The Eli Broad College of Business’s Department of Management’s faculty recently were ranked first in the country for research productivity between 2005-09. The study, which was conducted by Texas A&M University and the University of Florida, found the department published more research in eight of the top management journals than any other management department in the world, with 67 articles published total.

Department chair Don Conlon said the department’s culture is research-intensive and faculty are in their offices daily with a “roll-up-the-sleeves, blue collar, get the work done” attitude.

“Folks at MSU and beyond don’t realize what a good business school we have,” Conlon said.
The faculty and doctoral students in the department study topics from leadership to justice and fairness in the workplace to business strategy — what makes a company successful or unsuccessful.

Sometimes that involves doing research outside of corporate life, including studying NASCAR pit crews, Hollywood producers and Major League Baseball all-stars, Conlon said.
“You take a baseball coach and that’s a leader,” Conlon said. “The central players are leaders.”

Management professor Frederick Morgeson, who has been in the department for 10 years, said the department looks for people who are interested in creating and pursuing knowledge when they hire new faculty.

“The people that are here are just kind of curious and engaged,” Morgeson said. “They have questions about things that fascinate them and research is the way to get some answers.”
Morgeson has published studies on personnel selection and leadership and work design. He said the department always ties its research into what the implications are for real-world organizations.

“The kind of stuff we do is truly more applied in a way than the typical scientist in the lab doing the crazy experiments,” Morgeson said. “We learn about what (companies are) struggling with and how they can use the science to solve problems.”

Supply chain management senior Jen Lada said the honors the management department received benefit the entire business school. Every business major has to take at least one management course, she said.

“It’s something to be proud of, even if you’re not a management major,” Lada said. “It’s something you can be proud of for the faculty.”

Other management departments in the top five in the study were Harvard University, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Michigan.

The University of Texas at Dallas also ranked the Eli Broad College of Business at No. 27 in the country for research contribution from 2005-09.