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Headlines Drivers of Change in Business Schools While business schools seem to thrive even in times of economic recession, they are not impervious to outside influ- ences that force them to respond to new demands. Exactly what factors drive change in the academic world? Working with input from AACSB In- ternational, a group of researchers at Villanova University's College of Commerce and Finance, Villanova, Pennsylvania, asked that question of business school deans and associate deans. Surveys were mailed to 593 aca- demic leaders shortly after the September 11 terrorist attack; 273 responded. Vil- lanova professorsMo- hammad Najdawi, Stephen A. Stumpf, and Jonathan P. Doh presented results at the AACSB Interna- tional 2001 Associate Deans Conference last December. They found that more than half of the respondents felt that a doctoral student shortage was a key factor driving change at their institutions— even in the midst of a significant economic downturn and na- tional crisis. As indi- cated in Table 1, the four other top drivers were: the emergence of new competitors, rapid changes in the economy, shifts in funding sources, 6 that most change drivers were inde- pendent, though a few clusters of in- terrelated factors did emerge. In one cluster, these interrelated change drivers were those that reflected a and changes in how business organi- zations function. Less important to academic leaders were factors such as compliance and regulatory issues, pri- vatization and venture capital, and in- tellectual property rights. Researchers theorized that these issues were either viewed as not relevant to the institu- tion, or were too distant from the core operations of the institution to be of concern. The Villanova researchers noted global, e-business, anytime, any- where mindset: the global bazaar and the erosion of geo boundaries; the shifting of resources to e-learning; the possibility of conducting business activity anytime, anywhere; the in- creased need for speed; and explod- ing opportunities in e-business. In a second cluster, one that fo- Doctoral faculty shortage Emergence of new competitors Shifts in funding sources Rapid changes in the economy Changes in how business organizations function The increased need for speed Exploding undergraduate enrollment Increasing percentage of nontraditional students Global bazaar and erosion of boundaries Cost of structure differences in delivery systems Growth in demand for nondegree education Conducting business anytime, anywhere Greater diversity in graduate enrollment Exploding opportunities in e-business Shifting of resources to e-learning Employment uncertainties for graduates Intellectual property rights Privatization and venture capital Compliance and regulatory issues Table 1: Drivers of Change in Business Schools 52 47 46 38 33 30 30 28 27 26 25 23 20 18 18 17 12 7 5 31 32 Percent of Respondents BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2002 % Yes % Somewhat 36 46 42 65 63 39 35 41 brought about by these outside driv- ers, researchers found that academic leaders were most likely to be successful if they could draw on a number of skill sets. While many skill sets were viewed as im- portant by at least half of the sample responding, nearly all respondents consid- ered interpersonal, relationship-building, and influence skills essential for their success, as shown in Table 2. The skill sets were cused on core business changes, the combined drivers were: the rapid changes in the economy and changes in how business organiza- tions function. When dealing with the changes 32 39 36 55 56 55 50 52 60 generally independ- ent, but researchers isolated a few clusters of related skills. The first cluster, dealing with tactical skills, included: human re- source and recruit- ing/staffing skills; negotiation and em- ployment law skills; selling, marketing, and public relations skills; and problem