Tag: Desk of the Dean

“It must be quiet now that the students are gone.”

How many of us in higher education have heard this summertime sentiment from friends and family outside the halls of academia? Perhaps it was true at some point in the past. But today?

The reality is much different at WashU Olin. The students aren’t gone and, in fact, never were. Specialized masters students have been in class since May. First-year MBA students began their orientation nearly a month ago and arrived on campus to begin core classes in late June.  And, across the school we are in constant preparation to welcome our undergraduate students.

Meanwhile, nothing is quiet about campus life, even as many of us continue working from home.

With a close eye on public health guidelines, we anticipate on-campus classes, face-to-face events, well-staffed offices and populated study rooms in the fall.

Yet it bears remembering that this transition—this pivot to a new normal—is as consequential as the one we experienced in March 2020.

Remaining in the moment

With that in mind, I sought out some insights from my colleague Erik Dane, associate professor of organizational behavior. Erik researches managerial cognition—how managers focus attention, solve problems and make decisions.

In his work, Erik studies “mindfulness,” which he characterizes as “focusing attention on what is happening in the here-and-now, in terms of both the events surrounding us and the thoughts, emotions and sensations occurring within us.”

As Erik points out, this summertime period is less about a lull in activity and potentially more about refocusing our minds for the changes ahead.

“In some ways, the pandemic might have served to heighten mindfulness for many leaders and employees, especially at the outset of the crisis,” Erik said. “This was brand new territory for us, and novel circumstances can sensitize people to their environment, especially when decisions need to be made and problems need to be solved.”

He speaks of this phenomenon as “traveler’s mind,” which he explores in an essay published last year in the Journal of Management Inquiry.

Updating many things we knew about teaching and researching and career advising in a matter of weeks was not easy, Erik acknowledges. Neither was learning to work remotely while accounting for the drastic shift in our personal lives. It certainly made us vigilant to our thoughts, our interactions, our decision-making.

It made us mindful.

When the abnormal becomes routine

“Once new habits and routines are established, it’s easier for people to screen out unfolding events and stay the course with working and communicating in line with ‘grooved’ patterns of thought and behavior,” he said. “The fact that such normalization could arise in truly unprecedented circumstances is remarkable.”

Erik reminds us of our powerful skill as humans to rechart the course of our minds when we sense ourselves—our thoughts and our feelings—veering in unproductive directions, even during these most challenging of times.

And he also reminds us that we may need to call upon that skill again as we return to whatever new version of normal emerges. Sure, the buzz of hallway conversation, the lines, the study partners will begin to return. So will interruptions at the office door, lines for the coffee pot and the occasionally contentious meeting.

“Curiously, the return to the old will likely feel quite new,” Erik said. “The things we once took for granted will feel like gifts.”

Another pivot awaits

As the novelty of being back on campus fades, our need to cultivate mindfulness remains. In fact, it will be as important as it ever was. The more normalized our circumstances, the more mindfulness tends to elude us.

So, as we look forward to a version of Olin life reminiscent of two years ago, I appreciate Erik’s reminder, as well as the suggestion that we take time this summer to develop practices that keep us grounded, keep us mindful and ready us for the transition to come.

Meditation can help, Erik says. So can a mindful walk in a park, time for personal reflection or maintaining a gratitude diary. “These practices and more can provide us with bursts of inner peace and insight in these transitional times.”

With all that is happening at WashU Olin, a quiet campus remains elusive. But if we heed Erik’s advice, we may be able to quiet our minds as we anticipate another pivot—to a better place.

“Are you launching an online MBA at WashU Olin?” Five years ago, when I joined WashU, my answer would have been “probably not,” for a variety of reasons.

But, thanks to the pandemic and my inspiring faculty and staff, I’ve had a change of heart.

The pandemic has shifted the pace of adoption of online education dramatically. Nearly every university in the world had little choice but to go online—and educators and students alike learned that elements of a quality education can be transposed to the online environment.

At Olin, I’m particularly proud of how we exhibited extraordinary creativity, showing how well we could embrace online teaching. Nearly 16 months ago, as the crisis first emerged, the Olin team showed it could pivot to online education and still provide a quality educational experience. This was our immediate, first horizon.

A few months later, with the benefit of that emergency experience and a little more planning time, our team again innovated with hybrid courses (online and in-person) that brought cutting-edge practice and technologies to the classroom as the pandemic persisted. In collaboration with Olin’s lynchpin asset in these efforts, the Center for Digital Education, faculty created curriculum designed for the medium and learned best-in-class techniques for using the technology in teaching. This was our second horizon.

Moving into the third horizon

Now, nearly a year and a half from that first experience, we’re thinking about how the world has changed as a result of the pandemic. About how the adoption of digital technologies in business has advanced and about how being able to lead in the digitally enabled world will be the key to leadership success. This is the third horizon.

I’m delighted that our team has again stepped up and presented an extraordinary plan for a rigorous online MBA program that will be highly differentiated in the marketplace.

And that is key. The imperative to set ourselves apart was central to the work of the task force that developed plans for the OMBA. That’s why our plan goes well beyond simply throwing a traditional MBA program online. That’s why our plan for the OMBA will focus on preparing leaders for a digitally enabled world. And that’s why Olin’s faculty unanimously approved the program once it was presented and the curriculum ironed out.

“How do we think about which technologies are the right ones to use?” said John Horn, professor of practice in economics and co-chair of the OMBA task force in a faculty presentation. “How do we think about what technologies will solve the business problems we face? This is about being a leader and understanding how to use these tools to better your organization.”

Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. The blockchain. The internet of things. Data mining. Facial recognition. Technologies such as these are becoming increasingly ubiquitous and, in our view, leaders must be prepared to understand them and leverage them—while also bringing to bear the core skills of managing an enterprise.

Research informed the OMBA’s development

This focus aligns with the research of that OMBA task force. That team used primary research, focus groups and a deep review of secondary research to build a competitive strategy. 

“In order to compete, we understood the importance of designing a truly differentiated online MBA—in curriculum and experience—that met demand,” said Paula Crews, co-chair of the task force and Olin’s senior associate dean for marketing and strategy. “We worked closely with our faculty and Center for Digital Education to design a truly unique online experience to meet those demands of today’s digitally enabled world.”

We’ll begin recruiting for the program next month and anticipate launching our first cohort of about 50 students in the spring. The 54-credit, 30-month program includes a heavy load of traditional core courses and a selection of more than 20 electives in nine functional business areas.

“The demand is there now,” said Ohad Kadan, vice dean for education and globalization. “We need to go out with this program, especially with what’s going on out there right now. The demand is out there. There is significant growth in demand for the online MBA program.”

Students will also be expected to complete something of a capstone that will begin at the start of their program—a “digital impact project” aimed at creating “a high-potential digital initiative” for their employer, or a future employer. Each semester, and with the guidance of the program’s faculty, students will lay groundwork for and iterate on that project as they continue their education.

‘For the world of tomorrow’

“Every single case doesn’t have to be about a digital company,” Horn said. “We didn’t see this as limiting or narrowly focused. What we’re trying to do is train you for the world of tomorrow.”

With faculty approval for the program, Trish Gorman, professor of practice of strategy, and Patrick Moreton, professor of practice in strategy and management, have taken the reins as joint academic directors and are now bringing the vision to fruition.

At the same time, work has advanced toward the launch of our new online graduate programs in accounting, finance and analytics—programs that, indeed, were envisioned before the pandemic. These programs provide learners the chance to earn certificates in their field as they advance through the coursework. The stackable certificates culminate in a specialized masters degree.

We knew we had to distinguish the online MBA from our existing full-time MBA. It’s filling a different need. With our world-class faculty, with the Center for Digital Education and with the vision we bring to the third horizon, we are poised to be world leaders in digital education. All these assets give us a comparative—maybe an absolute—advantage in this space.

Almost exactly two years ago, I gathered a group of Olin faculty and staff in a fifth-floor Bauer Hall classroom for a conversation with Professor Alfons Sauquet Rovira of Barcelona’s ESADE Business School.

During that conversation on May 29, 2019, Professor Rovira shared insights into the process of earning accreditation from EQUIS, one of the “big three” accreditation bodies in business education. It was another step toward our strategic plan goal of earning accreditation from all three bodies—the so-called “triple crown.”

That process began with the launch of our strategic plan three years ago. Today, I’m proud to report we’ve achieved that goal. With the announcement on April 28 that we earned EQUIS accreditation, we have joined an elite group of global business schools.

Indeed, among 13,000 business schools globally, only about 100 have earned accreditation from all three bodies: EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). They include highly regarded schools such as INSEAD, London Business School, ESADE and HEC Paris.

And among highly ranked US business schools, Olin alone has earned the distinction.

Not a goal in and of itself

It is important, however, to be clear that triple accreditation was never intended to be an end in itself. Yes, it was a goal in our strategic plan. But achieving the triple crown was also a means of seeing our strategic plan in action.

The accrediting bodies “want to see that the strategic plan is not just a document, but it’s actually being embedded in the school,” said Shannon Reid, WashU Olin’s strategic initiatives analyst who shepherded the school through this process. As I said in a previous blog post on this topic, the accreditation bodies hold us accountable for the standards we have set for ourselves—standards set in our strategic plan.

And I must say, rarely can I point to an Olin initiative that has drawn so many people into the process. “It’s important to highlight that this was really an organizational effort,” Shannon noted, including input from students, the National Council, alumni and, of course, staff and faculty.

For example, nearly every member of the faculty had a role by ensuring their course curricula embedded our pillars of excellence: values-based, data-driven leadership; global outlook; experiential learning; and entrepreneurial spirit.

Faculty also provided “assurance of learning” documentation to demonstrate that their coursework met our goals and objectives. From a staff and administration perspective, every department, area and center documented what it was doing and how it contributed to the goals and strategies of WashU Olin.

Unprecedented process

Together, we built, supported and articulated our case—not just once, but three times, accommodating the different criteria required of each accreditation body. The result: AMBA accredited WashU Olin in March 2020. Two months later, on June 29, 2020, AACSB granted us reaccreditation for five years. And now, of course, we have locked up our EQUIS accreditation.

It’s also worth mentioning that we achieved this feat in the midst of a global pandemic. While the AMBA process ended before lockdown, AACSB and EQUIS accommodated a unique process that included Zoom interviews and virtual tours of our buildings—a first, I’m told, for these evaluation bodies. 

Additionally, EQUIS and AMBA tend to be predominant among overseas programs. Given our status as a highly ranked American school, I urged those bodies to include international deans on their peer-review teams. I thought it important for us and for them to get a different sense of an American business school.

I believe having this credential from all three global evaluation bodies will draw the attention of international students, and also open doors with international recruiters who may seek out our students and with other schools seeking American partners.

But mostly, this credential affirms our most significant claim: WashU Olin is a school that promotes world-changing business education, research and impact. We are what we say we are.

Suppose the epidemic of opioids plaguing the United States could be stopped at the source? Suppose 21st century technologies such as data mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning could flag risky drug shipments before they land in the hands of at-risk populations?

How could it be done? And what changes in local, state and federal policy would be required to curb the problem and sharpen the response from experts in law enforcement, public health and industry?

These questions form the heart of a new initiative between WashU Olin Business School and the Brookings Institution. Broadly speaking, the Olin Brookings Commission is a three-year initiative designed to recruit a dream-team of policy experts and scholars each year who will deeply analyze a single major policy issue and issue policy recommendations.

Made possible by a $750,000 grant from The Bellwether Foundation Inc., each commission will be charged with tackling topics affecting the quality of life for people in St. Louis and across the country. Each year’s panel will issue practical and realistic recommendations informing business strategy and public policy.

“We are pleased to provide multiyear support for the Olin Brookings Commission,” said Ginger Smith, president of The Bellwether Foundation. “Funding an initiative that deepens the partnership between Olin and Brookings, two leaders in their industries, is where we believe we can make an impact.”

The focus of our first commission

Our first commission convenes this month. This first six-member commission—in partnership with Olin’s Center for Analytics and Business Insights—will demonstrate how new technologies can curb opioid trafficking and potentially more than 100 other equally destructive examples of illicit trafficking.

At the same time, the commission will evaluate existing policy obstacles and reveal opportunities where policy changes can enable industry and government to implement a real-time detection and alert system across industry and government agencies.

“The initiative is very compelling. It leverages new advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning to proactively detect suspicious opioid orders before they are shipped,” said Anthony Sardella, chair of the first commission and founder of data insight firm evolve24. “This effort holds the promise to save lives, enhance public health and protect our vulnerable populations.”

An initial phase of the opioid research project involves mining a relatively new database from the US Drug Enforcement Agency: the Automated Reports and Consolidated Ordering System. CABI co-directors Seethu Seetharaman and Michael Wall, along with Tony (who also serves as CABI’s senior research advisor), will lead the data analysis portion of the project.

“I am excited that CABI is involved in such a high-stakes national policy-related initiative in terms of showcasing the analytics talent resident in Washington University in St. Louis,” Seethu said. “This could not fit more perfectly with the values-based, data-driven mission of Olin.”

Another key component of the Olin Brookings Commission is involvement from students, who will serve as “commission fellows” in research and logistical support for each project. Olin PhD marketing student Annie Shi will collaborate with Tony, Michael and Seethu and together, they will be co-authors on all publications that arise from this initiative.

Meanwhile, I’m pleased to announce that our first commission includes heavy hitters from the pharmaceutical industry, academia, law enforcement and advocacy organizations focused on drug policy. Find the list of commission members at the bottom of this column.

A signature program?

The Bellwether grant makes possible a long-held vision of mine, an extraordinary opportunity to further leverage and expand Olin’s powerful relationship with Brookings, while also convening thought leaders who can provide guidance and direction on “megatrends” in global business and public policy.

We envision that each commission’s report—targeting the White House, regional and national government policymakers and the media—would coincide with the springtime Olin MBA capstone experience with Brookings. That is our timeline for a report on the opioid project.

Commission members will convene in a series of virtual meetings—at least while the pandemic continues raging—over the course of this year.

In addition to recommendations influencing business practice and public policy, the initiative is structured to provide insightful, well-researched contributions to industry about societal megatrends, inform and influence the direction of future research and increase students’ knowledge about the confluence of business and public policy.

I’m confident that the Olin Brookings Commission can become one of Olin’s signature programs, further cementing our commitment to improving life in St. Louis—and changing the world, for good.

Members of commission No. 1, opioid trafficking

• Anthony Sardella, founder, evolve24; faculty member, WashU Olin Business School. Commission chair.
• The Hon. Mary Bono, board member, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, former US representative.
• Dr. Ann Marie Dale, assistant professor of medicine and occupational therapy, Washington University School of Medicine
• Van Ingram, executive director, Kentucky Office of Drug Control
• Gina Papush, global chief data and analytics officer, Cigna.
• Darrell M. West, vice president and director, Governance Studies; senior fellow, Center for Technology Innovation, Brookings

Two events in recent weeks perfectly manifest the investment we’ve made to advance a key strategic priority for WashU Olin Business School—strengthening and broadening our reputation for impactful research.

One of those events puts a human face on our work; the other is more data driven.

Let’s delve first into the personal example. We were pleased last month to recognize Nicolae Gârleanu, professor of finance, who received the Stephen A. Ross Award. This tremendous achievement in finance research is awarded biennially by the Foundation for the Advancement of Research in Financial Economics for the best piece of financial research in the past 15 years.

That announcement came in January, shortly after Professor Gârleanu joined Olin’s faculty as a full professor following 13 years with the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. While we must acknowledge that Nicolae’s award-winning research was done even before his time at Haas, his presence at Olin illustrates the success of an important tactic we’ve employed: Recruiting strong, mid-career scholars to our faculty.

When I first arrived at Olin, I was impressed by the high quality of the faculty. I wanted to build on that high level of talent, as I’ve discussed in past blog posts. While nurturing our existing talent, we are systematically recruiting seasoned and senior faculty with records of producing top research who want to join our outstanding research faculty. Nicolae’s recent award brings to light an example of how it’s working.

It’s important to note, by the way, that such a strategy only works if faculty see value in joining Olin. They must see that their research is supported as a priority.

“I have not needed extensive financial support; time is a more important consideration for me,” Professor Gârleanu said recently. “Olin offers excellent opportunities to organize one’s teaching and administrative duties in a highly efficient manner. In that regard, it is far ahead of many other universities.”

What the data says

The second significant event illustrating the success of our research strategy came with the release in early February of the 2021 Financial Times full-time MBA ranking. WashU Olin’s top-25 global showing—the highest in our history—was significant in-and-of itself. But hidden among the ranking criteria was this little gem: Olin placed first in the world for research.

That ranking is based on the number of publications per capita in the top 50 business research journals. And although the FT’s tally carried on without five of the world’s highly ranked schools—Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT Sloan and Columbia Business School—the trajectory of our research ranking remains remarkable, rising from 12th in 2019, to ninth, then first in subsequent years.

Such a trajectory also gets noticed when we recruit faculty. As Todd Milbourn, vice dean of faculty and research notes, prospective faculty members look at us “to see how productive the faculty are. Are our faculty publishing in the field’s top journals? Are our faculty presenting at the big conferences? We are in the top set of schools in this regard.”

A few more data points

While those examples are recent and significant in our drive toward building Olin’s research reputation, they’re not the only points worth mentioning. Consider:

• Emphasizing research has meant raising research allowances, increasing the number of funded PhD placements, raising PhD stipends and rewarding research performance through promotion, early promotion and merit awards.
• Our faculty hiring strategy also included creating the “professor of practice” position, providing the space and time for path-breaking research while maintaining and building on our teaching strength.
• Our research productivity remains high in other measures, as well. For example, the University of Texas at Dallas’ business research database for 2020, tracking publications in 24 leading journals, ranked Olin 20th in North America, with 160 articles published between 2015 and 2019, up from 151 in the previous four-year period.
• A broad selection of Olin faculty members have secured editor posts on noted journals—too many to enumerate here. And in related news, our supply chain faculty assembled such a strong lineup of academic papers for the fifth Supply Chain Finance and Risk Management Workshop in May 2019, an important journal in the discipline devoted its entire October issue to the research.

These examples do not represent the end of the work. They’re guideposts, signaling progress in the right direction. And it is worth pausing for a moment to take note of these guideposts—but only a moment.

The third horizon for business school education draws nearer today as WashU Olin begins to accept applications for our first fully online graduate degree and certificate programs—conceived and built for delivery in a digital world.

I’ve written before about my vision for the future of business school, with the third horizon representing how we adapt by creating new and innovative ways to reach students.

My past references to the three horizons, however, have been in the context of adapting to a post-pandemic world. Ironically, our new online specialized masters degree programs were not brought about by the pandemic that has wreaked havoc around the world.

Indeed, they were briefly paused by it, but ultimately to the benefit of the new programs: Entering the online education space is another initiative we are fulfilling as part of our strategic plan, and this has certainly been more richly informed by our experiences over the past year.

With these new online masters programs for working professionals, Olin adds to our impressive portfolio of degree opportunities for students.

Flexibility and excellence

This initiative expands our offerings to a growing segment of the population—those people across the country and beyond who want a first-rate, flexible education as they simultaneously continue in their careers and undertake graduate studies.

For our first foray into online education—but certainly not our last—we offer degrees and certificates in business analytics, finance and accounting. Designed for busy professionals, these programs will have the same high academic standards and learning outcomes as our on-campus program, taught by our experienced, accomplished faculty.

Our strong lineup of online offerings includes the Master of Science in Business Analytics (with three areas of interest: customer, fintech, accounting); the Master of Science in Finance; and the Master of Accounting.

The 24-month programs will have September and May intakes and are divided into three eight-month segments, with each segment delivering a unique credential—graduate certificate, advanced graduate certificate and degree. This allows these professional students to build their resumes during their studies, giving them the opportunity to grow in their careers while they pursue their degrees.

Building on a strong foundation

We are confident these new online programs will deliver a best-in-class learning experience for students, thanks to the investment we’ve made in Olin’s innovative Center for Digital Education.

The CDE is staffed with multimedia producers and editors who work alongside curriculum specialists with expertise in developing coursework for digital platforms. Together, the whole team collaborates with Olin’s world-class faculty to adapt and customize course materials for our digital platform.

And that platform is learn.WashU, our next-generation learning management system—built and customized by the CDE exclusively for WashU students, who will use the platform to stay connected to their coursework, their professors and their classmates.

As I mentioned earlier, these new online programs were always part of Olin’s plan. That’s why we originally invested in the Center for Digital Education, which officially opened in October 2019—about five months before the pandemic burst into our lives.

That fortuitous timing served our community well as our CDE colleagues helped us pivot into virtual learning in the midst of a crisis. I’ve called that the first horizon in our transition to the new world of business education. We took that experience and upped our game with hybrid courses and online-only courses in the 2020–21 academic year—the second horizon.

More than virtual classrooms

And although they were planned before the pandemic, these new online programs represent a small component of that third horizon as we build on what the CDE already knew by applying the experience we gained since March 2020.

Meanwhile, the student experience in these new programs does not end with the virtual classroom. Students in the online programs will also have access to academic services through Olin’s Graduate Programs office and career resources and services through the Weston Career Center.

Online students will receive the same level of service as on-campus students, including a dedicated online academic advisor, tutoring and cocurricular programming. As students pursue their degrees, career coaches and industry specialists will work with them to support their career goals.

To be clear, these new programs do not represent the arrival of the third horizon I so often speak of, but another step in that direction. The entire Olin team—faculty and staff together—have worked together admirably to conceive and launch these new programs, and I am excited by these additions to Olin’s highly ranked portfolio.