Interview with Gloria Cordes Larson: Part 6: Decision Process

Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 15:12 Written by Jim Johnson Wednesday, 22 February 2012 08:11

Interview with Gloria Cordes Larson,  President Bentley University. As Gloria says, “In higher education, it takes much longer than any other type of organization I’m familiar with to come to a decision.  Decision making in this environment requires process, more process, and more process, and then you finally reach a point where you can call the question. For example, with the new MBA, there were numerous forums for the faculty to ask questions and provide their viewpoint - - all designed to get people’s input, build consensus, and ultimately create a comfort level with what was a large scale overhaul of our MBA program.  Everyone knew we would be pulling people and other resources from other programs, as well as investing new funds to make it work.  We were creating a whole new structure that involved team teaching and a studio format that didn’t exist previously, so there was a lot of understandable apprehension.  As the executive sponsor, I needed to link arms with my academic leadership team and let everyone know that this was a personal priority. We all had to be united in our view that over time, the new MBA could have a positive effect on our rankings and on our standing in the education and business worlds.  This was a democratic process, so we ultimately had to call the question and get people to vote.  In the end the new MBA prevailed with a sizeable majority, but it was no landslide.”