雷鳥(niǎo)折翼內(nèi)幕:記一所老牌商學(xué)院的衰落
????盡管如此,這所學(xué)校的教學(xué)特色很快就遭遇到來(lái)自沃頓(Wharton)、哥倫比亞大學(xué)(Columbia)和哈佛大學(xué)(Harvard)等商學(xué)院巨頭以及歐洲和亞洲學(xué)校強(qiáng)有力的挑戰(zhàn)。 ????說(shuō)實(shí)話,雷鳥(niǎo)的聲譽(yù)和底蘊(yùn)或許永遠(yuǎn)也無(wú)法跟大牌商學(xué)院相媲美。即使在最輝煌的年份,它的錄取率(通常徘徊在70%至80%之間)也遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于主流商學(xué)院,后者的錄取率不到20%。錄取新生的平均GMAT成績(jī)亦是如此——雷鳥(niǎo)的新生成績(jī)通常在600分左右,比最好的商學(xué)院低100分以上,后者的成績(jī)往往在700分以上(入學(xué)考試的滿分為800分)。 ????此外,雷鳥(niǎo)全球管理學(xué)院經(jīng)常陷入無(wú)止境的轉(zhuǎn)變模式之中。赫伯格于1989年接管這所學(xué)校時(shí),迎接他的是“一個(gè)經(jīng)典的轉(zhuǎn)變”挑戰(zhàn)?!皠倎?lái)時(shí),墻面缺漆、未修復(fù)的道路和設(shè)施老化等問(wèn)題讓我疲于應(yīng)對(duì),一時(shí)難以顧及其他,”在一次口述歷史采訪中,他回憶道?!敖處熡惺疁?zhǔn),學(xué)生表現(xiàn)不佳。不少學(xué)生都在隨波逐流,缺少雄心壯志?!?/p> ????當(dāng)時(shí),這所學(xué)校沒(méi)有得到主流評(píng)價(jià)體系的認(rèn)可,進(jìn)而無(wú)法進(jìn)入美國(guó)商學(xué)院排行榜。除了一個(gè)每年能帶來(lái)30萬(wàn)美元收入的語(yǔ)言培訓(xùn)項(xiàng)目之外,雷鳥(niǎo)當(dāng)時(shí)根本就沒(méi)有在職高級(jí)管理人員培訓(xùn)項(xiàng)目。由該校委托的一項(xiàng)研究表明,雷鳥(niǎo)的畢業(yè)生更加看重彼此間的校友之誼,對(duì)母校的感情并不深厚?!耙怯腥颂嶙h給母校寫一張支票,他們的反應(yīng)很可能是,‘憑什么啊?’我能夠畢業(yè)完全是自身努力的結(jié)果,跟他們有什么關(guān)系,”赫伯格這樣說(shuō)道。 ????2004年,赫伯格終于從雷鳥(niǎo)校友、NBA球隊(duì)菲尼克斯太陽(yáng)(Phoenix Suns)的老板山姆?加爾文手中爭(zhēng)取到一筆6,000萬(wàn)美元的冠名權(quán)捐款承諾,這所商學(xué)院似乎即將迎來(lái)轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)。加爾文的確捐贈(zèng)了1,300萬(wàn)美元的現(xiàn)金,但沒(méi)能按照時(shí)間表兌現(xiàn)剩余的捐款承諾,他和校方最終同意取消他的冠名權(quán)。 ????后來(lái),西班牙人、馬德里IE商學(xué)院前院長(zhǎng)安吉爾?卡布雷拉于2004年底接替赫伯格出任校長(zhǎng)一職。當(dāng)時(shí),雷鳥(niǎo)的財(cái)政狀況已經(jīng)岌岌可危?!拔襾?lái)的時(shí)候,這所學(xué)校正在損失大筆資金,”卡布雷拉在接受口述歷史采訪時(shí)回憶稱?!坝捎诮虒W(xué)實(shí)踐無(wú)法跟上需求的變化,我們正處于一個(gè)異常艱難的時(shí)期。” ????2012年7月,卡布雷拉離開(kāi)雷鳥(niǎo),出任喬治?梅森大學(xué)(George Mason University)校長(zhǎng)。在接受口述歷史采訪時(shí),他對(duì)學(xué)校檔案保管員說(shuō),盡管2009年和2010年爆發(fā)經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī),但雷鳥(niǎo)依然實(shí)現(xiàn)了預(yù)算盈余。但他接著指出:“相對(duì)其他院校來(lái)說(shuō),我們依然是一所窮學(xué)校。我們的捐贈(zèng)基金依然不及競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。大牌商學(xué)院擁有充沛的捐贈(zèng)資金,足以支持他們的教學(xué)活動(dòng)。” ????為了籌集現(xiàn)金,學(xué)校曾試圖向房地產(chǎn)開(kāi)發(fā)商出售部分校園(總面積160英畝的校園僅有一半被建筑物覆蓋),用以建造公寓,單戶住宅和其他商業(yè)開(kāi)發(fā)。但由于亞利桑那州的房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)崩盤,這些計(jì)劃最終無(wú)疾而終。與桂冠教育公司達(dá)成的這項(xiàng)交易顯然是另一個(gè)戰(zhàn)略選擇。 |
????Still, the school's unique qualities were quickly challenged by business school titans like Wharton, Columbia, and Harvard, along with schools in both Europe and Asia. ????Truth be told, Thunderbird could never match either the prestige or the cache of the big brand schools. Even in its best years, its acceptance rate -- often hovering in the 70% to 80% range -- was much higher than the major business schools, which accept less than 20% of their applicants. So were the average GMAT scores of its entering classes, which tended to range near 600, more than 100 points below the best schools, which typically report scores in the 700-plus range on an entrance test where the highest possible score is 800. ????Besides, the school was often in perpetual turnaround mode. When Herberger took over as president in 1989, he was confronted with what he called "a classic turnaround" challenge. "It took me awhile to look beyond the lack of paint, the unrepaired roads, and the old facilities," he recalled in an oral history interview. "The faculty was underachieving, and the students were underachieving. The students were floating along…The expectations weren't high enough." ????At the time, the school was unaccredited and unranked. With the exception of a language training program that brought in $300,000 a year, Thunderbird had no executive education programming at all. One study commissioned by the school showed that its alumni were more devoted to each other and not the school. "When it came down to writing a check for the school, it was, 'What for? I got my education in spite of whatever you guys did,'" said Herberger. ????Thunderbird seemed to turn the corner when Herberger landed in 2004 a $60 million naming gift from entrepreneur Sam Garvin, an alumnus and owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball franchise. Garvin did give $13 million in cash toward the $60 million pledge, but could not honor the timetable for the gift, so he and the school agreed that his name should not be on the school. ????When Angel Cabrera, a native of Spain who had been dean of IE Business School in Madrid, succeeded Herberger in late 2004, Thunderbird was in a precarious financial situation. "The school was losing significant amounts of money when I arrived," recalled Cabrera in an oral history interview. "We were in a tough era in terms of applications and shifts in demand." ????Cabrera, who left the school to become president of George Mason University in July 2012, told the school archivist during an oral history interview that the school was reporting an annual budget surplus despite the collapse of the economy in 2009 and 2010. But, he said, "we continue to be a relatively poor school. We don't have much of an endowment like the schools that we compete against which have terrific endowments to support their activities." ????To raise cash, the school attempted to sell part of its 160-acre campus, only half of which is built upon, to developers for condos, single-family homes, and commercial use. But the plans never got off the ground due to the collapse of the real estate market in Arizona. The deal with Laureate was clearly another strategic option. |
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