Anne Sweeney of Disney-ABC on the Future of Show Business
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 Anne Sweeney of Disney-ABC on the Future of Show Business Putting the Spotlight on BBA Programs European B-Schools Take on the Rankings BizEd 46 Cont NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 e VntsOLUME V, ISSUE 7 S E AG 56 M I KIROV/GETTY A BEK SH DEPARTMENTS FEATURES 26 6 From the Editors 18 The Change Artist 40 The Rankings Game Anne Sweeney, CEO of Disney- Andrea Gasparri of SDA Bocconi Letters 8 ABC, seeks the next big idea in explores the ramifications of the 10 Headlines entertainment. European rankings. 52 Research 26 Bachelor No. 1 46 The Law-Abiding Executive 56 Technology The BBA experiences a surge in Too often overlooked, legal literacy popularity as it becomes more should become an integrated part 60 Your Turn global, more hands-on, and more of the business curriculum, argues like the MBA. attorney Hanna Hasl-Kelchner. 62 Bookshelf 64 Calendar 32 A New Look at the Old BBA Two schools enhance their under- 66 Classifieds graduates’ educational experience. 72 Spotlight Cover photo: Courtesy of Disney-ABC BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 1 From the Editors My LIFEfolioTM LIFE’S MOMENTS BUILD UPON EACH OTHER TO EXPAND YOUR PERSPECTIVE ABOUT Oh, Brother! THE WORLD AROUND YOU. “The only constant in life is change.” Even though we repeatedly hear, and even believe, this Undergraduate students at Drexel University’s old aphorism, we often still want to hold fast to the way things are. For many in LeBow College of Business expand their business business and academia, change may seem uncertain, unexpected—and sometimes unwanted. knowledge with My LIFEfolio (LeBow Integrated I’ve been guilty of trying to hold on to the familiar—to my own detriment. In col- Focused Experience), a Web-based personal lege, as my classmates trekked to newly opened computer labs to write their papers, I portfolio. Designed as a living document, stubbornly refused to join them, using my sturdy Brother electric typewriter instead. My LIFEfolio becomes a fundamental When an English professor pointed out that I could save time if I would S E resource throughout students’ academic AG only use a computer, I responded curtly, “I like my typewriter. Computers M I just don’t interest me.” and professional careers. Inevitably, of course, I came to realize that my old Brother typewriter and I couldn’t keep up with the pace of change. Thus, I began my transforma- Students connect introductory course material to ENPORT/GETTY ENPORT/GETTY B tion from technological philistine to technophile. My junior year, I bought their upper level classes in My LIFEfolio, building DE BB my first PC, with its DOS commands and tiny 25 kilobyte hard drive. Then O an integrated academic experience through four R came my first college e-mail account and a connection to a text-based World electronic portfolios: Wide Web; next, Windows 98 and AOL chat rooms. Today, I have my lap- top, with its 80 gigabyte hard drive, wireless high-speed Internet connection, • WRITING and enough technological capacity to launch the space shuttle. Every time • QUANTITATIVE REASONING I hit the “Del” key rather than empty a bottle of Wite-Out, I think of my sophomoric self and wonder: What on earth was I thinking? • BUSINESS CONCENTRATION Many business educators, too, have come to realize that change, while • CAREER unnerving, can bring a number of advantages. Disciplinary silos have become integrated curricula. Field trips to Wall Street have become on-campus trad- My LIFEfolio provides evidence of personal ing rooms. Overhead projections are now PowerPoint presentations, and and professional growth as students store ™ handwritten spreadsheets have morphed into Excel printouts. Wired has information, reflect on what they have My LIFEfolio become wireless. Just as one new innovation takes hold, yet another one learned, and showcase their knowledge. appears, requiring still another shift in mindset. But through it all, business LIFE’S LEARNING EXPERIENCED ONLINE schools have sought to evolve with and adjust to the ever-changing dynamics Students access both business and My LIFEfolioTM FROM DREXEL UNIVERSITY’S of the business world. non-business courses, completed In our articles “Bachelor No. 1” and “New Looks at the Old BBA,” we hear from assignments, multi-media LEBOW COLLEGE OF BUSINESS FEATURES: business educators who are transforming their BBA programs; they aim to update a projects, teaching notes, • Discretionary viewing rights to portfolios curriculum that they argue has stayed static for too long. Also in this issue, we talk with Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC Television Group. Sweeney is passion- and presentations for • Availability of additional portfolios ate about changes in the television industry that are pushing it toward new delivery reference while they • Integration with WebCT, enabling optional uploads models. At a time when change can either push us kicking and screaming or inspire us are in school, on and downloads to new heights of innovation, Sweeney says she chooses to be inspired. co-op, or after • 24-7 Web access I still have that Brother typewriter. Somehow I can’t bear to part with it, even though it serves no other purpose than to graduation. remind me that sometimes, change is good—an exciting chal- lenge to be embraced, not a difficulty to be avoided. After all, even FOR MORE INFORMATION– WWW.LEBOW.DREXEL.EDU though no one can know for sure what challenges lie ahead, every- one can learn and improve as a result of facing them head-on. ■z OM COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ASC BILL B LEARN HERE, LEAD ANYWHERE® LeBow 6 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 Emerald and EFMD doctoral research awards.qxd 9/14/2006 12:10 PM Page 1 2006 Emerald and EFMD Outstanding Letters Doctoral Research Award Winners The 2006 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards promote and reward high-quality research and we would like to congratulate all the Award winners and Highly Commended winners and wish them every success in the future. The Award winners are as follows: Enterprise applications of internet technology category sponsored by International service management category sponsored by the Internet Research International Journal of Service Industry Management Winner: Daphne Raban, Doctoral award conferred by: University of Haifa, Winner: Margaret Hume, Doctoral award conferred by: University of Israel Queensland, Australia Title of research: “Ownership and subjective value in the trading and Title of research: “Investigating re-purchase intention in an experiential sharing of information” context using operations and marketing perspectives” Library studies category sponsored by Library Hi Tech Consumer marketing and consumer behaviour category sponsored by the Winner: Catherine Maskell, Doctoral award conferred by: University of Journal of Consumer Marketing Western Ontario, Canada Winner: Stefano Puntoni, Doctoral award conferred by: London Business Title of research: “Consortia activity in academic libraries: anti- School, UK competitive or in the public good” Title of research: “The effect of social context on advertising reception” The Ethical Approach to contribute constructively not only by reporting on and examin- Management and governance category sponsored by Management Information science category sponsored by the Journal of Documentation Thank you for the article “On Course With ing many important issues, but also Decision Winner: Gillian Oliver, Doctoral award conferred by: Monash University, Winner: Taranjeet Patel, Doctoral award conferred by: Open University, Australia Ethics” in the September/Octo- by regularly reminding us all that UK Title of research: “Information in organisations: a comparative study of ber issue of BizEd. Authors Rob- ethics cuts to the heart of resolving Title of research: “Using dynamic cultural theories to explain the viability information cultures” ert Giacalone, Georges Enderle, conflicts large and small. An under- of international strategic alliances: a focus on Indo-French alliances” Linda Treviño, and Domènec Melé standing of ethics goes a long way Organizational change and development category sponsored by the authored essays that effectively toward ensuring growing, stable Interdisciplinary accounting research category sponsored by the Journal of Organizational Change Management Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Winner: Todd Bridgman, Doctoral award conferred by: University of combine to cover many of the basic economies and peace in the world. Winner: Susan Greer, Doctoral award conferred by: Macquarie University, Cambridge, UK issues that business schools must Australia Title of research: “Commercialising the academic’s public role: theorising address. Marjorie C. Walsleben Title of research: “Governing indigenous peoples: a history of accounting the politics of identity constitution and practice in UK research-led As associate editor of the Gra- Associate Editor interventions in the New South Wales Aborigines Protection and Welfare business schools” ziadio Business Report and in my Graziadio Business Report Boards 1883-1969” Human resource development category sponsored by the Journal of private practice as an editor, I work Pepperdine University Marketing strategy category sponsored by the European Journal of Workplace Learning with faculty, students, and other Los Angeles, California Marketing Winner: Hermine Scheeres, Doctoral award conferred by: University of individuals writing on business top- Winner: Mark Glynn, Doctoral award conferred by: University of Queensland, Australia ics. In light of Sarbanes-Oxley, the Auckland,