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Allocate faculty salaries more fairly. Deans who are able to secure counterparts and offer competitive salaries to top faculty, the negative effect may be staggering. Weathering the Storm Any one of these three forces could pose serious problems for business school administrators. Together, they promise to present a full financial firestorm of challenge. Although busi- ness schools are likely to survive the storm, these challenges threaten to curtail the freedom deans have historically exer- cised to protect the integrity of their schools. Their hands will be tied with budget cuts, limited endowments, and an inabil- ity to attract and retain talented faculty. Of most concern is that these factors may make it increas- ingly difficult for schools to maintain the research component of their missions. Once business schools lose their research leaders, they may have difficulty hiring worthy replacements. At that point, they may be left with only one option: to revise their missions to reflect a much smaller research component. If these schools are unable to maintain an adequate percent- age of academically qualified faculty, they may also be unable to meet AACSB accreditation requirements. Just as the fishermen in "The Perfect Storm" were unable to steer clear of the danger, it is likely that many business schools will be unable to disperse these ominous clouds before they unleash their full force. Business schools are, in fact, already engulfed by the storm. To withstand it success- fully, many schools will have to make fundamental changes: Become better fund-raisers. To say that schools must raise more money may seem an oversimplification. Schools now in the greatest need are those that previously have had the least success in securing external funds. Even those schools most adept at fund raising require six to 24 months to gain a major gift com- mitment; even then, only one in three qualified prospects ulti- mately provides a major gift. Furthermore, no school's problems are solved with a single major gift. A dean often requires a series of substantial gifts to have sufficient operating leverage. Nonetheless, effective fund raising will be an absolute necessity, one that deans can expect to consume an increas- ingly higher percentage of their time. Schools that have his- torically been poor fund-raisers must strengthen their net- works, develop better relationships with alumni, and further improve their fund-raising potential. funding and bring new faculty into their business schools still must correct the problem of salary inversion. Money to enhance faculty salaries will be available only in increments over relatively long periods of time. Deans will have to rank faculty and allocate salary enhancements over several semes- ters, if not years. These maneuvers will require a great deal of administrative acumen to actually improve, rather than dimin- ish, faculty morale. Such attention is better than the alternative. After all, salary inversion is a double-edged sword. Deans may choose to pay more for new hires than they do for their established faculty. But as these new faculty develop well-defined streams of research, other schools will be more likely to recruit them, often by offering substantial salary increases. A mid-level school that has made good hires, nurtured and supported young faculty, and established a presence in a particular area of research could have its faculty gutted in one recruiting season. Keep an eye on research. In the end, fund raising and faculty salary management are the two most effective ways for schools to protect an important element of their missions— their research. Faculty at schools that neglect these two areas will likely see their research productivity decline. Business schools must maintain sufficient levels of scholarship. Only then can they retain their best faculty members, reputations, and accreditation status. Change for the Better A perfect storm, by definition, is a convergence of inde- pendent events that form an environment never experienced before. The unprecedented storm that now engulfs U.S. business schools could last for a decade or longer. Regardless of its duration, it will change permanently the funding, faculty, and research focus for many of the nation's business schools. As marketing guru Theodore Leavitt has suggested, the goal of firms facing a dynamic environment is to "survive gallantly." Such gallantry may be difficult for business schools to achieve, especially when faced with such strong simultaneously challenging winds of change. But the schools that acclimate well to the storm are sure to emerge stronger for it. s z D. Michael Fields is an associate dean at Missouri State University's College of Business Administration in Springfield, Missouri. To read the AACSB International Management Education Task Force's report or the Doctoral Faculty Commission's report, "Sustaining Scholarship in Business Schools," visit www.aacsb.edu/publications/. BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 37