Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58912
Interdisciplinary research better reflects the realities of modern businesses, where people from different specialties cooperate with each other, rather than compete. Breaking Down Silos We knew we had some work to do. Many of our faculty were accustomed to working within their traditional silo subjects, or at least primarily within the business school itself. In fact, in the 2000–2001 academic year, we counted only four con- nections between business school faculty and faculty in other departments. In 2001, our administration decided to provide internal funding, through a call for Requests for Proposals (RFPs), to interdisciplinary projects related to the school's strategic ini- tiatives. It was estimated that each project would cost between $30,000 and $80,000 per year for an average duration of two to three years, although proposals that fell outside that range were also considered. During the three-month period between the issuance of the RFP and the proposal due date, the adminis- tration encouraged extensive discus- sion, not only among faculty seeking collaborative opportunities, but also between proposal teams and those making the final selections. This discussion provided further oppor- tunities for teams to refine their structures, introduce faculty with overlapping interests, and choose a project leader. Well-established researchers were encouraged to assume roles of leadership. We knew that such discussion would be a vital step in the process and would better ensure that team members and their objectives were well-matched. In the inaugural year of this ini- tiative, ten proposals were submitted, of which three were selected for full funding. Several others received limited funding to launch pilot projects. Projects launched as a result of Bentley's interdisciplinary RFP program have been wide- ranging, delving into multidisciplinary research areas such as the following: n Data analytics in marketing and foreign direct invest- ment, which led to collaboration among faculty from the economics, international studies, marketing, and mathematics departments. n Information availability and visibility through networks of interconnected firms, which linked faculty from accoun- tancy, behavioral and political sciences, computer information systems, management, and marketing. 32 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006 n Women in leadership, which linked faculty from eco- nomics, English, management, and philosophy. n Enterprise risk management, which brought together faculty from accountancy, behavioral sciences, computer information systems, economics, finance, law, management, marketing, mathematical sciences, financial planning, and taxation. n Ethics and social responsibility, which involved faculty from accountancy, behavioral and political sciences, manage- ment, and philosophy. In the 2003–2004 academic year, we counted 16 interdis- ciplinary connections, inside and outside the business school —a 400 percent increase. In addition, the number of inter- disciplinary publications within the university—which included journal articles with at least two authors from different departments—rose from seven to 36. Even better, the increase in interdisciplinary publica- tions outpaced the increase in the number of publications overall, rising from 3.61 percent to 13.79 percent. Much of this activity can be attrib- uted to the creation of the first offi- cial interdisciplinary research team at Bentley, DART (Data Analytics Research Team), one of the success- ful initiatives in the RFP program. It was co-founded in 2001 by a mar- keting professor and a statistician and currently consists of these founding members as well as a computer scien- tist, an economist, and a geographer. The team has published five papers in refereed journals and has several other projects under way. The team takes advantage of its strong analytic capacity in areas of interest to team members, such as database marketing, foreign direct investment, and studies of the digital divide. This increase in interdisciplinary research better reflects the realities of modern businesses, where people from different specialties cooperate with each other, rather than compete. In this framework, people understand the importance of building a network of colleagues and potential clients, so that they can better understand differing points of view. They understand that employees or consultants who retreat into their own isolated disciplines, except in very specialized environments, will often fail in their objectives—to solve problems for their companies and their clients.