Customer Reviews

Socrates in the Boardroom: Why Research Universities Should Be Led by Top Scholars

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The choice between academics or professionals to run universities is very topical given the increasing complexity of modern universities. How can an academic whose career has been built on research and teaching possibly manage a huge complex organization with thousands of employees and budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. My own institution has, for example, over ten thousands students, two thousand faculty, two hospitals, a bank, a shopping centre, a hotel, a multitude of science labs and several international standard sports venues. Managing this makes running a large company seem easy in comparison. On the other hand how can an experienced manager with decades spent in the corporate world hope to relate to university life? The thought of somebody like "Neutron" Jack Welch running a university would terrify most professors.

As an academic with an interest in management practices this is a fascinating topic and a great book to read. Built on extensive empirical work and interviews, Goodall provides an array on evidence to support her views. It also parallels the debate going on in other industries - for example, should Doctors or Professional managers run hospitals?

For anyone interested in university management it's a great read and provides some invaluable perspective.

"Socrates in the Boardroom" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Goodall's book interview ran here as the cover feature on December 30, 2009.