Yale Bulletin and Calendar

August 26, 2005|Volume 34, Number 1

SOM dean Joel Podolny (right) was on hand for the public announcement this summer of a new M.B.A. program at the school designed to train leaders in the healthcare industry.

New dean to promote 'values' seminars at SOM

The new dean of the School of Management (SOM), Joel M. Podolny, came to Yale with a clear vision: He wants to reform the curriculum, communicate SOM's mission to the outside world and move the school into a new campus on Whitney Avenue in the next 10 years.

The dean, who was recently named the William Beinecke Professor of Management, recently spoke with the Yale Bulletin & Calendar about his goals for SOM. An edited transcript of that discussion follows.

You've spent some years at Harvard and Stanford. What drew you to Yale?

SOM has a noble mission: creating leaders for business and society. I was taken with that mission, in particular with the way alumni live it, and students endorse it. As I met with alumni during the interviewing process, it was clear that they were looking for ways to infuse public spiritedness into private-sector careers. I found that idea very powerful, especially when added to the small but important group of graduates who do enter public sector careers.

There are many examples of how this public-spiritedness pervades the way in which the students and graduates of this institution conceive of their careers. For instance, fully 50% of SOM students belong to the "Double Bottom Line Club" -- meaning they keep in mind not just the financial bottom line, but a bottom line associated with a corporation's contributions to society: what it does to and for the environment, and in what ways it gives back to the community. Not many business schools have students who are so committed to social responsibility.

As another example, this past year the Aspen Institute named 22 Henry Crown Fellows. These are business leaders under age 45 who are recognized for being civic minded in leading their careers. Three of the 22 were SOM graduates. Think of it! There are 100,000 M.B.A.'s granted every year, and only 215 of them come from SOM. That is a testament to the fact that alumni actually do live up to the school's mission.

What do you see as your role in this?

As I see it, a dean is guardian of a community that is collected together in pursuit of a common mission. My role is to understand the central aspirations of that community, to help create an infrastructure that enables the fulfillment of those aspirations, and to look outside the boundaries of our community to see who else we want to bring in: faculty, staff, students, friends. My role is to also help channel the energies of the community such that we collectively realize our aspiration of joining the pantheon of management and business schools that others seek to emulate.

Are you referring to SOM's place in national rankings?

Rankings are a trailing indicator. It's a mistake to design a school in a short-term way to influence the rankings, because you end up making decisions that lead you to conform to everyone else's model, instead of pioneering your own distinct vision. If we embody our mission as effectively as we can, so that students, faculty, recruiters and society at large believe that SOM is helping to raise the standards of accountability in our profession, the rankings will follow. It takes time for the world to learn why a unique model is distinctive and important. If we do what we should do, then the rankings will take care of themselves.

What curriculum changes do you envision, to advance the school's mission?

Our goal is to create leaders in the profession of management. For management to be considered a profession, we need to think about what that means. An occupation earns the right to be called a profession when its members have the knowledge, skills and values that enable them to act in the service of society. Accordingly, professional education traditionally encompasses three areas: a set of facts to learn, a set of skills to master and a set of values to live by. We need to think about which areas that management education has been strong in, and in which areas we have to do more. I think business schools over the last 50 years have been strong in the category of knowing what facts M.B.A.'s need. We're learning more about how to inculcate skills, through pedagogy, active learning environments, experiential exercises and internships. It's the last piece, the values piece, where we've fallen short. We've allowed what is legal to be the minimally acceptable standard. If what is legal is all that is necessary, then we're not a profession.

Central to the proposed curriculum reform are what we're calling "Value in Management" seminars. These will be small, career-focused seminars with common foundations. For example, students going into marketing will discuss issues like marketing to children and labeling on pharmaceutical packages. Those going into consulting will discuss how to present information to a client who doesn't want to hear the truth.

My hope is that these seminars will provide a context in which students can define their values, consider the ways in which those values might be put at risk, and come up with effective approaches and techniques for situations where there is organizational pressure to ignore one's values. We would then create conversation across the career groups to see if there's an underlying set of practices, in order to promote a broad, underlying commonality.

I'm delighted to report that we've already raised $1.5 million to support these seminars, thanks to a gift from the family of Robert Silver, a founding member of SOM.

What impact will these changes have on SOM's physical facilities?

As we think about curriculum reform and the kind of educational experience we're trying to create, we need to consider our infrastructure. If we're going to have a lot of seminar classes, we need small classrooms. Our program is very team-based, and we don't currently have good "break-out" spaces, so students are always scrambling to find places to get together. In addition, we need a large lecture hall or auditorium. Right now we don't have any place where an entire cohort can meet. We use Osborne Memorial Laboratory or if we have a really large event, the Law School's auditorium. To remedy those problems, we are planning a new campus. I would very much like to see the students in their new facilities in the next four years, and the faculty soon after. We will begin meeting with architects in the fall.

Do you anticipate that SOM will grow?

While we will always be one of the smallest schools granting M.B.A.'s, we need to be larger than we are. We currently have 215 students. In the short term, that could grow to 250, and in the long term -- by the end of a 10-year period -- to 300. To put that in context, Harvard has 900 students a year in its business school. When we build our new campus, we will allow space for 300. I anticipate that the faculty will increase from about 60 to 70.

-- By Gila Reinstein

Odds & Ends

About Joel Podolny, new dean of the School of Management (SOM)

Reading for pleasure: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; historical fiction.

Leisure: Runs four miles every day, on the streets in good weather, and in the gym in winter.

Family: wife, Tamara; children, Aaron, 15, and Asa, 12.

Favorite thing about Yale: "When I toured Northeast schools during my junior year in high school, I fell in love with the architecture of this place, especially the neo-gothic buildings. I also love the Beinecke Library and the mansions on Hillhouse Avenue (but plan to fall in love with the new SOM building even more). Now that I know as much about the culture as the buildings, I like the fact that the professional schools are integrated into the University, and I like the fact that the notion of 'leaders in service of society' cuts across so many of the schools."

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Yale Librarian Prochaska appointed to a second term

New master's program prepares nurses for leadership roles

Exhibit explores the 18th-century 'worlds' of Francis Wheatley

Private portrait miniatures showcase the faces of public figures

Gallery hosting festive open house . . .

Architecture gallery to feature traveling art show 'Ant Farm'

Sterling Library launches new academic year with two exhibits

Researchers create powerful tool for decoding gene functions

Galapagos tortoises more diverse than once believed, say scientists

Team identifies 'signatures' of protons in water

'Canary Database' shows animals offer health warnings for humans

Team digitally reconstructs long-extinct 'Lamp Shell'

'Gene trapping' reveals how flower development is controlled

Discovery may aid development of treatment for melanoma

Drinking alcohol may lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Lyme disease prevention program launched in Connecticut

For 35 students, summer was a time of service in New Haven

IN MEMORIAM

John Ostrom: He revolutionized field of paleontology

Robert Abelson: Psychologist was adviser to presidential candidates

Greer Allen: University printer was inspiration to School of Art students