabil- In addition to its classrooms, on its Atlanta campus. The largest ity for the school, says Terry Blum, computer labs, and e-learning portion of Technology Square— DuPree’s dean. “Our greatest excite- facilities, Technology Square and 189,000 square feet—is the new Centergy Center also have incorpo- home to Georgia Tech’s DuPree rated something a bit unexpected College of Management. Across into their high-tech design: attention the street is Centergy Center, a to the needs of pedestrians and the 486,993-square-foot office building surrounding community. As a result, featuring Georgia Tech’s Advanced the new development recently was Technology Development Center, recognized by an incubator for high-tech business Pedestrians D A T A B I T startups. Together, Technology Educating Drivers According to a study by the Square and Centergy Center are on Safety (PEDS) Business Software Alliance designed to be the catalyst for a as one of the and IDC, a research firm high-tech corridor in Atlanta. most pedestrian- in Framingham, Massachu - The new facility will allow friendly develop- setts, decreasing software DuPree to integrate advanced tech- ments in the city piracy to a rate of 30 per- nology throughout the curriculum. of Atlanta. cent worldwide could cre- Common classroom activities now The facility ate 1.5 million jobs, add include interactive polls, electronic incorporates first- $400 billion to the global discussions, access to network floor retail and economy, and generate $64 resources, and video conferencing. restaurant space, billion in taxes, money that The building features a high-speed Technology Square’s public courtyard. a publicly accessi- could be used for education ble courtyard, or health care. Currently, on-street parking, 40 percent of software is wide sidewalks, pirated worldwide. and pedestrian crosswalks. Because of Georgia Tech’s metropolitan location, it was crucial that the new development meld the campus community with the metropolitan community, say school representatives. To this end, Technology Square also houses the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, a research facility dedicated to Atlanta’s metro area; the Economic Development Institute, an organization dedicated to Georgia’s business development; Technology Square’s pedestrian-friendly walkways. and the 252-room Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.

50 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 03-0072-SBU C T N/A L 133/CMYK P H 214.891.5296

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NEWSBYTES ■ PCs FOR IRAQ prohibits any promotions to people world. Although the three disciplines Madar Research, a research firm who have not “opted in” to such are now integrated, undergraduates based in Dubai, United Arab mailings, became law this fall. The can still declare majors in e-business Emirates, predicts that Iraq will EU sees the law’s usefulness in jeop- and MBA students can pursue con- purchase 450,000 PCs every year ardy if the U.S. does not put similar centrations in e-business. between 2004 and 2008. The firm legislation in place, and has asked also estimates that the country’s IT the U.S. to revisit its policies on ■ LESS FOR WINDOWS spending will surge up to US$1.42 spam. The U.S., however, favors an Microsoft Corp. recently lowered billion by 2008, as it rebuilds its tech- “opt-out” system, which currently the cost of a package that includes nological infrastructure. The rebuild- requires users to specifically ask to be its Windows operat- ing has already begun. In July, seven removed from lists in order to avoid ing system and Iraqi ministries and three Baghdad unwanted mail. Office suite of soft- community governments were fur- ware in Thailand nished with computers, copiers, and ■ TCU MERGES E-BIZ to $40, according printers by an aid organization. This fall, Texas Christian University’s to a report from Neeley School of Business in Fort market research ■ EU DEMANDS BANNED SPAM Worth merged its e-business, decision firm Gartner The European Union is in the sciences, and supply chain manage- Inc. The move, according to process of legislat- ment courses into a single Gartner, is in response to the ing spam—or junk department called the depart- increasing use of the Linux operat- e-mails—into obliv- ment of information systems and ing system. Gartner indicates that ion by making supply chain management. The the company may make similar price outright spamming move, say school officials, is to cuts in China as well. The cost of illegal. The new reflect the integration of these the same package in the U.S. starts legislation, which three functions in the business at about $380.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 51 Technology

Online MBA Launches dents will return home to pursue meetings, while they continue to at ASU required coursework at home, at foster a sense of community online. work, or on the road. “A valuable lesson we have This January, W.P. Carey School of Business “This approach maximizes learned is that students drop out if at Arizona State University in Tempe convenience, yet develops in stu- they have no intellectual or emo- will welcome the first cohort of stu- dents the ability to complete assign- tional support from peers. That issue dents to its new, Web-based, 48- ments on time,” says M. Johnny is especially pressing in an online credit-hour degree program. By Rungtusanatham, the program’s fac- program,” says Rungtusanatham. adding a distance education option ulty director, who adds that the pro- “Our students will realize that they to its offerings, the Carey School gram will enforce “time fences”— are not alone ‘out there.’ They’ll expects to draw students not only deadlines to ensure that students know that others are going through from the Tempe metropolitan area, move ahead at the same pace as their the same experience.” but also from national and interna- classmates. “For students, it will be tional markets. as if they were working on a project edgelab Gives Students The AACSB-accredited program deadline, analogous to scenarios they will begin with an on-campus, five- will face in the corporate world.” Experience in Real-Time day orientation, which will introduce Besides the use of time fences, the In 2000, GE Capital created edgelab, a pro- students to the technology they will program incorporates several mech - prietary facility for the company, in use to access course content and anisms to minimize isolation, says partnership with the University of integrate team-building exercises to Rungtusanatham. Students in the Connecticut’s School of Business create a community among their fel- online program will develop relation- Administration on its Stamford low students and faculty. Then, stu- ships during the initial face-to-face campus. The facility is home to the Connecticut Information Tech nol ogy Institute, a development center that New Course Aims to Thwart Hackers works closely with the Stamford busi- ness community. In addition, edgelab Any student who plans on protecting businesses from computer hackers would do well to sign up for a new offers students the opportunity to course at Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois. “Principles of Information Security,” taught by computer science work directly with GE associates to professor John Gudenas, is designed to meet business’s rising demand for students with the skills to defend create tech-related business solutions, against computer hackers and other information security risks. in addition to providing them with The course will teach students the basics of protecting information assets, setting protection levels, much-needed technology training. responding to security breaches, and designing information security systems with intrusion-detection and Although the facility does reporting features. A basic introduction to cryptog- include an e-classroom where stu- raphy—the system of encrypting computer dents acquire technology training, messages, information, and passwords— the facility is not so much a class- is also included. room as it is a true idea lab, says As business computer systems have Chris Kalish, edgelab’s director and become more sophisticated, so have chief technology officer. Students working in the 12,000-square-foot computer hackers, says Gudenas. edgelab facility have access to 80 “In our current information age,” workstations, 12 computer servers, he says, “this course is useful for and 12 PDAs, as well as UConn’s the computer-literate business stu- wireless network and GE’s internal dent, or other student who desires network. Since edgelab’s launch, to understand current problems the experience the students have of securing corporate or laboratory been able to receive has been as information.” real as it gets, he says. “GE provides the projects, which

52 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 10/8/03 1:14 PM Page 1

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tend to be fairly high-risk in terms ‘Netcentric’ Behavioral Lab using the lab’s workstations to of their outcome. Their implemen- Test-Markets Tech record online users’ clickstreams tation may be very new or centered as they interact with the players. around product development,” The Robert H. Smith School of Business “The lab’s technology allows Kalish explains. A typical project at the University of Maryland in us to more fully capture the users’ model is a combination of expertise College Park has opened the experiences with the products than from the sponsoring GE business, Netcentric Behavioral Laboratory, would other methods of data collec- academic literature and teaching, Six the third component of the business tion,” says Rebecca Hamilton, assis- Sigma techniques, and the students’ school’s Netcentricity Laboratory. tant professor of marketing at the own creativity, he adds. Netcentricity also includes the Smith School. “In the lab environ- So far students have worked on school’s Supply Chain Management ment, we can carefully control the projects as involved as the develop- Center and the Netcentric Financial stimuli users see. We can measure ment of a biometric scanner, in Markets Laboratory. the effects that small but potentially which a computer scans a person’s Researchers from across the important product adjustments have physical attributes to recognize his school’s academic departments, from on consumers.” or her identity. Such technology is marketing to decision and informa- In addition to increasing research in its very early stages, says Kalish, tion technologies, will utilize the activity at the Smith School, the lab but through edgelab, students can behavioral lab to administer comput- provides resources for teaching at get in on the ground floor. er-aided experiments, conduct the undergraduate, MBA, and doc- “Students, faculty, and GE pro- Internet-based behavioral research, toral levels. Instructors can use the fessionals work very intimately with and videotape interviews and focus lab to conduct computer-aided these projects, as far as doing test groups. One study in progress, for demonstrations, run simulations, cases and working on design princi- example, involves virtual audio and and videotape team interactions. ples,” says Kalish. So far, the imple- video players. Researchers in this More important, it provides stu- mentation rate of the projects that study are tracking how consumers’ dents with an opportunity to learn students have worked on has been satisfaction with a product changes first-hand how experimental “close to 100 percent.” with the addition of new features, research is conducted. ■z

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 53 Yo r Tu rn u by Susan M. Phillips

left out of the discussion about pro- ment” in Philadelphia nearly 125 How B-Schools ductivity. Productivity gains, often years ago, business owners and man- Drive Productivity acknowledged to raise the standard agers have continued to engage aca- of living in the long run, are linked demics on many levels to achieve The increase in U.S. productivity has been a to factors such as the introduction results benefiting American business source of considerable debate in eco- and adoption of technology innova- practice and the greater economy. nomic, business, and government tions, improved information or data, Early business school faculties gener- circles. Is the past decade’s growth and restructuring of labor and prod- ally comprised business practitioners sustainable? Which sectors or types uct markets—not improved educa- and academics from other university of jobs are most affected? Why has tional methods. As a result, the pub- departments like mathematics, eco- the increase persisted during the lic generally does not recognize nomics, sociology, and psychology. recent recession? What are the policy Their research focused on work implications? In an expanding global processes, new technologies, and economy, why aren’t other countries employee conditions—issues that experiencing the same increase? continue to affect productivity and What are the drivers? are taught in business schools today. These questions and the debate Of course, business research and itself go on and on. But while “bet- education have taken on new dimen- ter management” is sometimes men- sions over the last several decades, tioned as one of the drivers of busi- adding new areas of inquiry such as ness productivity, I assert that busi- marketing, derivative pricing, and ness school leadership is also a pri- quantitative methods. When the Ford mary catalyst. I also think that busi- and Carnegie studies of the late 1950s ness schools should do a much bet- claimed that business was not a dis- ter job of communicating how man- tinct academic field because its profes- agement education and research sors needed doctoral-level education, contribute to—and even drive— business doctoral programs grew at an business productivity. astonishing rate. Business schools From 1998 through 2002, out- began to adopt a more deductive put per hour in the non-farm busi- approach, and education became ness sector in the U.S. (a conven- business schools’ contributions to more rigorous in theory development tional measure of productivity) these economic advancements. and quantitative measures. increased at an average annual rate This lack of awareness exists even Modern business school research of 3 percent—more than twice the though management innovation initiatives often encompass testing of average pace over the previous four through education and research has new management techniques to vali- decades. And the increase continues been integrally connected to the pri- date, disprove, or measure their in 2003. Deregulation, a surging vate sector since 1881, when one effectiveness. Faculty research initia- stock market, and declining technol- businessman’s interest triggered the tives have developed theories, prac- ogy prices have freed up capital for emergence of all business schools. At tices, and programs that are con- managers to invest in productivity- that time, Joseph Wharton, propri- veyed through business schools and enhancing technologies like comput- etor of American Nickel Works, asked applied in the marketplace, resulting ers, software, and communications University of Pennsylvania trustees to in improved productivity. For exam- equipment. Such investment has develop the world’s first school of ple, academic and management guru enabled businesses to better manage business. His pioneering vision was to Peter Drucker has taught people supply-chains and inventories, access raise the status of business education how to manage more effectively. customers, and maintain records, to the level of professional schools for More recently, Michael Porter has boosting productivity along the way. lawyers and doctors. developed theories related to com- Too often, business schools are Since that “provincial experi- petition that teach business students

54 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 and managers alike how to think nature of business. The business always done it this way” mindset. We more strategically. In other instances, classroom is a forum for discussion often hear from managers who have the business community has intro- about what is and what is not work- implemented and benefited from duced ideas that are widely adopted ing in the application of new market- these fresh perspectives. and taught to business students via ing, risk management, or information Employers and employees alike cases or internships. systems applications. It is an incuba- are aware of the necessity for lifelong Through research and consulting, tor for the evolution of “best prac- learning due to the accelerating pace we evaluate rapidly changing tech- tices” that are worked into textbooks of technological innovation and nologies and their prospective appli- and other course materials—and that application development. Businesses cations so we can bring cutting-edge ultimately find their way to the busi- need to develop their human capital ideas to the classroom. For instance, ness world. The content, topics, and so that they can help their managers one George Washington professor attain new knowledge and skills that recently returned from a sabbatical complement fixed capital invest- during which he researched RFID WE NEED TO ments in new technologies or tags (radio-frequency identification processes. Meanwhile, in order to tags), a new technology introduced COMMUNICATE WHAT advance in their careers, employees by Wal-Mart and others that is need to refresh their skills and per- expected to revolutionize inventory BUSINESS SCHOOLS HAVE haps even reposition themselves. management, which, in turn, Both factors have fueled demand for improves supply-chain efficiency. He CONTRIBUTED—AND business school programs and the will teach students about this innova- introduction of new delivery modes. tion in “Emerging Technologies,” a WHAT THEY CONTINUE TO And yet, many people outside our course that has been in our curricu- own ranks don’t know of these lum for years, but with frequently activities. Articulating and communi- revised content. CONTRIBUTE—TO THE cating to society the value of man- From anecdote to theory, the fact agement education and research may that business schools contribute to PRODUCTIVITY OF THE be one of our biggest challenges as productivity is unmistakable. We business educators. Although per- serve as conduits for knowledge. We ECONOMY. haps not in the same league as find- create and disseminate management ing the cure for cancer, management ideas and best practices to future and cases in such basic fields as account- tools such as improved inventory current managers. We teach students ing, finance, and marketing must control or portfolio hedging may to think strategically and help them regularly change to reflect new find- ultimately lead to better productivity understand how to make decisions ings, practices, technology, informa- and, in turn, better jobs, income lev- that will minimize or eliminate mis- tion availability, and even environ- els, and even quality of life. takes and improve efficiency. We mental or demographic changes. Joseph Wharton knew how teach students to determine the Business students also get hands- important management education potential benefits and challenges of a on opportunities to develop their was to a productive and prosperous new venture. At the same time, we skills through experiential learning by society. It’s time we, too, get that encourage students to think creative- serving as consultants to managers of word out. We need to communicate ly and to take calculated risks. actual companies working with press- what business schools have con- Keeping a business school curricu- ing business challenges. It’s interest- tributed—and what they continue to lum current and relevant, much less ing to observe visiting managers’ contribute—to the productivity of “ahead of the curve,” is a great chal- reactions to students’ presentations. the economy. ■z lenge. Unlike other academic areas, a These managers fervently take notes, business school’s curriculum must trying to capture the creative ideas of Susan M. Phillips is dean of The George constantly evolve to reflect the objective student outsiders who Washington University School of Business and dynamic competitive and innovative aren’t burdened by the “but we’ve Public Management in Washington, D.C.

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 55 Bookshelf

Management After that rousing intro- into the stress that colors women’s Misinformation duction, the book settles into lives and how this leads them to What an iconoclastic its main focus, a close look at demand products that are reliable, essay James Hoopes the lives and influences of the simple to operate, and able to save uses to open his people who have shaped them time. Make it hard for a intriguing book False management theory. These woman to buy or use something, Prophets! While the include Frederick W. Taylor, and she’ll turn her back on it, the bulk of the book con- Mary Parker Follett, Chester author says. “A woman’s stress filters sists of personal and professional Barnard, W. Edwards Deming, the way she decides, shops, and biographies of some of the top Peter Drucker, and a host of others. behaves,” Quinlan says. “Like it or names in business management, the Hoopes, a history professor at not, stress is standing between you introduction essentially declares that Babson College, cannot help but take and your marketing success with most modern management theories a historical perspective on his subject. women.” are bogus, because they overlook an In a fascinating if horrifying parallel, Women also buy products based essential truth. “Top-down power he describes early American slave on the input from their “board of and its potential abuse are here to owners as the first management advisors”—friends, neighbors, televi- stay in corporate America,” he writes. class, who shared management tips sion commentators, and other people “It is foolish to think otherwise.” through essay contests and published they trust. Their attitudes toward spe- The problem, he notes, is that the tracts that justified their treatment of cific brands and products are strongly true structure of corporate manage- their workforce. While one likes to influenced by good and bad memo- ment is so at odds with fundamental believe corporate management strate- ries, product legends that may or may American concepts of freedom and gies today have grown a little more not be true, and original research self-government that theorists and humane, one can’t help but recog- they do while actually shopping. business gurus keep trying to invent nize some of the rhetoric. (Perseus Without understanding these and ways to make the two systems mesh. Publishing, $27.50) other complex factors that go into “For a century now, one of the a woman’s decision to buy, says gurus’ main tactics for dealing with Selling to Women Quinlan, marketers cannot hope to our ambivalence about management No matter what you sell, most of break through the wall of stress and power has been to try to make cor- your customers are probably women. connect their products with their tar- porate life seem freer than it is,” They are involved in 85 percent of get market. The book’s fun style does Hoopes believes. Hence all the all U.S. purchases; not mask the fact that Quinlan con- emphasis on leadership, bottom- they earn $1 trillion siders this a very serious topic—one up management, and empow- annually. They have that marketers would do well to take ered work teams. These opti- the money, and seriously, too. (Wiley, $27.95) mistic management gurus, he they know how says, don’t seem to have realized to spend it—but Marketing Savvy “how flimsy a bridge they [have] they’ll only spend A great marketing campaign creates thrown across how immense an it with you if you instant awareness of a specific prod- abyss” as they overestimate “the understand what uct and often becomes part of the moral possibilities in corporate they want from cultural landscape. Ordinary con- life.” In business—as in all other your products and sumers, not just marketing experts, walks of life—power corrupts. services. remember “Where’s the beef?” and Hoopes declares that we need to That’s the premise behind Mary “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin” stop pretending that top CEOs will Lou Quinlan’s Just Ask a Woman, decades after the ads first aired. But stop abusing power and instead start the title also given to the marketing how can a marketing firm come up hoping that they will acquire “the consulting firm she started in 1999. with the next dramatic and effective humility that will help minimize self- In a chatty, intimate, and friendly ad? Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin righteous use of power.” style, Quinlan shares her insights Koval explain the mysteries of adver-

56 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 “CONSUMERS ARE SO INUNDATED WITH ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTS THAT ONLY A DISRUPTIVE IDEA WILL PENETRATE THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS.”

—Bang!

tising in Bang!, which International Business classroom text, the book makes details the big-bang theory Teaching in Eastern interesting reading for anyone fol- of getting a commercial and Central European lowing the fluctuating fortunes of noticed. Countries takes a close, technology stocks in recent years. “The Big Bang hard look at the transi- (Southwestern Thomson Learning, approach to marketing is tions under way in that $97.99) tailor-made for today’s area over the past 12 world,” they write. years. Editor George Between 1997 and the middle “Consumers are so inundated with Tesar has gathered eight essays by of 2002, the General Accounting advertising and products that only a 19 authors to examine such topics Office found 919 firms that needed disruptive idea will penetrate their as “The Role of Economics in the to make accounting restatements consciousness. It’s unlikely that any Management Curriculum,” “The to correct faulty accounting of us will ever be promoting a truly Use of Case Studies in Teaching reports. In Hidden Financial Risk: revolutionary product that com- Business Courses,” “Learning Understanding Off-Balance Sheet mands attention all by itself. Thus Styles,” and “Companies as Business Accounting, Pennsylvania State pro- it’s all the more essential that your Labora tories.” In fessor J. Edward Ketz lists all message be revolutionary.” addition, individ- 919 of them. He also succinctly Lively anecdotes and dissections ual essays examine describes and deconstructs what of actual marketing campaigns sup- the state of busi- specific accounting transgressions port their theories of how to grab ness education in occurred at companies such as consumer attention with wacky and Moldova and the Waste Management, Sunbeam, counterintuitive ideas. For instance, Czech Republic. AOL Time Warner, Qwest, the authors’ advertising agency, (International Tyco, and Enron. Along the way, Kaplan Thaler Group, was responsi- Business Press, he gives a pretty detailed educa- ble for creating the annoying, $24.95) tion in calculating financial risk ubiquitous, and highly memorable and hiding debt through a vari- AFLAC duck campaign. Much of The dot-com ety of legal and not-so-legal their advice is similarly unconven- bust of the last few years was not maneuvers. Unscrupulous CEOs tional, as they recommend taking quite as much of a disaster as it aren’t the only ones to blame for risks, breaking traditional rules, and seemed at first. In fact, only about recent accounting scandals, he points working in small, cramped quarters 1,500 of the approximately 5,000 out, noting how regulation systems to create a sort of contagion of cre- dot-com start-ups have gone out of and corporate governance also failed ativity among staff members. The business, writes Edward Deak in The to provide ade- book is consistently entertaining and Economics of e-Commerce and The quate checks. To downright funny in places, but every Internet, an overview of the eco- fix the problems, story has a lesson and every scrap of nomics of the Internet. The book he calls for noth- information is relevant. It’s an excel- examines the strategies, successes, ing less than a lent read for anyone pursuing the and failures of key e-commerce change in culture: field of product marketing. firms, both business-to-consumer “Managers must (Currency/Doubleday, $24.94) and business-to-business. Included consider them- are discussions of why grocery retail- selves stewards Quick Looks er Webvan failed and why eBay has of the investment As business education becomes succeeded so spectacularly well. community increasingly important around the One chapter deals with the infamous instead of lords world, various regions of the globe dot-com IPO scandals that are still and ladies in some corporate fief- are experiencing their own unique haunting major Wall Street firms. dom....We can improve the credibili- challenges in crafting and teaching Another chapter considers issues of ty of financial accounting.” (Wiley, a basic management curriculum. privacy and security. Intended as a $39.95) ■z

BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 57 Spotlight

Thinking Big

Indiana University Kokomo Kokomo, Indiana

Indiana University Kokomo’s prox- imity to two of the most prominent business schools in Indiana—the Kelley School of Business, Indiana

University at Bloomington, and the KOKOMO TRIBUNE/ERIC SMITH Krannert School of Management at Purdue University in West Lafayette—might seem a disadvan- tage. But IU Kokomo’s dean Niranjan Pati views his school’s loca- tion as an opportunity to fill a niche. “Larger schools may have more resources, but we can offer small classes, typically 25 to 30 students, all taught by terminally qualified profes-

sors. We don’t use teaching assistants KOKOMO TRIBUNE/ERIC SMITH in either our undergraduate or gradu- Clockwise from top: IUK’s main campus building; ate programs. That is one of our dis- Students who missed their regular graduation, tinctive competencies,” says Pati. because they qualified for the national Students in To further its program, IUK’s Free Enterprise competition, at a special graduation working as consultants to area busi- business school made a commitment ceremony; The Wellhouse, a prominent campus nesses. This year, they developed a to seek AACSB accreditation. “In landmark; Delphi Delco president Jeff Owens at plan to revitalize Kokomo’s strug- spite of a limited number of faculty IUK’s distinguished lecture series gling downtown business district. and a small budget, we attained our The school also maintains a partner- goal,” says Pati. The school was mid-career students; many are ship with The Kokomo Tribune and accepted for candidacy in 1993 and employed by two of the largest com- The Kokomo Perspective, local newspa- earned AACSB accreditation in 2001. panies in the area, DaimlerChrylser pers, in which its faculty provide reg- “Our main challenge was to find and Delphi Delco. ular columns and book reviews. the time and resources,” Pati com- This year, IUK’s undergraduate “These win-win types of partner- ments. “Our faculty and staff really students consistently performed ships allow us to reach out into the had to go beyond the call of duty well on the Educational Testing community,” says Pati. He notes that to write the reports and put the Service’s Major Field Test for busi- as the dean of a small school, he has processes into place to make it hap- ness. Students in its investment class, a special responsibility to monitor the pen.” IUK’s business school is one taught by Dianne Roden, also ranked local environment to find opportuni- of only a few programs of its size to in the top 5 percent at the national ties to keep his school at the fore- earn AACSB accreditation at both Collegiate Investment Challenge, the front of management education. undergraduate and graduate levels. fifth year in a row they’ve ranked in “Our intent is not to stay where The school serves about 350 the top 10 percent. we are, but to improve ourselves and undergraduates and nearly 100 grad- Ties to the community are espe- continue to enhance our programs. uate students. It accommodates a cially important for a small school, Even so, we will continue to main- few full-time MBA students, but adds Pati. Therefore, students in its tain our small school atmosphere most graduate students participate capstone MBA course participate in and maintain our niche,” says Pati. in its part-time program. Most are the Collegiate Management Program, “Small schools can think big.” ■z

64 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003