LEADING CHANGE IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS:ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT FOR DEVELOPING LEADERS

Ali DastmalchianDean, Beedie School of Business

Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada

FORCES FOR CHANGE

From Orientation and Emphasizing the Wrong Goals (Bennis and O’Toole, 2005;

Puffer and Fong, 2002)

More recent commentaries (Handy, 2012; cRRBM, 2017; AACSB’s BizEd, 2008; 2018).

No Shortage of Suggestions…..

TRENDS• Flexibility in Delivery, Digitization and

Blended • More Specialized Graduate Programs• Considerably more on soft/managerial skills• Work closely with other faculties• Ethics and Leadership—learning by doing• Different approached to internationalization

and Experiential Education…

LEADING CHANGEFor change to occur, it helps to have a receptive faculty willing to endorse a

meaningful change agenda for the benefit of the whole school.

(Lorange et al, 2014)

Walking the Talk! Why Can’t Business School Deliver on What They Promise?

INTRODUCTION TO THE BEEDIE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

THE BEEDIE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

3 CAMPUS OPERATION

DUAL ACCREDITATIO

N

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

GRADUATE (12)

UNDERGRADUATE (2):

Burnaby and Surrey

EXECUTIVE ED (1)

AREA COORDINATORS

Areas (10)

Faculty (95)

Staff (90)

CENTRES/INSTITUTES

- Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies

- CPA Innovation Centre

- Centre for Global Workforce Strategy

- Centre for Corporate Governance and

Sustainability

- Charles Change Institute

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

Undergraduate• 1 Program (BBA)• 8 Concentrations• Range of Certificate/Double Degrees/MinorsGraduate• 11 programs Exec Ed• Custom, International,

Open

Research• Strong research orientation

2016/2017

4,450 (3540 FTE)

TOTAL STUDENTS

STUDENT DETAILS

Total 2016/17

Intake 2016/17

Undergrad 3700 685Graduate 730 470

PhD 20 3-5

25,000

PROGRAMS STUDENTS

ALUMNI

CHANGE PROCESS

- 100 Questions

- 6 Themes

- Discussion & Ideas

Vision&

Calling

Strategy &

Priorities

✓ A1 - Constitution

✓ A2 - Org Structure

✓ A3 - Advisory Board

✓ B1 - Recruitment

✓ B2 - Collaboration & Recognition

IP C1 - Branding & Communications

✓ C2 - Engagement Strategy

IP D1 - Programs

IP D2 - Executive Education

✓ D3 - International

Alig

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Discovery

BEEDIE 2022

Idea Generation

Idea Finalization

Action/ Implementation

Strategic Planning

- 8 Groups

- Feedback from faculty

- Presentations

- 80+ Ideas

Jan - Apr 2016 May - Oct 2016 Dec 2016 - Mar 2017 Sept 2017 - Sept 2018 Sept 2018 - now

B3 Boosters B3 Review Team

Discovery

100 Question

sIdea

Generation

B3 Recommendation

sIdea Finalizati

onStrategic Priorities

Action/Implementation

Vision to Action & Beedie 2022

Strategic Planning

Growth Chart

CHANGE PROCESSPHASE OUTCOME

DISCOVERY

Discovery & Idea Generation

DISCOVERY• 100 Questions• 3 months (January-March)

– Approx. 85 individual faculty members– Approx. 6 faculty areas– Approx. 20 individual staff members– Approx. 12 units/groups in the Beedie School

• Purpose: “Lay of the land”

100 QUESTIONS

Categories:• Overall School Features• Programs• Students• Faculty• Alumni• Business/Government/

NGOs/Professional & other Associations

• Employers• Executive Education• International Relationships

& Connections

THE PULSE

IDEA GENERATION

Discovery & Idea Generation

IDEA GENERATION(MAY-NOV 2016)

• 6 Themes (Governance, Culture, Relations, Branding, Ext Connections, Resources)

• 12 groups, 119 participating• Online space for discussion/output

– 75% participation (145/195 members)• Advisory Group established

– B3 Boosters• Mid-way and final presentations

– 101 and 125 people participated

RETREATS

MID-WAY PRESENTATIONS

FINAL PRESENTATIONS

IDEA FINALIZATION

Idea Finalization& Implementation

IDEA FINALIZATION• Nomination of a review group

– B3 Review Team –Elected (B3RT)– To prioritize ideas and move things forward

• Strategy Retreat & Vision Development– Vote of support (March 2017)– Faculty: 81.5% in favour/Staff: 98.3% in favour

• Strategic Priority Development– 10 Strategic Priorities identified for Phase 1

implementation in 2017-18

Beedie 2022

Our Vision for 2022 has three elements

OUR CALLING

OUR PEOPLE

OUR VALUES

Beedie 2022

Our Calling:

We develop innovativeand socially responsible

business leaders with a global perspective through education, inspired by research

and grounded in practice.

KEY CHALLENGES?(DEFINING; WALKING THE TALK!)

LeadershipResearch Inspired

Grounded in Practice

Innovation

Global PerspectiveSocial

Responsibility

Students, ResourcesMarkets/EmployersNew Experiential…

Faculty, ProgramsEmployersOur Culture, Research

ProgramsBeing First!Our Culture

Scale, ResourcesNot about IB!Spec. Areas, Our Culture

Our Values:To deliver on our calling, we will live by our Core Values (DARE):

Diversity: We create a collaborative and inclusive environment through respect for one another’s diverse individual passions, strengths, and contributions.

Action: We generate impact through our innovation, agility and thoughtful experimentation.

Research: We celebrate and support our scholarly curiosities to challenge convention and generate knowledge.

Engagement with Purpose: We produce positive societal and economic outcomes through engagement with our local and global communities.

Beedie 2022

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TITLE HERE

ACTION / IMPLEMENTATION

Idea Finalization& Implementation

ACTION & IMPLEMENTATION• Vision to Action creation

– To define key areas of our vision for ‘action’• Groups formed to tackle strategic priorities

– Constitution and Organization Structure among the first to be formed

• Continued B3RT meeting and Strategic Priority updates– Ongoing communication of outcomes to

faculty and staff

PROGRESS UPDATES

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Strategic Planning& Alignment

STRATEGIC PLANNING• Alignment of strategies

STRATEGIC PLANNING• Growth chart/Financial Model

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

SOME REFLECTIONS?• Vision driven programing and identity is more

complex than it appear! • Creating the context for developing leaders takes

energy, culture change and requires trust and collaboration. Are business schools up to it?

• Focus on long-term and sustainability of the changes ….. (they need to last beyond one dean’s tenure….)

• Not all change processes take the same amount of time, energy and support..….Differentiate! (and celebrate succeses!)

REFLECTIONS….• Have a good advisory/support/leadership

group to move things forward• Integrate the change process into regular

operations, programs, governance, and research focus of the school….

• Don’t stop moving forward/improving…• Walking the talk is the most important

evidence of business schools showing leadership themselves….

LEADING CHANGEIN BUSINESS SCHOOLS

Dr. Ali DastmalchianProfessor and Dean, Beedie School of Business

Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada