By Kalle Lyytinen
The 24th year of the DM programs is winding down. We
awarded 12 new degrees, whereby the total number of DM/PhD alumni will now be a
little shy of 300: 215 are DM graduates and 83 are PhD graduates. Next year,
when we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the DM program and 10th
anniversary of our PhD program, we will break the magical 300 number. By far,
we are one of the largest doctoral alumni groups in management in the world!
This year has been eventful in the history of the DM as we have
gone through a careful positioning of our programs, including exploring a name
change of the DM toward DBA with a positive alumni and faculty response. The
professional doctorate degree market is changing and so is the competition. We
need to meet the expectations of potential new student audiences. As part of
this process we recently organized a task force lead by Professor Richard
Boyatzis, participated in by faculty, alumni and staff, to look at changes in
DM/DBA market positioning, curriculum and so on. The task force submitted a
report, and we are currently examining ways to integrate the recommendations
into our curriculum and marketing message. Changes address items such as the
number and length of residencies, required methods courses and the pricing of
the program. The report also seeks enhanced ways to integrate practice
engagement during the program through increased alumni involvement. We are
currently reviewing these options and will develop over the summer more
detailed plans of future program changes.
We expect to announce the changes in the DM Program in the fall and the
timeline for implementation.
We have also created a second task force lead by Professor Jagdip
Singh which will conduct a program review of the PhD program. We expect this
task force to finish its work by the end of summer. We will introduce related
changes at the same time as we announce the changes in the DM. All these steps
are carried out to ensure our programs’ continued scholarly leadership and to
advance the legacy of the DM program in the next 25 years.
The strength of this community has always been its intellectual
openness, boldness and entrepreneurial spirit combined with academic honesty
and rigor. We hope that the proposed changes will continue to advance our
community as a strong innovator and advocate for practitioner focused doctoral
degrees. I look forward seeing all of you in the April 2020 as we celebrate 25
years of history rooted in excellence!
