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Paul Danos had the job before becoming Dean of the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth. Edward Snyder had the job before becoming Dean of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Now, after accepting an offer that came "totally out of the blue," Susan J. Ashford has the job as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan Business School. Although it is "not something [she] planned to do," Susan Ashford has assumed her place in the position that has vaulted her two immediate predecessors into Deanships of two of the top ten business schools in the country.
Both Danos and Snyder played large and visible roles in the development of UMBS under the leadership of Dean B. Joseph White. Now that Dean Ashford has taken her place in a position from which she too will be able to play an influential role in the school's development, it is fair to ask: who is Susan Ashford and what impact will she have on UMBS?
Susan Ashford grew up in California and earned her undergraduate degree at San Jose State University, where she majored in environmental studies and minored in economics. Her California background has had lasting repercussions, for, as she wrote in an e-mail, "...it is probably important to note that I am a Native Californian who loves the ocean and who is always cold here in Ann Arbor!"
From San Jose State, she went onto Northwestern University where she earned both a Masters and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior. While at Northwestern she taught as a visiting lecturer at the J.L. Kellogg School of Management. She has gone on to spend her entire career in academia.
After receiving her Ph.D. from Northwestern in 1983, she joined the faculty of the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth that same year. She earned tenure at Dartmouth and taught there for eight years before she was lured to Michigan. She never expected to leave Dartmouth. "But," she said, "one day UMBS called and asked if I would like to send over my vita for consideration." Before long she had an offer to join the faculty of UMBS which she accepted because "there was more going on here, there were more opportunities, and here I've done things I never expected to do, such as participate in the Daewoo program and the Global MBA program."
Dean Ashford's research interests include how individuals navigate, adapt to and become effective in organizational life. She has published an extensive list of articles in leading academic journals and has served on the editorial boards of both the Academy of Management Journal and the Academy of Management Review. Since joining UMBS, she has taught in both the MBA and executive education programs. From 1992 to 1997, Dean Ashford chaired UMBS's Teaching Committee and in 1994-95 served as Interim Associate Dean responsible for the Ph.D. program and the Society of Scholars program. She was also elected Division Chair in 1996-97 of the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management.
Dean Ashford taught the core organizational behavior class for fifteen years--seven years at Dartmouth and eight years at Michigan. Last year was the first year she did not teach the core since 1983. Dean Ashford revels in the academic life and in her career as a professor. "It's a great job," she said. "You have the freedom to study whatever you want. You get to be both introverted and extroverted. It's a mix of novelist and game show host."
So, given her love for teaching and given that becoming a Dean was not something she planned to do, why did she accept the job?
"Why am I here? (1) I had often asked myself if I would ever want to manage, and the opportunity came up when it did. You cannot control when opportunities arise; (2) I care about the school and its programs; (3) I feel that senior faculty members are called on to do more than just pursue their own careers; and (4) I have the opportunity to work for Joe White."
With responsibility for the BBA, MBA, evening MBA, and Global MBA programs, Dean Ashford views her job in simple terms. "My job is to partner with Joe White to make sure everything works well." Her new role, she said, has already given her a broader perspective and made her aware of the real constraints with which the school must work. "I have a better understanding of what we are doing and why." While admitting that she is still in a learning mode, Dean Ashford said, "I don't have a list of fixes. I perceive the school as being very strong."
That said, however, Dean Ashford does have things that she particularly cares about and these may offer a clue as to how she will make her influence felt on UMBS, at least initially. "I care about teaching performance," she stated. " I have served as head of the teaching committee. In this area I care about both faculty development and the student experience. I also care about the institutional environment. The school should create an environment that enables scholarship in the community to grow and thrive."
Dean Ashford is married to a professor and is the mother of three daughters, ages 11, 6, and 4. Her new hobby and love is photography.
On Tuesday, September 15, 1998 I attended the presentation titled "Building Personal Equity" by Dean Nelson from the Chicago office of the Boston Consulting Group. While it turned out to be a traditional company informational presentation and provide little insight into building my personal equity, I did gain some useful information from the evening's event.
Mr. Nelson primarily focused on results of a survey of MBA students from various schools and how BCG met each of the goals. The main theme of the results is that we want a position that will further develop our careers and develop our personal attributes. Specifically, what we are looking for is a position: 1) that offers continuous learning with increased challenges and varied tasks, 2) where we can make a meaningful contribution, 3) where we can work internationally, 4) where we can pursue an interesting life after work, 5) where we can achieve success, 6) where we work with talented people we like.
In addition to how BCG achieved these qualities, Mr. Nelson provided some insight as to what capabilities BCG (and I suspect other similar employers) look for in their candidates. These can be divided into analytical skills, interpersonal skills, and business ethics. Specific analytical skills they desire are creative spark and curiosity with the ability to define concepts. They also want the traditional interpersonal skills including respect, teamwork, and empathy for those clients who are in a bad situation. Additionally, you must have intellectual integrity, meaning you will give an objective analysis without regard to the desired outcome. As a personal attribute, Mr. Nelson mentioned that the candidate should be quietly self-confident, not someone who is arrogant.
BCG is one of the few companies who want quantitative proof of your intelligence. They may ask you for you to voluntarily provide your GPA and GMAT results. A recruiter advised that your undergraduate GPA is most likely what they will be interested in.
This is the first year BCG has recruited on campus at the UMBS. I asked Mr. Nelson what drew them to our school. It was apparently because of geography as much as the quality of our school. The BCG Chicago office has previously limited their recruiting to Kellogg and the University of Chicago. They wish to expand their headcount and wanted a larger pool of qualified candidates to choose from, so they included Michigan. He added that they have been impressed with the graduates from Michigan hired outside of the placement office and will be recruiting BBA, MBA 1 and 2, and Ph.D students from the school this year.
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