UPDATE | From the Dean
Photo by Bob Rashid
This issue of UPDATE contains articles on two topics that are never far from mind for us at the School of Business. Charlie Trevor’s article reminds us of the importance of attracting and retaining top talent. Our faculty roundtable discussion focuses on the increasing use of quantitative information in business. Fusing these important ideas about people and metrics is essential to continuous improvement in our programs.
When I talk with alumni and friends of the School of Business, I frequently hear concern that academic organizations lack sufficient accountability to deliver high performance. I can understand this concern. Academic institutions do not have the same bottom line as a for-profit company. And we have much more complex governance structures—this is a natural byproduct of the many constituencies we serve. These differences pose challenges. But it is important for our alumni and friends to understand that we aspire to excellence, just like any great organization. And we achieve it in a similar way: attracting and retaining talented people, articulating a clear strategy, developing measurable goals for our strategy, assigning responsibility, aligning people with goals and rewarding success.
We have had another very successful year in faculty and staff recruiting. We are bringing very talented people into the school in areas central to our strategy. We have also been successful at retaining our top performers.
While academic
organizations have
many differences
from business on
the surface, I think
you would find a
surprising number
of similarities in how we pursue success.
We have made changes to our faculty compensation system that we hope will do a better job linking rewards to attainment of clear strategic goals. I was impressed by the thought that our faculty put into this matter, and am confident our new system will improve alignment.
Our strategic planning process is ongoing. (You can access the most recent version of our strategic plan online.) It articulates our priorities and areas of opportunity. It identifies clear goals and assigns responsibility. We track our progress over time and against peer schools for those goals we can quantify. Media rankings also impose quantitative metrics on us, whether we like them or not.
Our career specialization MBA illustrates how we achieve alignment. The model empowers individual faculty members to allocate resources with clear objectives in mind: attracting great students, developing strong programs, forming advisory boards to support the program and providing outstanding career opportunities for students. The excitement in our career specializations is largely a function of the empowerment, responsibility, and accountability that comes with leadership. I am very proud of what our school has achieved using this model. I know you would be impressed. Our 15-spot increase in the U.S. News ranking of our full-time Wisconsin MBA over the past three years was no accident.
While academic organizations have many differences from business on the surface,
I think you would find a surprising number of similarities in how we pursue success.
I am confident that if we stay focused on these big issues, we will continue to attract great faculty, staff and students and deliver better programs every year. I hope that you will help us in our quest.
Michael Knetter
Dean