Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62215
How Schools Choose to Benchmark School Identity What is your school's single most important program? BACHELOR'S BUSINESS DEGREE 60% GENERAL MASTER'S 30% EXECUTIVE MASTER'S 5% SPECIALIZED MASTER'S 3% DOCTORAL DEGREE 2% Where do you focus most of your energy in recruiting and placement? LOCALLY 43% REGIONALLY 39% NATIONALLY 11% INTERNATIONALLY 7% Which of the following is of primary importance at your business school? TEACHING 68% RESEARCH 32% SERVICE <1% In the first three questions of the survey, adminis- trators rated the strategic choices that govern the identities of their schools. The majority of respond- ing schools indicated that they focus on attracting regional and local students to their undergraduate programs, where the emphasis is on teaching. Forty- one percent of respondents were deans, 47 percent were associate or senior associate deans, and 12 percent were other top administrators such as MBA program directors or directors of development. What components are you most likely to imitate? PROGRAM OFFERINGS 1.67* OVERALL REPUTATION .97 MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES .68 STUDENT QUALITY .65 TEACHING QUALITY .59 FACULTY'S RESEARCH OUTPUT .47 SCHOOL'S FINANCIAL RESOURCES .37 TECHNOLOGY .36 *Scale: 2=very important, 0=not important at all MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES 4.0 STUDENT QUALITY 3.9 OVERALL REPUTATION 3.8 TEACHING QUALITY 3.7 FACULTY'S RESEARCH OUTPUT 3.7 SCHOOL'S FINANCIAL RESOURCES 3.3 **Scale: 1=significantly worse, 3=no change, 5=significantly improved Even though administrators indicate that their "school's financial resources" and "faculty research output" are the areas that most need to improve, in reality, these are the areas that are less often targeted for change. In general, business schools are more likely to change areas that are most readily available and convenient to monitor—such as program offerings and school mission—and not the areas that are more difficult to monitor but that are clearly more important to gaining competitive advantage. 38 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 TECHNOLOGY What has changed at your school in the past three years? PROGRAM OFFERINGS 4.2** 4.2 PROGRAM OFFERINGS 1.17 FACULTY'S RESEARCH OUTPUT 1.14 SCHOOL'S FINANCIAL RESOURCES .87 TEACHING QUALITY .71 MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES .61 TECHNOLOGY .33 STUDENT QUALITY 1.36 OVERALL REPUTATION 41% TECHNOLOGY 38% TEACHING QUALITY 31% MISSION, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES 25% PROGRAM OFFERINGS 25% Comparison Schools What qualities do you most admire in an aspiration school? OVERALL REPUTATION 1.78* STUDENT QUALITY 48% SCHOOL'S FINANCIAL RESOURCES 44% What areas are you most likely to target for improvement in your own school? FACULTY'S RESEARCH OUTPUT 48%