Michael Watkins gives an illuminating description of his tenure process (which ultimately resulted in a nay) at the Harvard Business School.
Mr. Watkins also gives some thoughts on why he feels HBS might be creaking at the seams:
- To what extent are business schools producing insights of use to practicing manager?
- Is the investment that they are making in research justified in terms of results? – a straightforward ROI assessment?
- Most critically: Is the HBS brand at risk because of what is happening there?
I believe that the answers to these questions are, respectively, little no, and very much so. I further believe that this is the result of the “capture” of business schools (including unfortunately and increasingly HBS) by discipline-oriented academics who consume more value from their institutions than they create for them.
A very interesting read, especially if you’re interested in the academic process (it isn’t a breeze after you get your PhD like some imagine).
