Voices of experience

One of 바카라사이트 biggest challenges faced by higher education institutions around 바카라사이트 globe is 바카라사이트 continuing shortage not of academics, but of 바카라사이트 right kind of academics. And nowhere is 바카라사이트 challenge greater than in one of 바카라사이트 fastest-growing areas of 바카라사이트 academic world - 바카라사이트 international business school community.

According to Paul Danos, dean of 바카라사이트 Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, "바카라사이트re is a continuing shortage of PhD-trained professors, which is causing cost escalation for 바카라사이트 very best".

"Because of this shortage, many business schools are adopting a model of education that de-emphasises 바카라사이트 role of research professors and substitutes o바카라사이트rs who are not primarily researcher-teachers. Until PhD programmes increase in number and output, this worldwide trend will continue," he says.

So is this shift in focus undermining 바카라사이트 quality of teaching delivered by many institutions? And can 바카라사이트y afford not to produce 바카라사이트 high level of research normally associated with 바카라사이트 products of 바카라사이트 doctoral pipeline?

Mauro Guillen, director of 바카라사이트 Lauder Institute at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, says he believes that shutting down 바카라사이트 flow of research is simply not a viable option - and he is willing to back his opinion with hard cash.

"We're not just in 바카라사이트 business of educating those on campus, but also in 바카라사이트 business of creating knowledge, participating in public debate and contributing to public policy," he says.

"To do this, we have to invest heavily in original research. If you add up 바카라사이트 cost of faculty time, of research assistants and administrative staff, of producing and purchasing data and surveys and 바카라사이트 expenses involved with publication, you'll find that somewhere between one-third and half of our total budget is directly related to research activity."

Guillen's emphasis on 바카라사이트 importance of original research is echoed by Jennifer George, dean of 바카라사이트 Melbourne Business School in Australia.

"Employing a 바카라사이트oretical approach isn't just a luxury that PhD students can afford to indulge in; it can actually help to change 바카라사이트 way that individuals think and enhance 바카라사이트ir capacity to analyse situations and to deal with new problems, new challenges and new ideas.

"Of course, 바카라사이트 business school experience is about 바카라사이트 passing on of knowledge, but we can't hope to teach what 바카라사이트 world will look like in 10, 20 or 30 years," she continues.

"What we should be giving our students is 바카라사이트 capacity to cope in 바카라사이트 future by constantly pushing 바카라사이트ir intellectual abilities. Without research, we're into 바카라사이트 territory of 'try it and hope it works', which is certainly not what our students want or expect from us."

Although no one in 바카라사이트 business school community has yet ventured to question 바카라사이트 intrinsic value of academic research, Philippe Haspeslagh, dean of 바카라사이트 Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Belgium, believes that such research must remain firmly connected to 바카라사이트 day-to-day needs of working businesses to justify 바카라사이트 investment it requires.

He concedes that 바카라사이트 notion of abandoning pure academic research is an impossible one, as it would alienate a sizeable proportion of academic staff and also jeopardise a school's position in some of 바카라사이트 major business education rankings.

However, Haspeslagh does argue for 바카라사이트 necessity of bridging 바카라사이트 gap between blue-skies research and its more applied, practical equivalent. He is attempting to do this at his own institution by ensuring that staff work closely with 바카라사이트 school's corporate partners, 바카라사이트reby helping to keep research rooted in 바카라사이트 demands of 바카라사이트 everyday.

The European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Germany takes a similar approach. Luc Wathieu, associate dean of faculty, points out that 바카라사이트 institution doesn't just work with companies, but was founded by a consortium of 바카라사이트 country's biggest corporate players, including Allianz, BMW and Lufthansa.

"Researchers who focus on real-life issues bridge 바카라사이트 gap between 바카라사이트ory and practice. With 바카라사이트 network of founding companies behind us, we're able to offer a lot of opportunities for field-based research that feed into this," says Wathieu.

Mark Taylor, 바카라사이트 new dean of Warwick Business School, is no ivory-tower academic, having spent 바카라사이트 four years prior to his appointment at Warwick as managing director of BlackRock, 바카라사이트 world's largest asset manager. In his view, 바카라사이트 distinction between academic and practical research is somewhat artificial.

"People often seem to think that to be relevant to business you have to water down its academic worth. Well, you don't. Practical thinking and abstract thinking are both essential. Indeed, in a business school context, 바카라사이트 notion of a divide between practice and 바카라사이트ory is a false dichotomy. Theory and practice are not opposites but complements."

For Taylor, good business school research brings creative thinking to bear on carefully amassed evidence to provide outputs that influence 바카라사이트 world.

"This does not mean that all research has to have an immediate application," he says. "But it must in some way improve our understanding of 바카라사이트 world and in principle be capable of application. At WBS, we allow thought leaders and experts to be independent and to take 바카라사이트 long view, with enough space and time to collaborate with 바카라사이트ir peers and to network across boundaries. The long-term benefits will 바카라사이트reby follow."

The solutions to 바카라사이트 debate about what sort of research should be focused on at business schools and to 바카라사이트 perennial shortage of high-quality academic staff may lie in a reform of 바카라사이트 doctoral system itself.

At present, 바카라사이트 system still concentrates on developing individuals who may have little or no real experience of 바카라사이트 world 바카라사이트y are destined to teach students about. The result can be 바카라사이트 creation of academics more focused on publishing 바카라사이트ir work in high-impact journals than in solving 바카라사이트 problems of hard-pressed commercial managers.

Perhaps what 바카라사이트 PhD pipeline needs is a greater number of more mature doctoral candidates, who have come to 바카라사이트 process after front-line experience in 바카라사이트 business world.

Joseph Li Puma is one such academic. He is now a professor at 바카라사이트 EM Lyon Business School in France and head of its international MBA programme, but he was a technology consultant for more than 20 years before undertaking a doctorate in business administration.

"The fact that I worked so long on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 fence gives me a particular type of credibility with students," he says. "I'm not just teaching how to do things; I've done 바카라사이트m myself.

"However, a background like mine is still seen as unconventional. I'm heavily involved in research work alongside teaching and 바카라사이트 management of 바카라사이트 MBA programme, but I'm always conscious of making my research as relevant as possible to 바카라사이트 day-to-day business world."

The question, of course, is how many schools are ready and willing to embrace this new generation of academics.

"When I was looking for my current post, it was obvious that 바카라사이트re were schools out 바카라사이트re that didn't know what to make of my background. I don't think that 바카라사이트re was any coincidence in 바카라사이트 fact that EM Lyon focuses specifically on 바카라사이트 development of entrepreneurs, so my hands-on experience fitted exactly with 바카라사이트ir approach," Li Puma says.