Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63429
Letters Impressions of BizEd I've been impressed with BizEd magazine since its inception. It truly is the leading source of information and insight for the international man- agement education community. "Meet Joe Dean," published on and differentiation. It is exactly on these two issues—accreditation and Ph.D.s as an academic qualifica- tion—that I would like to contribute to the ongoing discussion by bring- ing up some questions. Having participated in several page 36 of the May/June issue, was particularly informative, especially for academics that aspire to be busi- ness school deans. The nicely illus- trated article provided an excellent summary of the characteristics, motivations, and concerns of busi- ness deans. Articles in BizEd have been time- ly and relevant in academic and business environments. The last issue contained articles about Tom Peters, Enron, and the risks facing business schools. I used information from these articles in recent depart- ment meetings and in classroom lectures. I'm always excited when my copy come in handy and is hard to get. Great job, keep it up! University of Illinois at Chicago Dean, College of Business Administration Wim Wiewel of BizEd arrives in the mail. I com- mend you for excellent work and encourage you to carry on! Lawrence P. Shao An Open Mind Division of Finance and Economics Marshall University Huntington, West Virginia Rich with Content My compliments on the May/June issue of BizEd. Again, a very content-rich issue. "Meet Joe Dean" (which ends with a quote I had given the researchers) is very interesting. "Enron 101" is timely; "Business Schools at Risk" is useful. The small items (e.g, about University of Oregon's new building, and the INSEAD family business study) offer the kind of information that can 6 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2002 Professor and Division Head Your "Business Schools at Risk" article (May/June 2002) was an insightful and challenging report on the cen- tral issues facing business schools. Whether business schools are at risk will depend on the open minds of faculty and their strategies for the future. The Task Force chair, Judy Olian, worldwide visitations, I have noticed that one never stops learning. I am always learning, and I am convinced that business schools learn a lot from a team of experienced peers. Nonetheless, there is always the risk of measuring for measure at the cost of trust. To put this differently: As much as we want to promote and increase quality, how much time do we devote merely to policing it? Most of us believe we have a clear idea of what a quality business school should look like; are we projecting our own ideas onto the schools we visit? To avoid the risk of Procrustean beds, how can we main- tain sufficient open-mindedness, cre- ativity, and reflexivity on what we are assessing and what the (unintended) results of our assessment may be? These questions are all the more makes realistic and candid observa- tions on business schools' changing environment, constituency, and internationalization. Addressing the role of overstretched and underre- warded faculty, she suggests execu- tive Ph.D. programs as a vehicle to transition doctorally qualified execu- tives to the classroom. She also notes that AACSB, through accreditation, might address Ph.D. shortages with- out losing the benefits of variation plaguing because we all agree on what the Task Force's chairperson calls "…an incredible competitive landscape in a continually changing environment." The response to this will be dynamic and very flexibly organized business schools. How well prepared are we then to critical- ly look at our academic beliefs and accreditation standards? Given our emphasis on research and research-qualified faculty, are we aware of the changes in knowledge production systems? Universities are not central anymore to this knowl- edge production; neither are busi- ness schools. There is an increased dialogue between science and socie- ty. Not only does science speak to