The Observer, March 2, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 19
Weatherhead MBA drops to 82 in recent rankings
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For as much publicity and attention as the Peter B. Lewis building gets from onlookers, there has certainly been a struggle in recent years to find a united drive and to establish an identity for those involved with Weatherhead.
The Weatherhead School of Management is comprised of a generic MBA program that competes for students and prestige along with all the other MBA programs across the nation and larger global community. Some of the more historic and successful programs in the nation are the famed Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
"The generic MBA market is extremely competitive," says economics professor Robin Dubin, a Weatherhead faculty member who has taught undergrads along with MBA students since 1988.
As recently as 2005, Weatherhead was ranked 30th in the nation among all MBA programs. Yet in the past two years, the program has plummeted, dropping to 63rd in 2006 and falling even further, to 82nd, in the recent 2007 rankings compiled by the Financial Times.
While rankings are also done by the Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report among others, the system of ranking established by the Financial Times is one that takes into account alumni careers, faculty research, and diversity factors such as female and foreign demographics.
The question for current MBA students as well as prospective undergrads is why the Weatherhead School has fallen to nearly three times its peak ranking and what the future holds for the program as well as the school in general.
The drop has not gone unnoticed by those in charge of the program.
"We are absolutely disappointed in the rankings," says Julia Grant, Associate Dean for Professional Programs as well as an associate professor of accountancy.
While Grant insisted that students and faculty are disappointed and that the issue isn't something to be casual about, she offered many reasons and insight into the ranking situation.
"To be (hypothetically) No. 1 in the world is very hard and especially difficult for a school our size. We are too small to go head-to-head against some of the bigger, more prestigious schools," Grant said. "However what we want is to do well on certain programs."
Weatherhead has long had one of the best organizational behavior programs in the world, currently led by renowned professor David Cooper. Another program that Weatherhead has historically succeeded in and continues to excel in is the social environmental program, a program that is ranked every two years and ranked in the top 20s after being unranked in 2003.
A common theme of the MBA program at Weatherhead is "Business as an Agent of World Benefit," envisioning a need for social accountability and an entrepreneurial spirit that is socially responsible. Yet size and focus on specific programs cannot carry a generic MBA program and certainly cannot alone explain the rankings drop.
Part of the reason Weatherhead did so well in earlier years is because of former dean Scott Cowen, now the president of Tulane University.
Cowen had taught at Weatherhead for over 20 years and, along with colleagues in the organizational behavior department, invented a revolutionary new way of assessing and creating programs for MBA's by identifying their strengths and weaknesses when they came in and structuring their generic MBA program during their time at Weatherhead around what was found.
"Ever since he left we have had a merry-go-round of deans. Change every two years is bad," said Dubin.
The discontent with and misdirection of previous Case president Edward Hundert did not help the situation, according to Dubin, as much of the faculty disapproved of his appointments to the deanship of Weatherhead time and time again.
Dean turnover and disorganization gives a negative perception to the outside world, toward alumni seeking jobs, and to corporate supporters. All of the negativity certainly affected the rankings.
"The dean is the personification of the school and we had no consistency," said Grant.
"Ultimately for the future the faculty has to decide as a group where they want Weatherhead to go and what issues need to be addressed," said Grant. Strategic overview committees have formed to start addressing the issues as well as frequent department meetings in Weatherhead, curriculum committees to redesign the MBA program, and even faculty seminars and discussions to screen potential new professors.
The appointment of Mohan Reddy as dean this January has certainly contributed to the change in practice and has been welcome. Reddy has spearheaded the formation and new attitude of the MBA program at Weatherhead since his appointment in August as interim dean.
The important thing for students to remember in spite of the drop in rankings and struggle to revamp and progress is that rankings, though important, are not flawless in their methods and should not be the sole focus of a successful business school.
Weatherhead continues to be one of the top 100 business schools in the entire world.
"Chasing rankings is a bad strategy. All you can do is put out the best you can. Rankings measure quality, so what we have to do at Weatherhead is put out a quality program and continue to focus on what separates us from the other more highly ranked schools and programs. The rankings will follow after that," said Dubin.
"Even during our roughest years, the MBA program went on, students came and went, professors continued to teach. And the program will go on now," said Grant.
