Warren G. Bennis’s research while affiliated with University of Southern California and other places

If there's one thing that the past decade's business disasters should teach us, it's that we need to stop evaluating corporate leaders simply on the basis of how much wealth they create for investors. A healthier yardstick would be this: the extent to which leaders create firms that are economically, ethically, and socially sustainable. The first step toward accomplishing that task is to create a culture of candor. Companies can't innovate, respond to stakeholder needs, or run efficiently unless the people inside them have access to timely, relevant information, point out professors O'Toole, of the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business, and Bennis, of the University of Southern California. Increasing transparency can be an uphill battle against human nature, however. The obstacles are numerous: macho executives who don't listen to their subordinates or punish them for bringing bad news; leaders who believe that information is power and hoard it; groupthink among team members who don't know how to disagree; boards that fail to question charismatic CEOs. Nevertheless, leaders can take steps to nurture transparency. By being open and candid, admitting their errors, encouraging employees to speak truth to power, and rewarding contrarians, executives can model the kind of conduct they want to see. Training employees to handle unpleasant conversations with grace also will break down barriers to honest communication. To avoid being blinded by biases, leaders can diversify their sources of information--an obvious measure that's rarely taken. Perhaps the biggest lever for cultural change is the executive selection process--choosing leaders for their transparent behavior, not just their ability to compete. And a few companies have even gone so far as to share all relevant information with every employee.

Excesivamente centradas en la investigación "científica", las escuelas de negocios contratan profesores que cuentan con una limitada experiencia en el mundo real y conceden títulos a alumnos que están deficientemente dotados para enfrentarse a complejas cuestiones que no se pueden cuantificar; en otras palabras, a la tarea de la gestión

Business schools are facing intense criticism for failing to impart useful skills, failing to prepare leaders, failing to instill norms of ethical behavior--and even failing to lead graduates to good corporate jobs. These criticisms come not just from students, employers, and the media but also from deans of some of America's most prestigious B schools. The root cause oftoday's crisis in management education, assert Warren G. Bennis and James O'Toole, is that business schools have adopted an inappropriate--and ultimately self-defeating--model of academic excellence. Instead of measuring themselves in terms of the competence of their graduates, or by how well their faculty members understand important drivers of business performance, they assess themselves almost solely by the rigor of their scientific research. This scientific model is predicated on the faulty assumption that business is an academic discipline like chemistry or geology when, in fact, business is a profession and business schools are professional schools--or should be. Business school deans may claim that their schools remain focused on practice, but they nevertheless hire and promote research-oriented professors who haven't spent time working in companies and are more comfortable teaching methodology than messy, multidisciplinary issues--the very stuff of management. The authors don't advocate a return to the days when business schools were glorified trade schools. But to regain relevancy, they say, business schools must rediscover the practice of business and find a way to balance the dual mission of educating practitioners and creating knowledge through research.

La designación de un nuevo presidente ejecutivo es una decisión muy importante pero los altos directivos no saben qué condiciones de los candidatos evaluar para encontrarlo. En EEUU, desde 1995, la tercera parte de las 100 mayores compañías reemplazó a sus presidentes ejecutivos. El artículo ofrece algunas pautas para orientar en la búsqueda de la persona apropiada.