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In the flurry of discussion about the problem with the MBA—or the problem with business schools in general—the current and widespread efforts of business schools to improve their programs often aren't recognized. Their remarkable successes in the field are somehow lost in the debate. developed a paradigm-breaking MBA curriculum in the 1990s. It was one of the few schools that started with a blank sheet of paper and developed amodular curriculumthat con- sisted of academic "streams" that emphasized integrative, cross-disciplinary learning. The intent of the new curriculum was to provide students with the perspective and cross-func- tional skills necessary for success as business leaders. More recently, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, implemented a major leader- ship initiative, as well as a series of ethical workshops that are a required part of the curriculum. At Villanova University's College of Commerce and Finance in Pennsylvania, a strong foundation of liberal arts, ethics, and international manage- ment is required within its undergraduate business program. At these and many other schools, change is being imple- mented with the heavy involvement of leading research facul- ty. Among their ranks, we can find a breadth and depth of experience, valuable insights, corporate connections, and gen- uine concern for their students' education. The business school industry does tremendous disservice to itself when it focuses so heavily on the irrelevance of research-driven facul- ty or the myopic vision of deans. The real problemwe are facing is that toomuch of today's criticismof business education is narrowly focused and lacks a larger strategic view. In the flurry of discussion about the problem with the MBA—or the problem with business schools in general—the current and widespread efforts of business schools to improve their programs often aren't rec- ognized. Their remarkable successes in the field are somehow lost in the debate. While it's beneficial to bring ideas and criticisms to the fore, the hands-on business of running a school is a delicate balancing act carried out on politically treacherous terrain. School leaders are often women and men who don't have the protection of tenure and who operate at business schools that aren't ranked in the top 30. We need to focus on practical change from the b-school leadership perspective and on col- laboration to refine and implement strategies for success. Rolling Up Our Sleeves If theoretical solutions won't help us improve and reviseman- agement education, what will?When it comes to implement- ing change, it's not "all about ideas." It's about rolling up our sleeves and putting practical strategies in action. Earlier this year, we published an article in MBA Innova- tion, "Practicing What They Preach: Business School Strategies for Success." In researching this article, we inter- viewed six former deans to learn more about their approach- es to business school leadership over decades of service. We spoke with Gil Whitaker, former dean of the Jones School at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and the University of Michigan Business School; B. Joseph White, former dean of the University of Michigan Business School; Thomas Keller and Rex Adams, former deans of the Fuqua School of Busi- ness at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; Donald Jacobs, former dean of the Kellogg School ofManagement at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois; and Meyer Feldberg, former dean of the Columbia University Business School in New York City. As we listened to their insights, several common elements emerged in the strategies they had employed to improve their schools' reputations. They emphasized faculty excellence, research quality, corporate connections, student selectivity and satisfaction, and fund raising and development. They all stayed focused, avoiding the temptation to take on superflu- ous initiatives or flashy projects that did not align with the school's strategy. They all generated support by building gen- uine, one-on-one relationships with stakeholders. Such well-balanced strategies succeed in creating change that works in a real-world business school to enhance its programs. In addition, they generate positive changes to relevant and prac- tical management education, in the areas that reallymatter: Faculty appreciation. Deans must conduct one-on-one con- versations with their faculty to understand each faculty mem- ber's goals. Through this attention, deans can nourish a col- laborative environment where these goals are respected, met, and maximized to the school's benefit. Deans also must be tough enough to deal with faculty who bring negligible over- all benefit to the school. Many deans already understand this reality. They know that a well-balanced strategy highlights both teaching and research; it does not penalize faculty who are wellsprings for publishing applied research, but who do not generate articles for scholarly journals. They understand that faculty who work on extremely creative scholarly research that a number of practitionersmay deem"useless" should not be criticized, but valued in their efforts to bring new knowledge to the practice. And they realize that faculty who are stars with students because of their outstanding communication, teaching, and advising are also a valuable part of the b-school equation.Not only do these faculty members serve student stakeholders well, but they ease the administrative burdens of those facul- ty who would rather do research than teach. Student integrity.Much of the criticismdirected atMBA edu- cation in recent years may be far more closely related to b- school admissions practices than to misguided approaches to BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005 27