[#permalink]
25 Sep 2005, 00:15
"I've noticed that you usually use the name of the university instead of the "benefactor name" for the business school-Why?"
As virtually everyone knows, many business schools have benefactor names (Wharton, Kellogg, Tuck, Stern etc.). In addition, as some people have noticed, I use these names rather infrequently. In part this is out of consistency- many business schools do not have benefactor names so it is more logical (and easier) to identify them on the basis of the characteristic that each school possesses: the university name. I do use the benefactor name in cases when there are a number of similar sounding university names (e.g. many universities contain the word "Washington" in them, thus I often add "Olin" for easier identification). In some cases, the benefactor name is not particularly helpful since there are many programs or schools with similar names (consider Sloan or Anderson).
At one point in advising MBA candidates, I used the benefactor names much more frequently. I soon discovered that this was needlessly confusing to many candidates, especially at the start of the search process (someone finally presented the obvious question: why should one learn two sets of names for one set of schools?)
Another reason I use the university names is that they are far less subject to change. For data tracking purposes I strongly prefer to use a name that is unlikely to change. These names carry over when I discuss candidate portfolios. In addition, I must confess that these new names still sound odd to me (Ross, Tepper, etc.). I am glad these schools received their large gifts but it will take some time before these names sound natural to me.
As an aside, note that a slight majority of ultra elite schools include the university name as an integral part of the business school name (Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, and Stanford). It is tempting to read some branding implications into the use of benefactor names. For instance, only one Elite cluster school has retained its integral name (Yale) and it is almost certainly the strongest institutional brand new in the Elite Cluster. In the Trans Elite and Near Elite clusters every school has a benefactor name. Benefactor names risk obscuring an MBA program's connection to its parent university. For instance, note that despite the fact that it is been a benefactor-named school for such a long time, UC Berkeley/Haas still sees it necessary to remind us that it is "The Berkeley MBA."
Of course, I encourage candidates to use whatever name they are most comfortable with when communicating with me. I readily acknowledge that simply because I prefer a particular naming system this does not make it the "right" system in any grand sense.
close
