mith School faculty are doing more than leading the way with their research, they are also making an impact on corporate best practices. Case in point -- business intelligence and quotes from Smith faculty were recently highlighted in publications from McKinsey & Company, a leading source of business management consulting services and insight.
As the U.S. economy is officially recognized as being in the midst of recession the importance of being able to make strategic decisions under high uncertainty becomes even more critical to success. McKinsey & Company got up close and personal with Associate Dean of Executive Programs Hugh Courtney during a December 2008 Q&A where he outlines his trademark strategies for dealing with uncertainty as presented in his book "20/20 Foresight: Crafting Strategy in an Uncertain World."
Among Courtney's advice is to see the opportunity that is the flip side of the unknown: "So we ought to pay attention to this wake-up call. Embrace uncertainty. Get to know it. In uncertainty lies great opportunity. If you don’t try to understand what’s separating the known from the unknown from the unknowable, you’re really missing out. You’re just playing roulette with big money—usually other people’s money. It behooves us to take uncertainty seriously and to fundamentally rethink the way we do strategic thinking and planning."
New research from Cristian Dezso, assistant professor of logistics, business and public policy, finds that firms benefit when they add women to their senior management teams -- this is despite the fact fewer than a third of the leading 1,500 companies in the United States had a single woman among their top executives in 2006. In "A Business Case for Women, " published by McKinsey in September 2008, findings and quotes from Dezso's working paper, "Girl Power: Female Participation in Top Management and Firm Performance," help make the point that a more proportionate number of female executives brings value to the corporate bottom line.
Angela Toda, Office of Marketing Communications
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.