Leading in thought and action is not just a tagline here at U-M Ross. It is a philosophy that lives throughout our action-based approach to education. June is an excellent time to reflect on this core element of the Ross experience as many students are actively participating or just returning from exciting, hands-on business experiences throughout the world.

Currently, more than 80 MBA, Master of Supply Chain Management, and engineering students are embarking on 35 operations-related projects at some of the world’s largest companies through the Michigan Ross Tauber Institute for Global Operations. 

In these projects, students will work closely with senior-level company leaders in collaborative teams to tackle critical issues such as manufacturing process improvements, supply chain disruptions, and operational sustainability concerns. These annual projects return both significant learning gains for the students and savings for the host companies. Last year, the teams generated more than $375 million in projected savings over a three-year period, or an average of $10 million per project, for companies including 3M, Amazon, Boeing, Cisco, Dell, General Mills, Dell, Microsoft, and Pfizer.

This spring, more than 500 MBA students traveled to locations throughout the world to work hands-on with companies on critical issues related to strategy, finance, marketing, accounting, and more through the annual full-time MBA Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP). Many students explored cross-national, cross-functional, emerging market, and startup issues, and they experienced what it takes to reap the benefits of highly diverse teams. Since 1992, Ross MAP teams have completed more than 1,700 projects for more than 800 organizations, and often when I speak with MBA alumni around the globe, they tell me that MAP was one of the most transformative aspects of their Ross experience. 

Action-based learning at Ross includes case competitions, simulations, leadership development experiences, and a wide range of extracurricular opportunities for students in all degree programs. For undergraduate students, for example, action learning crescendos in the BBA case competitions, which challenge selected BBA students twice a year to work in teams to solve a complex consulting issue for a sponsoring company using classroom learning. The Ross Leadership Initiative is woven throughout the Full-time MBA Program and last year included team projects in which students developed for-profit business concepts to benefit social and public initiatives in Detroit as part of orientation. 

These projects exemplify Ross’ strengths in delivering high-quality, immersive action-based learning, which was pioneered at our school. Today we remain the preeminent institution for learning by doing. The value of action-based learning is clear: classroom teaching is only one component to learning. To emerge from business school with the tools and skills to apply advanced business concepts in complex environments, it takes both learning concepts and applying concepts through doing. Ross graduates emerge with skilled practice in applying complex business concepts to tough issues and deep insight and greater perspective on both global markets and career opportunities for themselves. 

While there are other schools which offer some form of action-based learning, no other school delivers it to the extent we do. There is a reason for this: action-based learning requires an incredible investment of faculty time and resources, expertise to anticipate the numerous complexities that emerge in administering projects at such a large scale, and an extensive network with organizations large and small throughout the world. Ross’ proven model involves an effective mix of principled teaching, support throughout the project, clearly defined project parameters, wide latitude for experiential activities, project deliverables, and structured assessment and feedback to ensure a high-quality feedback loop for individual learning and development.

As we look to the future, we are committed to building on our tradition of leadership in action-based learning and expanding the ways all students at Ross benefit from experiential learning. We are currently exploring ways to put action-based learning into every class every semester, in part through the use of technology. We are also in the early stages of developing a new global conference for academic leaders and practitioners centered on advancing the delivery of action-based learning across institutions globally. 

I look forward to sharing news of further developments as we look to become the most innovative provider of lifelong business education targeted to meet the evolving needs of students at all stages of their careers.

> Read more about action as it relates to Ross’ strategic plan.
> Read the Dividend magazine feature story on action.

As we gather at Hill Auditorium Friday for commencement, we will be joined by Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor.  Taylor’s joining us to deliver the commencement address is part of our year-long speaker series, “Redefining Boundaries.”

Taylor launched the concept of Monster.com back in 1994, when what we know today of the world wide web was far from the imaginations of all of us.  Taylor recognized the powerful potential that the internet held to transform society, and he was one of the early pioneers in developing the social networking and crowd sourcing platforms which are a ubiquitous part of our society today.  Monster.com was the 454th registered domain on the web, and today it is one of the world's leading career portals with more than 30 million visitors monthly across more than 50 countries.

Taylor and his partners didn’t realize the success of Monster.com within a silo.  In reinventing the way job seekers and employers connect with one another, they didn’t pursue just a business initiative, a human services initiative, or a technology initiative.  Like so many successful enterprises, Monster was a result of working within and across traditional domains to realize something new.

It has been a remarkable year at the Ross School.  During the past several months we have launched our new strategic plan and a series of significant initiatives designed to propel Ross graduates to define the next generation of business.  A key component of the strategic plan is the philosophy of being boundaryless, which Taylor embodies.  As leaders tackle the complex problems in business and society today, success will not come from any single sector, function, culture, or country.  It will require a new level of agility to work across traditional divisions to achieve something new.

Developing the skills and understanding to work across boundaries is a critical component for business education today, and at Ross we’re leveraging the unparalleled strengths we have across the University of Michigan campus and around the globe to offer students high quality and immersive ways to develop these skills.

At the University of Michigan, ninety-nine graduate programs are ranked in the top ten nationally¹, and at Ross we are maximizing students’ opportunities to take advantage of this exceptional convergence of knowledge.   In addition to our more than 20 dual degree opportunities at the MBA level in such areas as engineering, law, medicine, natural resources, and public policy, students have extensive opportunity to enroll in courses and collaborate in programming across campus.  BBA students also have the opportunity to minor in another discipline, and we are introducing a business minor for non-Ross undergraduates.

Ross faculty work extensively with some of the world’s leading faculty across disciplines at the University to drive much of the innovative research and thought leadership which shape all facets of business and society.  U-M consistently ranks as one of the world's greatest public universities, and U-M receives more research funding than any other public university in the U.S., and the second largest amount of research funding among all universities².  Through MCubed, for example, the University’s innovative new program to fund and promote cross-disciplinary research, nine Ross faculty are currently collaborating with faculty in a wide range of fields to advance novel, high-risk research projects with large potential to impact society.

Ross faculty bring their cross-disciplinary experience to the classroom during discussions exploring some of the most complex challenges of our business environment.  Ross’ signature Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) deeply develop students’ skills in working across boundaries, and a wide number of elective courses fuse traditionally distinct areas of thought.  Our Master of Science in Entrepreneurship program, and programs through our Tauber, Erb, and Zell Lurie institutes also develop skills and expertise across functions and disciplines.

In addition, Ross’ expanding global footprint is enabling students to develop highly adept skills and the mindset to work across cultures and geographies.  In addition to our locations in Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong, we now have exchange agreements with 14 business schools around the world for study abroad opportunities.  Our faculty are also offering a growing number of unique learning opportunities for students to work with them on projects in such places as Ireland, Israel, and Rwanda, and this month, BBA students will engage with faculty in immersive experiences in Australia, Costa Rica, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Shanghai, and Slovakia.  Our C.K. Prahalad Initiative continues to offer the world’s leading opportunities for business learning and research in India, and in November, I will travel with U-M President Mary Sue Coleman to further explore ways to expand the University’s work in the country.

As we look to the future, through these and other emerging cross-boundary opportunities, Ross will become the most collaborative and boundaryless business school in the world.  And as graduates this week leave Ross to embark on the next chapters of their careers, I am confident in their ability to lead effectively across disciplines, sectors, cultures, and geographies, and to drive the innovative solutions needed to make a positive difference in the world.

In the latest issue of Dividend Magazine, we profile four
alumni who embody the elements of Ross’ new strategic plan. 
Read more about Alejandro Quiroz, VP of Global Advanced
Manufacturing for Whirlpool Corp., MBA ’07, who is leveraging
a boundaryless approach to business to transform the company’s manufacturing practices.

---

¹ U.S. News and World Report, 2012

² National Science Foundation

In this era of change in the business world, the media is rife with reports about various philosophies of business and leadership.  In February, I announced the new strategic plan for the Ross School, and the Ross philosophy of positive business was a key component of this plan.

At first blush, the notion of positive business can get dismissed as a “nice to have” philosophy that doesn’t have the heft to carry people and organizations through challenging and complex times.  Yet it is precisely because our era of competition and globalization demands increased productivity and regular innovation that positive business is crucial to the success of firms.  And it is for this reason that positive business forms a key component of our plan.

Between 1998 and 2010, the average annualized return for companies on the S&P 500 was 3.83 percent.  During the same period, companies on Fortune’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For realized a return of 11.06 percent.¹  This difference isn’t a coincidence.  The philosophy of positive business is what makes places great to work, and is a key tenet of what inspires leaders and employees to deliver transformative results.

The Ross approach to positive business is based on the Michigan Model of Leadership, which focuses on effectively working one-on-one with individuals and collectively through organizations.  It emphasizes a leader’s ability to exercise empathy, courage, integrity, and drive, and to create cultures and organizations in which people have a sense of purpose and are bringing their best selves to work every day.  Positive leaders energize and transform individuals, organizations, and society by creating a vision of what is possible and leveraging the strengths of people.²  The Ross philosophy of positive business also includes using business to make a positive difference in the world, which I discussed more fully last month.

The Michigan Model of Leadership derives from a unique body of research developed at Ross.  For example, faculty member Gretchen Spreitzer’s research demonstrates the value of helping individuals to thrive, meaning to be fully engaged, passionate, willing to learn and adapt, and motivated to shape their organization’s future.  It shows workers who thrive demonstrate 16 percent better overall performance and 125 percent less burnout than workers who are not thriving on the job.³

Ross research is replete with evidence that higher levels of performance result from various aspects of positive leadership:  Positive leaders increase employee job satisfaction, well-being, engagement, and performance.⁴  When individuals and teams have more positive connections with each other, they are more resilient and adaptive.⁵  And minimizing incivility and fostering a positive work climate increases workers’ ability to take in more information of greater complexity, make richer interpretations of data, and experience higher levels of flexibility, creativity, and productivity.⁶ 

These are just a few examples of an extensive body of research at Ross that is being leveraged to improve performance by organizations throughout the globe.  In 2012, the faculty of Ross’ Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship won the Academy of Management’s Research Impact Award for translating knowledge into practice, and faculty member Jane Dutton, a founding member of the Center, won the Academy’s Scholarly Contributions to Management Award, the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award.

Ross students develop the skills and acumen to apply the Ross philosophy of positive business through the Ross Leadership Initiative, our co-curricular leadership activities that span the BBA and MBA experiences.  For example, during the Ross Impact Challenge in Detroit, MBA students develop for-profit business concepts benefiting social causes in Detroit under stiff time pressures and complex circumstances.  And guest speakers such as Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb, who recently spoke at Ross, are providing first-hand accounts of implementing positive leadership practices in their firms.  In 2014 we will host a new global conference on positive business, which will bring students, business leaders, and researchers together to discuss and experience first-hand the power of a positive approach to business.

As a leader, I believe strongly in the benefits of enacting positive approaches in my own style of management.  For example, this winter I have been working with faculty and staff to develop a vision for Ross’ positive work community for the year 2023 as well as a plan to achieve that vision.  I have instituted transparency in our budgeting and reporting structures with the goal that all of us know how the school generates and expends resources, and each of us understands what we can do to be the most effective steward of the resources entrusted to us by students, parents, taxpayers, and donors.  And I make a concerted effort to notice and appreciate the strengths and successes of the people I work with.  I know I have much room to do better, and I therefore continually assess and improve the ways I enact positive business.

People and organizations have immense capacity to achieve extraordinary things.  Through the power of positive business, I believe the challenges of our time will be overcome and the full potential of our economy and society can be realized.  I look forward to further building on Ross’ strengths in this exciting area and becoming the leading center of excellence globally for positive business.

---

¹  CNN/Money website, January 19, 2011.

²  More information about the Michigan Model of Leadership can be found on our website.

³  Harvard Business Review website, January 2012.

⁴  Owens, B., Baker, W., and Cameron, K., Relational energy at work: Establishing construct, nomological, and predictive validity. Presented at the Academy of Management Meetings, San Antonio, Texas, 2011.

⁵  Stephens, J.P., Heaphy, E., Carmeli, A., Spreitzer, G., and Dutton, J., Relationship Quality and Virtuousness: Emotional Carrying Capacity as a Source of Individual and Team Resilience.  Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 49, 1, 2013.

⁶  Kim Cameron, Positive Leadership: Strategic for Extraordinary Performance, Behrett Kohler, San Francisco, 2012, pp 25-28.

Last month, I announced Ross’ new mission statement:  At Ross, we develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world.  This mission statement is at the core of the many initiatives underway at Ross to build on our tradition of excellence and transform the ways we deliver business education for the 21^st century. 

Today, we face unprecedented challenges throughout business and society, and our mission statement builds from an ethos that is at the heart of our culture.  When I walk through the community spaces of Ross and listen to our students and faculty, the discussions I hear center around not just the creation of profitable economic enterprises but also the capacity of business to have a positive impact on our world.  As the leading public business school in the world, we are deeply conscious of the context of business in society and recognize the significant interdependence of the two.

The mission statement embodies the philosophy that, if the world’s most pressing problems are going to be solved, business must take a role not only as a participant in generating solutions but as a leader.  There is tremendous opportunity for business to partner with government and civil society in realizing positive change in areas vital to our collective welfare including climate change and access to food, housing, healthcare, primary education, transportation, and more.

Of course, we at Ross are not alone in recognizing that business must become a significant driver of progress.  The largest corporations in the world have more power and resources than many nations and governments.  And most political and corporate leaders today recognize the potential of business to make a positive difference.  This recognition is called many things including conscious capitalism, creative capitalism, shared value creation, and positive business.

Companies large and small throughout the globe are adopting practices that address social as well as business goals (see graph).  For example, in 2010, Unilever CEO Paul Polman announced that the company would double the size of its business by achieving eight socially-focused goals by 2020.  Polman has stated that business cannot survive in a society that fails, and companies must play a more active role in addressing societal issues.  These activities demonstrate the possibility that all leaders and all companies can incorporate into their core business activities, whether in a large or small way, the goal of making a positive difference in the world.

Here at Ross we are highly conscious that in order for businesses to successfully assess and implement opportunities to create value through socially-mindful business practices, their leaders must be equipped with the skills and understanding to navigate the challenges that go with these efforts.

To aid students’ development of skills in this area, the Ross Impact Challenge, part of the Ross Leadership Initiative, this past year included action-based learning projects in Detroit asking teams of students to develop for-profit business concepts that would also benefit social causes such as hunger, reliable transportation, and affordable housing.  Students explored the complicated issues of reconciling business and social goals, and the winning team designed a concept for a mobile grocery store to offer fresh food in areas typically lacking in healthy food options.  The focus on business practices that make a positive difference continues throughout the Ross Leadership Initiative curriculum.

Many Ross faculty focus their research and teaching on examining the power of business to make a positive difference in the world and the bottom-line impact of socially-mindful business practices.  For example, Professor Jim Walsh studies the relationship between corporate social and financial performance and translates this knowledge to students.  Last summer, he and a team of BBA students traveled to Ghana to explore the economic climate in the region and perform community service.  The students came away with better understanding of developing markets, the need for corporate and public partnerships, and the opportunities facing future business leaders.  Professor Walsh has also led MBA student projects in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Holland, India, Ireland, Russia, Vietnam, and the U.S. that focus on the role of business in society.

Ross’ top-ranked Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies houses three student-managed investment funds, one of which is Ross’ Social Venture Fund.  The Social Venture Fund is managed by MBA and BBA students from a variety of backgrounds including technology, investment, and education, and it aims to make investments which both deliver financial returns and promote positive impact on society.  The Fund makes early-stage investments ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 in innovative, for-profit organizations driving change in the areas of education, food systems, the environment, health, and urban revitalization.  Its 2012 investment in LearnZillion, a web-based platform providing access to high-quality education lessons for students, teachers, and parents with otherwise limited access to education, was the first investment ever made by a socially oriented, student-led fund. 

The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, a partnership between Ross and the University’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment, is committed to developing solutions for some of the world’s most critical environmental and social challenges through transforming business practices.  Through research, programming, and collaborations with industry, faculty and students are fueling commercializable concepts relating to energy and climate change, the built environment, green markets, and mobility.  

Advancing the world’s knowledge about how business can most effectively make a positive difference in the world while generating profit for shareholders, and the skills leaders must have to implement those practices, is a key element of our strategic plan.  As we seek to become the most innovative provider of life-long business education, we will continue to expand programs and initiatives for students and scholars to lead in this domain.  I look forward to the exciting chapters that lie ahead and the positive difference for our world that will result.

Diversity of thought and perspectives is the lifeblood of innovation. As today’s global environment increasingly calls for new ways of doing business, the integration of diverse points of view and ideas is what will drive our progress.

This month, we will welcome Clarence B. Jones, speechwriter and adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, as our McInally MLK Day Celebration speaker. Jones worked closely with Dr. King on his famous, “I Have a Dream" speech, and it is a great privilege to have such an important historical figure join us to honor the day. Having spent much of my education and career in fields with very few women, and now being one of only a few top business school deans who are female¹, I have a deep personal belief in the need to create a society where the contributions of all people are encouraged, valued, and celebrated.

The significant work of Dr. King and other civil rights champions laid the foundation for many people to pursue their dreams. Dr. King’s simple words changed not only an entire generation but left a legacy that continues to impact the world profoundly. The ideals he advanced – that fully valuing the contributions of diverse people improves the lives not only of those in a minority but also of the majority – are as relevant now as they ever have been.

In business and society, diversity is the key to solving our most complex challenges. Diversity is not simply a matter of social responsibility; it is a driver of business value. Research demonstrates that diverse perspectives fuel innovation², diverse teams can, under the correct conditions, outperform non-diverse teams³, and diverse experiences enable us to better understand and be successful in cross-cultural, global business⁴. As leaders take on significant challenges and opportunities to move our world forward, the business case for diversity has never been greater.

The University of Michigan and the Ross School have a rich history of valuing diversity in all of its forms and of ensuring that an understanding of the benefits of diversity is part of how we develop effective leaders and managers. We were one of the first business schools to incorporate diversity in a holistic admissions process and promote a culture of inclusion, and Ross’ early involvement in the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management and the Forte Foundation, alliances of business schools advancing representation of minorities and women in MBA programs, has helped us expand diversity not only at Ross but also at other schools.

Today, Ross faculty take seriously the responsibility to draw out diverse points of view in the classroom and enable all students to learn from them.  Diversity is not always comfortable. The integration of differences can push us to confront things that are outside what we believe and understand. Our goal at Ross is not to make all individuals agree all of the time, but to enable all individuals to respect difference, learn from it, and leverage it. 

Action-based projects are an important vehicle through which Ross students experience the value of diversity. In these projects, students of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and values come together to solve complex business challenges. They often travel to locations throughout the world, and projects take place in diverse ranges of industries and organizations – large and small companies, public institutions, and nonprofits. 

Our leadership curriculum, the Ross Leadership Initiative, also challenges students to confront differences and harness them for success. It seeks to help students develop a deep appreciation for many of the values for which Dr. King stood – that diversity fuels progress, that one leader can make a difference, and that collective action can be a powerful tool to bring about significant positive change in the world.

The integration of multiple dimensions of thought, whether from across academic disciplines or sectors; geographic, cultural, or socioeconomic experiences; or racial, ethnic, or gender backgrounds, continues to shape our identity at Ross. Next month we will be unveiling more about Ross’ future strategic directions, and building on our legacy of inclusion will be a key part of these plans. I look forward to sharing more about our plans in the coming weeks, and as we honor Dr. King this month, I am deeply proud of the ways we continue to carry out his vision.

 

Like many products and services in our modern global economy, one of the great frontiers of business education is globalization. For years, Ross has been a globally oriented business school, and since my arrival at Ross a year and a half ago, expanding our global footprint has been among my highest priorities. 

During this time, I have been exploring key questions around the topic, such as: How do we truly innovate, and offer something of significant value to global constituents?  What are the roadblocks that stand in our way?  And, how do we overcome challenges such as cost and capacity? 

As we explore answers to these questions, expansion is well underway.  This year, we are significantly extending the opportunities for Ross students to learn in diverse, global business environments.  For example, we now have exchange agreements with 14 different business schools around the world for study abroad opportunities for MBA students, and have added three new global partner institutions in the last two years. In the last year, we have seen a 50 percent increase in the number of students participating in study abroad opportunities. Action-learning projects continue to offer an increasing number of immersive global experiences.  And we are introducing a unique new opportunity to explore entrepreneurship and innovation in Israel with Tel Aviv University.  In our BBA program, we are rolling out a series of new programs in Russia, Ireland, Italy, Australia, and Bulgaria. The new programs are designed to further enable students to translate business concepts between markets, cultures, and languages.

In the past year, our C.K. Prahalad Initiative also has facilitated new action-based learning projects in India as well as new research into the advancement of India’s economy. We have recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to explore new immersion experiences for students in China and facilitate new faculty research collaborations. In addition, we are working with Renmin University in Beijing to advance the ways we deliver action-based learning.

It is a core tenet of our learning philosophy at Ross that every student emerge with strong understanding of how to apply advanced business and leadership concepts in complex, global environments. Our goal in so diversely expanding our portfolio of opportunities is to ensure that no matter what part of the world a student comes from, or what economy or business environment a student wants to gain proficiency in, we can offer a high-caliber experience in the setting of their choosing. Even before any immersive experience, global application weaves through all aspects of our curriculum. Our faculty bring extensive global experience to the classroom, and more than 35 percent of our full-time MBA students come from outside the U.S., contributing to the global learning environment.

As we expand opportunities for Ann Arbor-based students, we are also working extensively to extend our presence in more locations. This fall, we welcomed 39 students to the first class of the Los Angeles-based Ross Executive MBA Program. The location was developed as part of our overall strategy to expand awareness of the Ross brand and to offer another opportunity for interested students to participate in the Ross experience.

The Ross EMBA Program model consists of a mix of once-a-month classroom learning and rigorous distance learning throughout the remainder of each month. Ross faculty travel to Los Angeles for the once-a-month residencies.  The model holds great potential for us to offer Ross programs in more locations, and the model, combined with advances in online education, will be an important part of the future of globalization in business education.  As we entirely re-think how education can be delivered in the future, we are proud to be among only a small set of business schools pioneering delivery in this format.

The Los Angeles program builds on a number of global offerings at Ross. In addition to our Global MBA Program, for many years, Executive Education has been an important part of our global footprint. Since the 1990s, our Executive Education office in Hong Kong has delivered programs throughout the Asia Pacific region, and we remain the leading provider of executive education in India. This past year, we launched a new executive education partnership in Malaysia and a custom program partnership in Saudi Arabia, and we are currently developing a new partnership in South America.

The global environment of business education is rapidly changing.  As we, along with other business schools, explore innovative ways to extend the reach and diversity of our offerings, Ross’ distinctive strengths in action-based learning are enabling us to be a leading innovator in this domain.  Action-based learning is the key facilitator of the most beneficial learning of new cultures and business environments, providing direct, structured, and immersive experience.

As we continue to extend our relationships with a diverse range of global partners and strive to become the most collaborative business school in the world, I’m happy to share news of these developments and look forward to the many exciting developments that lie ahead.

As a global institution of business education, it is very important to me that the research we do has an opportunity to directly impact the challenges of business and society.  

The need for research to shape decision-making is no more clear than during this season's presidential election. The challenges and opportunities our country faces are extraordinary. At Ross we fundamentally believe that analytic and evidence-based decision-making must be the foundation for business and policy decisions in the 21st century, and I’m proud that our faculty are at the forefront of shaping decisions in key areas, including tax policy, sustainability practices, and job creation.

This fall, the Office of Tax Policy Research (OTPR) held a series of Ross Thought in Action forums that brought together leading researchers and policy makers from around the country to discuss tax policy and healthcare reform. At the tax policy forum, Kevin Hassett, of the American Enterprise Institute and former economic adviser to George W. Bush and John McCain, asserted history shows that the most growth-friendly austerity programs have featured 85% expenditure cuts and 15% tax increases, a controversial claim that has crucial implications for any future comprehensive compromise regarding fiscal policy. At the forum on healthcare reform, Jonathan Gruber, a lead writer of the Affordable Care and Protection Act, and David Leonhardt, New York Times Washington Bureau Chief, partnered with researchers from across institutions and disciplines to explore what the coming election might bring for the future of the Affordable Healthcare Act.

OTPR exists for precisely this purpose – to translate the best of research in the fields of economics, taxation, law, and accounting for business leaders and policy makers to put to use. Michigan faculty across these disciplines are some of the most highly sought-after advisers by policy makers. Faculty Director of OTPR Joel Slemrod is a former senior staff economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisers and has been a consultant to the World Bank, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Canadian Department of Finance, and other major world governmental institutions.   

As corporations and their stakeholders increasingly recognize the business value of environmental and social sustainability efforts, the need for research and data in these areas, too, is increasingly important. The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise is a global leader in developing and disseminating knowledge on the value of sustainability activities, and its mission is to unite the perspectives of practitioners and researchers to find solutions for key issues in this area. For example, the Institute’s conference earlier this year on climate change, held in collaboration with the Union of Concerned Scientists, brought together more than 90 researchers, corporate leaders, policy makers, and students to discuss promising practices. Erb, which integrates thinking across business, public policy, engineering, and natural and social sciences, embodies the boundaryless approach to research and problem-solving that characterize the Ross approach to business education and research.

Finally, we all know that jobs and the economic infrastructure of our country are among the most critical issues in this election season. To help business leaders and policy makers apply the most up-to-date knowledge on what it takes to maintain a robust manufacturing sector in our economy, faculty members Wally Hopp and Roman Kapuscinski, with Ross' Tauber Institute for Global Operations and the consulting firm Booz & Co., recently released a report outlining a prescription for how the government and U.S. manufacturers can keep jobs in America. The report identified key changes in education policy, worker training, the tax code, regulations, and U.S. relations with Mexico. Hopp and Kapuscinski conducted a sector-by-sector analysis of U.S. industrial competitiveness and surveyed 200 manufacturing executives and experts. Their research indicates that in the coming decades, nearly 40 percent of the nation’s manufacturing jobs could be transferred overseas if policy changes aren’t made. Today manufacturing and related activities account for 15 percent of U.S. GDP.

As we at Ross continue to forge new solutions for some of business and society’s most pivotal issues, I invite you to explore how the research and thinking of Ross faculty members can be used to impact your work. Ross Thought in Action, a bi-monthly digest of faculty research and its practical application, can be found on our website, and is available through email subscription.

Entrepreneurship is increasingly important in all types of businesses.  In today’s continually changing and competitive world, much of the economy’s growth is coming from forward-thinking entrepreneurs.  Whether applied in a dynamic startup or new business venture within a larger corporation, the skills to bring innovative products to market quickly and reliably are in high demand.

As we chart the future of business education for the 21st century at Ross, this fall we launched the new Master of Entrepreneurship Program, a unique partnership between Ross and the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering.  While many institutions around the globe are offering education in entrepreneurship these days, it is the combined caliber of Ross and the College of Engineering, two powerhouse University of Michigan schools, that sets our program apart.  Moreover, the programming we offer at Ross through the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies (ZLI) was recently ranked No. 2  in the country by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine.  The Master of Entrepreneurship Program embodies the Ross philosophy of boundaryless education and unites award-winning faculty in each of these domains to help students develop advanced business and technological expertise to successfully bring high-potential technology concepts to market.

Each student in the entering class brings entrepreneurial experience to the program, and many have undergraduate degrees in science, technology, or engineering.  Notably, a great number of students also have expressed a passion for leveraging opportunities in technology to bring about positive social change.  For example, one student wants to improve infant mortality rates in developing countries through new uses of warming technology, and others have demonstrated commitment to green technology, medical technologies, and biotechnologies that show promise to transform the way we treat critical diseases. 

An innovative partnership with the University’s Office of Technology Transfer enables the most distinctive aspect of the program: Throughout the 12-month curriculum, students will develop real venture concepts with real technologies.  During the admissions process, applicants must review the Office of Technology Transfer’s portfolio of licensable technologies, which allows them to gain firsthand insight on some of the most cutting-edge technologies being developed at the University.  In the essay portion of the application, they must identify a technology with potential and describe a workable venture concept for it.  Once in the program, students continue to build, develop, and if viable, ultimately launch a concept from the portfolio.  To facilitate success, the University’s Office of Technology Transfer in fact takes the selected technologies off the market while the students are in the program.   

The projects exemplify action-based learning at its best: As the curriculum in the classroom progresses through the key stages and elements of entrepreneurship, students work closely with faculty to apply concepts to the ventures.  For example, students must evaluate competitive landscapes, calculate risks, work through feasibility issues, explore funding, and assess operational and scalability concerns.  Students also gain important perspectives through courses with the Law School and School of Public Health.  Throughout the program students receive highly personalized attention from faculty, and career advisers from both Ross and Engineering work with students to help them develop post-graduation plans.

As innovation and change driven through entrepreneurial endeavors grow in significance in our economy, I’m pleased to be building on the already strong entrepreneurship programming at Ross and the University of Michigan, and we are proud to offer one of the premiere advanced degree programs in this area in the country.  

View video.  Read more from U-M.

At Ross, we’re committed to innovating the way business education is delivered to meet the needs of the changing world around us. Building on the Ross tradition of excellence, we’re rethinking how we teach and develop leaders for the 21st century. Leaders of tomorrow must be capable of acting in new ways. They must be highly anticipatory, adept, and capable of making the right decisions quickly and with imperfect information. They must have an appreciation for the broader role of business in the world. And they must have the cultural and social dexterity to lead in a truly global environment.

People often ask us, can leadership be taught?  Many surmise that successful leaders are born – they have the right natural instincts, intelligence, and charisma to carry them to the top. Research conducted by Ross School faculty demonstrates, however, that especially for times of change, effective leadership practices can and should be developed.

In August, we kicked off the school year with the Ross Leadership Initiative Foundation Session, and our 500 incoming full-time MBA students tackled social innovation projects throughout the city of Detroit. As students rolled up their sleeves to design innovative, for-profit solutions for positive change in the city, they were the first to be part of Ross’ new leadership development curriculum based on the Michigan Model of Leadership.

The Michigan Model of Leadership synthesizes extensive research of our faculty on effective leadership practices. It is designed to enable students to develop the skills and mindsets required for world-class leadership in the 21st century. Ross is ranked No. 1 in the world for leadership development,¹ and as we position our curriculum for the future, the model will serve as the basis for leadership programming across our degree portfolio.  

The Michigan Model of Leadership emphasizes the values of empathy, courage, integrity, and drive as baselines for business today. It enables leaders to fully understand themselves, their potential, and the contexts in which they work. And it propels students to cultivate social and economic capital, develop high-functioning communities, build structures that promote sustainable performance, and enable positive change for both business and society.

The difference between the Michigan Model of Leadership and others is that it exposes many of the complex and sometimes paradoxical aspects of leadership, such as the need to both collaborate and compete with others in driving results and the need to create structures that are both adaptive and reliable. Through the model, students develop flexible skills to navigate these tensions in changing environments, resilience, and an appreciation for the significant responsibilities and opportunities inherent in leadership.

Action-based learning is one of the most powerful tools for teaching leadership. After all, leadership cannot be learned in a classroom alone. It is through an effective mix of principled teaching, experiential learning, self-assessment, and feedback that students truly develop new skills and an understanding of the complexities of leadership. 

The MBA student projects in Detroit exemplify action-based learning at Ross. As students worked in teams to design effective venture plans to address key social issues such as hunger, reliable transportation, affordable housing, and youth unemployment, they faced pressure-filled circumstances, unexpected challenges, and a complex set of deliverables. The winning team designed a concept for a mobile grocery store to offer fresh produce and protein in areas typically lacking in healthy food options.

Action-based learning occurs in many ways across the Ross curricula. In our MBA programs, it culminates in our signature Multidisciplinary Action Projects course, a three-month, in-company consulting experience with real stakes and real outcomes. Case competitions, simulations, and the Foundation Session at orientation are also key components. For undergraduate students, action learning will crescendo in the BBA case competitions, new this year. Michigan Ross pioneered the philosophy of action-based learning more than 20 years ago, and today we continue to advance the way business is learned through doing.

At Ross we believe leadership is a tremendous responsibility, and as we look toward the next generation of business education, we don’t take that lightly. We’re committed to preparing students to have the skills and global mindset to lead in the 21st century, and to have a sense of purpose and vision to make a positive difference for the world.

¹ Leadership Excellence