Deone Zell

Pressure for Relevancy at Top-Tier Business Schools

After decades of attempts to bring scientific rigor to the business school community, market forces are pressuring these institutions to produce research that is relevant as well as scientifically rigorous. At least three factors are responsible for this shift: the ongoing pursuit of revenues, the arrival of media rankings, and the emergence of student as customer. This essay revisits these pressures, which have shown no sign of abating since they were first studied in the late 1990s. Meeting the dual demands of rigor and relevancy is difficult, and faculty who can do so are rare. One solution is to publish performance research that attempts to address both sets of demands. Such research is controversial, however, and its viability is open to debate.

Water and Business: A Taxonomy and Review of the Research

Why should business care about water? Water is a common-pool resource, critical to many business operations, which faces depletion if not sustainably managed. Based on popular and trade press and academic business research, the authors develop a taxonomy of water issues (water quality, quantity, use, sustainable resource management, company and industry management). Through a review of 135 water-related articles published in 49 leading business journals, the authors examine the degree to which business scholars address these issues. They discuss intersections, diversions, and gaps and conclude with insights for future research.

Considering individual linear/nonlinear thinking style and innovative corporate culture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of a balanced or versatile linear and nonlinear pattern of thinking style in contributing to effective innovative capability of individuals and their organizations.Design/methodology/approach – The relationship between these individual thinking style dimensions and the development of an innovative corporate culture that encourages linear/nonlinear thinking style balance and versatility, and how their mutual interaction may contribute to successful innovation management within organizations are considered.Findings – The paper discusses how organizational leaders and other employees through collective development to a balanced linear/nonlinear thinking style can develop a corporate culture that in turn is supportive of organizational innovation.Research limitations/implications – Implications for future research on organizational innovation are discussed involving composition of organizational executives and work group members relative to line...

Accelerating change in the academy

Forces that are transforming the global economy are now sweeping through higher education. As the higher education environment becomes more turbulent, administrators and academic leaders are caught between opposing forces that both demand and resist change. Suggests five strategies to help universities adapt to the changing environment while preserving important academic values.

The Green in Entertainment: A conversation

The shift to a sustainable economy represents one of the most sweeping transitions organizations face today. In this article, we ‘chat’ with five sustainability leaders in the entertainment industry to learn what interests them about sustainability, how their motivations translate into company actions, and how they overcome obstacles.

Regulating Water: A Naturological Analysis of Competing Interests Among Company, Town, and State

This article analyzes, through Frederick’s (1995) naturological lens, the General Rate Case (GRC) process to regulate a private water utility in California. Golden State Water Company is the utility. The GRC concerned is Ojai, California. The authors conclude that (a) Frederick’s conceptual framework proves useful to understand antecedents of effective common-pool resource management, and (b) the GRC process encourages economizing values more than it does ecologizing ones. In essence, short-term needs overshadow long-term needs, and the economizing interests of a single member of the GRC network overshadow the ecologizing interests of diverse stakeholders. By focusing only on whether the private utility’s requests are economically justified, and not on the needs of the larger ecosystem, the GRC is unable to ensure long-term protection of either (a) the ratepayer or (b) the natural environment and community.

Contemplations on the Business of Government: A Conversation With Morley Winograd and Alan Glassman

In this interview, Morley Winograd and Alan Glassman-two recognized experts on strategic planning and organization development in government agencies-explore the uniqueness of the public sector environment, highlighting both the complexity of the federal and multiple-level municipal relationships and the more common criticisms about public sector governance. Specifically, they remind us of (a) the often forgotten benefits of the nation’s deliberative democracy and the constant, yet arguably appropriate, tension between career civil servants and politicians, (b) the need to change the current problem-solving culture to spur innovation in government, and (c) the potential for strategic planning in the public sector to accelerate change and shift government’s focus from process to outcomes. Finally, they offer five pieces of hard-won advice to those attempting strategic planning in the public sector, and share optimism about the future based on the influx of the millennial generation into the public sector.