From the Business Journal
Posted: February 26, 2010

Competitive advantage is a phrase often used in boardrooms and business school programs to convey getting ahead of a competitor by offering customers something of greater value.
It’s also the goal of Timothy Smunt, the new dean of the  Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business at the  University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Only for Smunt, “competitive advantage” isn’t just a mantra, it’s how he’s trying to build the school.
“We’re building competitive advantage for our students so they have a great career ahead of them and we’re building it for these businesses who will hire our students so they can use our graduates to generate competitive advantage,” Smunt said. “It’s all about connecting with the students and connecting with the businesses and getting that advantage in the end.”

If it sounds like Smunt, 54, of Shorewood, is determined, that’s because he is. He views UWM as one of the top 25 business schools in the nation, although it hasn’t been recognized as one yet.

That’s not to say the Lubar School of Business has not gotten accolades. It was ranked 86th overall in the 2004-2008 University of Texas at Dallas Top 100 Business School Research Rankings and ranked eighth in the 2006-2008 University of Arkansas Top 100 Information Systems Research Rankings.

Still, Smunt, who took over as dean last August to replace V. Kanti Prasad, who stepped down into a faculty position, thinks UWM’s status as a non-flagship state school leaves it underappreciated.

He wants to create a business school with a reputation for giving access to many students, but providing a quality education typically found on smaller, private campuses.

One of the ways that has been done is with UWM’s Business Scholars Program, which admits 30 freshmen ranked first in their high school class per year, who take smaller classes instructed by the schools’ top professors.

At the graduate level, UWM will begin offering a new program in information technology management in the fall and a new certificate in investment management, both of which will keep students and faculty tuned into the changing dynamics of business, Smunt said.

As dean, Smunt is responsible for the business school’s $19 million annual budget, 30 staff members and 73 full-time faculty members. He is also the public face of the business school and meets routinely with members of the business community.

Work ethic

Smunt’s passion about moving UWM forward is one of the reason’s he was hired, said Shel Lubar, chairman of Lubar & Co., Inc. whose name the school bears and who is a current member and past president of UWM’s Business Advisory Council.

“He knows his challenge is to move the business school up to the next level and that’s what he’s working on,” Lubar said. “He is working on bringing in some outstanding faculty and developing the best possible student body to prepare them for a life in the world of commerce. Overall, I’ve been very impressed.”

Smunt came to UWM from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he was a professor of management and Sisel fellow in operations at the Babcock Graduate School of Management.

Smunt believed UWM was a good fit for him because he identified with the students, many of whom come from working class backgrounds. He said many of the school’s large population of first-generation college students have to work at least 25 hours per week to put themselves through school. They remind him of his own humble upbringing in Chicago, where he was the only one of his four siblings to complete a four-year degree.

“I appreciate that work ethic,” he said. “When you talk to the professors about our students and you talk to the business community about our students, everyone agrees that they are really hard-working people. And they make great employees after they graduate.”

UWM’s strong ties to the business community were another factor that drew Smunt to the school.

“I haven’t found a school that has connections like ours does to the business community,” Smunt said.

One of the reasons for that connection is UWM’s Business Advisory Council, which includes more than 70 members, most of whom are at the top level of their firms and key leaders in the business community.

Smunt has also started a strategic planning task force to strengthen those ties and to come up with a five- to 10-year plan for the business school. The task force was launched at the end of January and has met twice.

It includes four members of the business community: Allan Klotsche, vice president of  Brady Corp., Milwaukee; Jacquelyn Fredrick, president and CEO of the BloodCenter of Wisconsin, Wauwatosa; Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee; and Jim Ziemer, retired president and CEO of  Harley-Davidson Inc., Milwaukee.

“In the end, what we want to do is gain more national stature and international reputation for what we do,” Smunt said. “We’re not just here to get rankings. The purpose is to do a great job. But usually when you do a great job, the rankings follow.”

Klotsche said it’s difficult for leaders at a solidly performing organization to create a sense of urgency, but Smunt has been able to generate excitement and interest from the business community.

“He has come in and respected and admired the past performance, but realized you can’t stand still going forward,” Klotsche said. “From a business community perspective, the fact that they are reaching out to us is critical.”