59 research outputs found
An analysis of the environment and competitive dynamics of management research
Purpose â The purpose of this paper examines some of the controversies facing business schools in their future evolution and pays particular attention to their competitive positioning as centres of management research.
Design/methodology/approach â The paper combines and builds on current literature to provide an analytic overview of the environment and competitive challenges to management research in business schools.
Findings â The paper assesses the impacts of a globalized environment and ever-changing competitive dynamics, for example in terms of the supply of high-quality faculty, on the activity of management research in business schools. It points out that research impacts must be judged not only in terms of theoretical development but also managerial and policy impact. However, managerial impact is difficult to measure and the âvoice of practiceâ must be carefully identified.
Originality/value â The paper identifies the current challenges for undertaking innovative research in business schools in light of their competitive environment. Three interrelated conjectures focusing particularly on managerial impact are raised which identify problems and limitations of current debates on management research in business schools
Are business school deans doomed? The global financial crisis, Brexit and all that
Purpose
â The purpose of this paper is to focus on different types of university-based business school dean (BSD) in a context of insecurities within the business school business and more widely with changing business and educational models and disruptions such as the global financial crisis and Brexit. The position of the BSD is contextualised within the industry sector, institutionally, and in relation to individualsâ tenures to make sense of how BSDs are operating on a burning platform. A well-established middle management strategic role framework is applied to the empirical data.
Design/methodology/approach
â In total, 50 one-to-one interviews were conducted with deans and their colleagues. Deansâ behaviours were analysed according to attention paid to âfacilitatingâ, âsynthesizingâ, âchampioningâ, and âimplementingâ strategic activities.
Findings
â Behaviours from primary professional identities as scholars and educators were identified as prevalent. It is suggested that to achieve greater legitimacy in declining mature markets, future deans will need to re-negotiate their roles to champion as public intellectuals the societal impact of business schools more widely in a context of shifting business and educational models.
Practical implications
â The study is relevant to current and aspiring deans and for those hiring and developing business school deans.
Originality/value
â The dean is conceptualised as a hybrid upper middle manager besieged by multiple stakeholders and challenges. Novel first-order insights into a typology of strategists are highlighted
Leading a business school
Business schools are critical players in higher education, educating current and future leaders to make a difference in the world. Yet we know surprisingly little about the leaders of business schools. Leading a Business School demystifies this complex and dynamic role, offering international insights into deansâ dilemmas in different contexts and situations. It highlights the importance of deans creating challenging and supportive learning cultures to enhance business and management education, organizations and society more broadly.
Written by renowned experts on the role of the dean, Julie Davies, Howard Thomas, Eric Cornuel and Rolf D. Cremer, the book traces the historical evolution of the business school deanship, the current challenges and future sources of disruption. The leadership characteristics and styles of business school deans are presented based on an examination of different dimensions of their roles. These include issues of strategic positioning, such as financial viability, prestige, size, mission, age, location and programme portfolios, as well as the influences of rankings, sector accreditations, governance structures, networks and national policies on strategy implementation. Drawing on international case studies and deansâ development programmes globally, the authors explore constraints on deansâ autonomy, university and external relations, and how business school deans add value over the period of their tenures.
This candid and well-researched book is essential reading for aspiring business school leaders, those hiring and working with deans, and other higher education leaders
The Case of Business School Rankings
Drawing on the case of business school rankings, we study how institutions are
maintained and remain persistent despite their contested nature. We argue that rankings
as institutions can be maintained through subtle disciplinary practices that freeze power
relations in recipient organizations. Our analysis rests on a Foucauldian understanding
of control emphasizing that rankings discipline (1) by enhancing the visibility of
individualsâ performance, (2) by defining ânormalâ behavior, and (3) by shaping how
people understand themselves and the world around them. We show that these three
disciplining effects support rankingsâ durability, reproducibility, and communicability
enhancing their overall stability and diffusion. Our arguments demonstrate that
rankingsâ relevance and impact is not entirely based on the legitimacy they are able to
offer to ranked schools. Rather rankings impel a variety of disciplinary effects within
business schools which help to stabilize and diffuse the institution
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