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DESPITE BEING PORTRAYED AS EXISTING ON EITHER SIDE OF A THEORY/PRACTICE DIVIDE, TODAY'S BUSINESS SCHOOLS ACTUALLY OFFER AN IDEAL VENUE FOR BUILDING BRIDGES. attractive. There are other ways for schools to share academic knowl- edge with the interested public. For example, Wharton rewrites faculty research in laymen's terms and posts the information online for 400,000 subscribers worldwide. Bringing translators into the mix Susan J. Ashford themselves delighted by well-crafted talks in which research-oriented pro- fessors present new ideas and make them accessible. If deans encourage such interactions, they can enrich the thinking of faculty on both sides, while improving the program for students. 5. Foster the notion of faculty develop- ment—for junior and senior professors. As I've said, many faculty don't become interested in practice until late in their careers, but at that point, few business school administrators are thinking about ways to mentor them. Deans should consider long- term development strategies for all their faculty. 6. Look for translators. Sometimes it's difficult for practitioners to understand the dense research pro- duced by top faculty. The solution is for the school to find mechanisms for putting those thoughts into laymen's terms. Some translators already exist. For instance, Tom Peters interprets the work of Weick, whose research would be mysteri- ous to most practitioners otherwise. Malcolm Gladwell edits basic psy- chological research into forms that readers find understandable and has two benefits. First, it allows faculty to produce knowledge while still creating an impact on practice. Second, it helps research-oriented academics see that their work really does make a difference in the corpo- rate world. 7. Promote an interdisciplinary approach among faculty. Real-world problems are complex and multifaceted; they aren't confined to disciplinary silos. Schools should encourage faculty to read outside their own literature and talk to colleagues in other disci- plines. The University of Michigan's openness among academic units is enhanced by joint appointments across departments, as well as by structured interactions that include having organizational scholars from 11 different schools and colleges come together for a weekly seminar. Not only should academics inter- act more with practitioners, but they should also consider theories and findings from other disciplines. To encourage faculty to explore other areas, deans and administrators must recognize not only the importance of interdisciplinary work, but also the greater complexity it presents. They need to design a reward system for faculty engaged in the difficult work of interdisciplinary research. 8. Invent structures to bring theory and practice together. An outstand- ing example of a theory/practice collaboration is the Marketing Sci- ence Institute in Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts. Launched in 1961, the institute brings together executives from about 70 corporations with researchers from more than 100 uni- versities who determine which topics would be most fruitful for academic research. MSI solicits proposals on these topics and funds related research. The institute, established by a business school dean, is a model other deans can use to create syner- gies between academia and industry when they are networking in the broader business community. Despite being portrayed as exist- ing on either side of a theory/ practice divide, today's business schools actually offer an ideal venue for building bridges. Deans can lead this effort by taking a new approach to academic expertise and expanding their definition of what it means to be a successful academic. As more schools build cross-disciplinary bridges, more faculty leaders will be willing to cross those bridges. But administrators need to lead the way by creating a collaborative culture. Deans have a real opportunity to promote the role of business schools today—within the university, the business world, and society. It's also up to them to create the internal sys- tems that will enable and reinforce a good balance of researchers and practitioners among faculty. Over time, such a balance will only make the school stronger and increase the pool and quality of knowledge for everyone, both in academia and in the corporate world. ■ z Susan J. Ashford is associate dean for leadership programming and the Executive MBA Program at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor. She is also the Michael and Susan Jandernoa Professor of Management and Organization. BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2008 69