UA Walton College Management Department Ranks In Top 20 Nationally In Research Productivity

Fayetteville, Ark.- The Department of Management in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, has ranked 19^th among the nation's public and private business schools in research productivity in the Academy of Management Journal for the years 1998-2003, according to the Business Research Web site. The Academy of Management Journal, which is published by the Academy of Management, is considered one of the most influential journals in the field.

In addition, the web site ranked the Department of Management 29^th in the nation for its research productivity in the Strategic Management Journal for the years 1998-2003, placing it ahead of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Columbia University and Stanford University, among others. The Strategic Management Journal is a premier journal for research on management strategy.

The Business Research Web site is sponsored by three Canadian business schools, including the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, the School of Business at the University of Alberta, and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, with the support of TELUS, a Canadian telecommunications company. The site ranks business schools in the United States, Canada and the world. The site's primary objective is to examine research productivity in the major academic journals in each of the key business disciplines as well as major journals in closely linked fields.

"Research is a key mission of the Walton College, and research productivity is a critical determinant of the stature of a business school," said Anne O'Leary-Kelly, chair, Walton College Department of Management. "These rankings suggest that scholars in the management department are consistently performing at the very top levels in our discipline."

For instance, Jon Johnson and Alan Ellstrand, both Walton College associate professors of management, have co-authored several articles in both journals on corporate governance. Most of their research examines the claims that corporate governance activists emphasize the most, such as size and independence of boards of directors in relation to financial performance.

Nina Gupta, Raymond F. Orr Chair and professor of management, and John Delery, associate professor of management, have co-authored research in both publications on different systems of managing people and the effects these systems have on critical organizational outcomes such as financial performance and turnover. Dan Ganster, the Charles C. Fichtner Chair and professor of management, authored research on social interactions in the workplace, specifically the issue of social undermining. Other contributors from the management department include Don White and John Todd, both full professors, and Joanna Newman, instructor.

Over the past two years, Department of Management faculty have also secured more than $2.75 million in public and private grants to fund future research. For example, O'Leary-Kelly is principal investigator on a three-year $603,942 National Science Foundation grant to study the under-representation of women and minorities in the information technology (IT) workforce. She and Carol Reeves, associate professor of management, are part of a team of researchers with a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, studying the effects of domestic violence on the workplace. In addition, Reeves is a contributor on a $600,000 grant from the NSF to create an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship doctoral-level program between business and engineering. Similarly, Vikas Anand, an assistant professor in the department, recently was granted $25,000 to research information technology outsourcing.

The University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina and Pennsylvania State University were the top six business schools in the Academy of Management Journal in term of research productivity. The Walton College placed ahead of schools such as Northwestern University, Purdue University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the University of South Carolina,

In the Strategic Management Journal, Purdue University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Emory University, Harvard University and University of Minnesota were the top six schools. The Walton College ranked ahead of schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of North Carolina, Columbia University and Stanford University.