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30 September/October 2014 BizEd new experience for MBAs. (See "Full Immersion," page 29.) Sarkar believes that faculty must take more initiative to help their schools succeed. When Sarkar took his idea for the immersion program to his dean, the response was both encouraging and daunting. "Dean Moshe Porat said, 'Sounds great. Go do it.' So I had to do it!" he says. "Academics often struggle with this dimension. It's something we're not trained to do. But if we have ideas that we believe in, we must take action. If we see a gap- ing hole, we need to fill it ourselves. Business schools call this service, but it's really entrepreneurship. I remind myself constantly that I must be an entrepreneur and innovator in an academic setting." To inspire more faculty to fol- low his lead, he describes a con- versation he once had with a cab driver in Mumbai, India. He asked the cabbie this question: What would he do with a sudden finan- cial windfall? "The driver pulled the car to the side of the road so he could look me in the eye. He told me, 'I would put a bathroom in my house. Every night my daughters have to go outside, and each time I wonder if they'll come back,'" says Sarkar. "Stories like his should inspire us to see if we can create business models to give effective sanitation to this man and his family." Such simple innovations, he adds, can make differences in people's lives. "Much of the conversation today is about how many business schools will go bankrupt in the next few years. That's a nonproductive con- versation," he says. "It's far more productive to talk about how we can transform ourselves, how we can help organizations unlock the big problems of our times. This is a rare moment, and we have a rare opportunity." M arielle Heijltjes' list of respon- sibilities has gotten longer, especially as society's expecta- tions for business schools have changed. This is particularly true in Europe, where business schools are expected to create visible soci- etal and economic value. In the Netherlands, this concept has been labeled "knowledge valorization." This has meant that in addition to conducting research and teaching, Heijltjes and her colleagues also are expected to "collaborate and co-create" knowledge in ways that advance their industry and address today's social challenges. If business schools are to help faculty fulfill this new role, they must change in fundamental ways, Heijltjes says. But in her view, busi- ness schools have only recently— and reluctantly—begun to address this shift. She points out that pro- motion and tenure decisions and other faculty incentives most often revolve around research produc- tion. "The challenge for faculty is balancing what it takes to survive in the old system while producing the innovation required to create the new," she says. Heijltjes is encouraged, how- ever, by efforts such as the Glob- ally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), a consortium of more than 50 business schools, corporations, and associations dedicated to redefining the pur- pose of 21st-century corpora- tions and business schools. For instance, the GRLI's 50+20 proj- ect, launched in 2011, aims to identify best emerging practices among business schools today. "I am fortunate to work at Maastricht, a GRLI partner school. There is an understanding among our board members and program directors of what needs to change," she says. "The next step is to broaden our dialogue to all fac- ulty members, and put our money where our mouths are. I hope that we will be courageous enough to convert this understanding into new budget decisions and faculty HR policies, even when other col- leagues in the industry might not yet be changing." Policies change when like- minded individuals stay connected, says Heijltjes. She shares her school's progress and obstacles with executives, policymakers, and other academics. This activity cul- tivates the "co-creation of knowl- edge" that she finds most valu- able. "Progress has been possible because we learn from each other on questions that have meaning for all of us," she says. "The most posi- tive reward is our ability to address the challenges we collectively face." To learn more, visit www.grli. org. The Collaborator Marielle G. Heijltjes is a professor of managerial behavior, the associate dean of strategic development and internationalization, and the director of post- graduate education at the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics in the Netherlands.