BizED Magazine: A Framework for Innovation

From BizEd Magazine, May/June 2015:

In laying out a framework to help business schools develop innovative programs, author J.D. Schramm highlights the Freeman School’s Burkenroad Reports program.

What did the Freeman School have to be, know, and do to sustain curricular innovation at this level? The Burkenroad Reports program is institutionally distinctive (it focuses on Gulf Coast firms), demand-driven (it serves the firms and the students), and collaborative (a team works under the direction of a visionary founder). It is pedagogically sound (it provides bootcamp research training), follows an appropriate schedule (it gives students Fridays off so they can travel to the firms), and is committed to continuous improvement (through a feedback loop). Finally, the program focuses on a narrow scope of operations (it works with smaller but publicly traded firms), provides engaging content (it develops skills that have real-world relevance), and offers experimental leeway (the dean allowed Ricchiuti to give it a try). Tulane had all nine factors in place to launch an innovative program—which is now in its 22nd year.

To read the article in its entirety, visit bizedmagazine.com:

http://www.bizedmagazine.com/archives/2015/3/features/a-framework-for-innovation/