Monday, September 13, 2010

Baptism by Fire: Reflections of a DM Presenter at AoM

"Your dependent variables make no sense," he said.  
"Excuse me?" I asked, pivoting to look at the older gentleman who challenged the model I had just drawn on a makeshift board. Knowing that I couldn't count on a whiteboard or a projector, I had hand-carried to Montreal large sheets from a Post-it Easel Pad, together with colored markers, so that I could draw my model as I described my work and bring it to life.  
"Your dependent variables are arbitrary.  They represent accounting concepts and aren't very good measures of performance."  He spoke with firmness and certainty, with the confidence of someone who had no doubt of the veracity of his perspective.
The room was quiet.  There were at least 75 people, in a room arranged to create a makeshift circle at the center, and I had just presented my quantitative research on leadership's impact on innovation as measured by financial performance.  Truth be told, I was quite proud of having collected very robust financial statistics on a wide array of public companies as my dependent variables. I was baffled by this response.
I took a moment to pause and collect my thoughts when another person interjected, defending my choice of revenue growth and EBITDA growth as a measure of performance.  And soon, the voices bounced back and forth.  My model and my research was, for the next few minutes, the topic of vigorous debate on the measurement of performance and the proper outcomes of innovative behavior.  
After the session was over, several people sought me out and we continued a discussion of my work, where I intended to take it next and how it was connected to other research in the field.  My challenger came over to introduce himself, and to give me some more thoughts and some reactions.  I still disagreed with his assertion, but we had a good conversation, and he ended by giving me excellent advice on the development of variables in a well-drafted paper.  
"As a journal editor, I can tell you that we send papers back if they aren't extraordinarily well defended.  So I encourage you to take my advice.  By the way, I really like the first part of your model. You are on to something very interesting."  With that, he left.
All the while, a colleague from the DM program was standing nearby, incensed on my behalf that this man had, in essence, picked a fight with me about my hard work, and in a room full of strangers! 
But frankly, despite my concern at the essence of his comments, I was surprisingly exhilarated.  My research struck a chord with enough people that a meaty and interesting conversation ensued from my presentation.  Having just attended a symposium on a related topic presented by the known scholars in the field, my work excited as strong a response as theirs!  How best to feel like you've arrived than to have your work discussed and debated - even deflated!  
In my career, I've presented to lawyers and to for-profit and non-profit executives, to family members and to strangers, to friends, to colleagues and to children.  So, in theory, presenting at AOM should be "just another" chance to talk to a group.  But it's different.  Both highly structured and completely unstructured, AOM is like nothing I've ever encountered before.  In my experience (I've presented twice now - my qualitative paper in 2009 and my quantitative paper in 2010), no two presentations are the same, so to be prepared is to be willing to simply go with the flow.  And the responses are all over the map - from enthusiastic interest to arms-crossed disdain.   But perhaps the most intriguing aspect for me was listening to and watching other papers being presented, many from long-time and well-known scholars, and knowing that my work could go toe-to-toe with theirs.  This is the beauty of the DM and its ability to take a group of willing practitioners and afford them a language and a methodology to pave the way to enter that formidable process known as AOM.  
So who was that man?  When I shared the experience with Kalle Lyytinen, Director of the DM Program, he laughed.  He knew exactly who the person was: a known luminary in the management field, the senior editor of a distinguished A-level journal.  And furthermore, Kalle wasn't worried in the slightest that he hadn't liked my dependent variables - he was impressed that he had liked the other parts of my model!  
"Well," said Kalle, "it's time to write this paper up and send it to his journal!"
Presenting at AOM is not for the faint of heart.  It's as crowded and nutty as one might imagine of a conference with over 10,000 attendees.  But amidst the crowds of students and newcomers, there are deeply experienced and seasoned scholars, whose lives have been dedicated to the study and dissemination of social phenomena, large and small.  And for a brief few minutes, although I had no idea who he was, one of them was discussing my work. 
Ann Kowal Smith, DM Class of 2010

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Residency 2 - The Train Has Left the Station

At the close of my second residency as a student in the Doctorate of Management program, just three weeks since the first, I barely see the person I was then. The train has left the station. Bon voyage, I say to myself!
 So what is different? For one, my language is changing. Now, I can see what a theory looks like and understand its value. A simple statement perhaps yet now I know how to find them. They are gold.
 I feel like a gardener at harvest time, perhaps in the spirit of Andy Van de Ven's Engaged Scholarship. Every conversation with faculty and upper class students is a "listen for" precious theories about the world that these colleagues find dear to their hearts that might be relevant to my research topic, asking who is that researcher who developed the theory and what is the title of their work. Everything I read, same thing.
For another, my cohort class, my peers who are on the same train, is helping me feel at home with being myself and I am learning how to appreciate them as they go through their journey. I am coming to believe that we are providing each other a psychologically safe space as we venture into new territory.
To the group of students from the non-profit/public sector, our gathering continues to feel special to me. Our language and values are a bit different than for-profit management and this venue provides me with additional touch points with experienced gardeners in the program.
 All the support staff from the computer technicians, to the library staff, and the program staff seem to cater to every need as if they can anticipate and respond in the subtlest of ways, like what I would image it would be like riding in the train's first-class cabin. I greatly appreciate their service.
 The train has indeed left the station.
Adrian (Zeke) Wolfberg, D.M. Class of 2013, 11 September 2010
Adrian (Zeke) Wolfberg is a Supervisory Intelligence Officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. He is interested in exploring what creates the underlying orientation (the propensity) in the individual mental and organizational collective consciousness that allows us to be responsive to situations, make shifts to see things differently, to synthesize, to be mindful of what is going on.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Thomas Garvey, DM Class of 2000, named Director at Baldwin-Wallace College

A press release was sent out on September 3, 2010 regarding Tom Garvey's new position at Baldwin-Wallace College.  Tom is an alumnus of the DM Program, Class of 2000.  His research in the DM Program focused on issues around parental choice of elementary schools within the Cleveland Catholic Diocese and how those choices affect the financial policies of diocesan schools.   His complete thesis is available online from Digital Case, Case Western Reserve's online repository at
Below is the press release from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.
Thomas Garvey, CPA, DM, of Westlake has been named Director of the Accounting MBA Program for Baldwin-Wallace College. 
Garvey will oversee the recruitment and enrollment of students into the accounting program and will work with area businesses and accounting firms to create internship and employment opportunities for them.  In addition, he will work with faculty to review and assess the accounting curriculum.
 "Tom brings over 30 years of experience to B-W in the healthcare and insurance industries, as well as prior experience in teaching accounting at the college level," said Peter Kelly, chair for the Division of Business Administration.  "He has impressive work experience that includes serving as an auditor at Arthur Young & Co. and has held senior-level executive positions at Willis of Ohio, Inc., and Immediate Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.
 Garvey earned his undergraduate degree and MBA from Cleveland State University.  He earned a doctorate in management from Case Western Reserve University.
His professional memberships include the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants.  He is a volunteer for the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges and a member of Wyse Advertising, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan Investment Advisory Board.
Garvey succeeds Roger Grugle, who retired in June after 23 years at B-W.
Baldwin-Wallace, founded in 1845, was one of the first colleges to admit students without regard to race or gender. An independent, coeducational college of 4,500 students, B-W offers coursework in the liberal arts tradition with over 50 academic programs. Located in Berea, 12 miles from downtown Cleveland, B-W offers students the cultural, educational and business advantages of a major metropolitan area.