Steve Jones is not your average business school dean. Before becoming the top dog at the the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler school, he was not an academic, but a chief executive. And he did not work in the US, but in Australia and New Zealand.



Returning to his undergraduate alma mater in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2003 therefore, Prof Jones brought with him a refreshing international business outlook. All of which means he is not afraid to take on many of the sacred cows of the business education world.



His first mantra is innovation. "This is an industry that needs to change faster than it is and it needs outside prodding to do it," he says. "The industry structure drives the behaviour of the employees...These [faculty] are great people but they are players in a system."



He argues that if the established US business schools do not change then they will be outstripped by rookie rivals, particularly in Asia. "What I expect will happen in the emerging markets is that you will see much more innovation," he warns.



The combined pressures of accreditation and the need to publish in peer-reviewed academic journals mean business schools are not addressing the needs of business, he believes. He argues that published research should be judged on its relevance to business as much as its academic rigour, and he believes this needs a sea-change in thinking.



It is the same philosophy that informs his attitude to selecting students for the MBA programme. "We are changing the criteria by which we seek and admit students to put more emphasis on evidence." In the past, admissions have been determined by the academic world and, he says, "academics hire in their own image", which essentially means high GMAT scores.



Instead he is putting the emphasis on applicants who demonstrate drive, ambition and perseverance - qualities that he believes are essential to leadership.



In this emphasis on leadership Prof Jones, 55, has taken a very different approach to the MBA than his predecessor, Bob Sullivan, now dean of the Rady business school in San Diego and a blue-blooded academic. Prof Sullivan spent his years at Kenan-Flager promoting the school as one that specialised in sustainable enterprise; Prof Jones believes that is no longer a selling point.



"Five to 10 years ago it was emerging and we were one of the leaders," he says. "Now it's part of what most schools do. It's a real strength of the school, but it doesn't define the school."



Instead of sustainable enterprise, leadership skills and a global perspective are now on the agenda. With dual US and Australian nationality, and with years of experience as chief executive at one of Australia's largest financial services companies, Suncorp Metway - not to mention an MBA from Harvard Business School - Prof Jones is well-placed to comment on all these issues.



Increasing the international experience of students at the business school has been one of Prof Jones's priorities and these days around 60 per cent of them have some international experience as part of their programme, be it internships overseas or study abroad. "If we're not sending someone away with a global perspective we really haven't done our job," he believes.



Broadening the international mindset of the faculty is also on the agenda. Since he took up the deanship, about one third of the school's faculty has left, he says, but this has meant he could replace them with more globally-minded professors. This, he says, is all about mindset. "What you've got to have is that way of looking at a situation that varies depending on the circumstances which you are in."



More widely, Prof Jones has strong views on some of the pervading issues in business schools. While many of the top US business schools - Harvard and Stanford, for example - are targeting younger students, often straight out of undergraduate programmes, for their MBA programmes, Prof Jones believes this is folly and a direct result of their inability to attract older students.



"If they could get all the top-quality 26-year-olds, you wouldn't get this," he explains. "[Matriculating younger students] runs contrary to what companies are saying. They want students who can get things done," he insists



And as to whether the ideal MBA should be one or two years in length? "For the traditional programme, 18 months would be just fine. But if you want to accelerate skills, then two years is barely enough."



His faculty, he says, will acknowledge the merit of some of his points



史蒂夫•琼斯(Steve Jones)可不是你以为的那种一般的商学院院长。在成为北卡罗来纳大学(University of North Carolina)凯南-弗拉格勒(Kenan-Flagler)商学院的一把手前，他不是一个学术派，而是一位首席执行官。他的工作地点也不是美国，而是澳大利亚和新西兰。



因此，在琼斯教授2003年回到位于北卡罗来纳州罗列市的本科母校时，他带来了让人耳目一新的国际商业观。所有这些都意味着，他不怕挑战商业教育界的很多神圣原则。



他第一个反复念叨的就是创新。“这是一个需要比现在变化更快的行业，而要做到这一点，它需要外部的刺激，”他表示。“行业结构驱动着雇员的行为……这些（教职员工）都是很棒的人，但他们也是系统内部的参与者。”



他提出，如果美国知名商学院不进行变革，它们就会被新的竞争对手超越，尤其是在亚洲。他警告称：“我预计，你会在新兴市场看到更多的创新。”



他认为，来自资格认定和必须在同僚都会阅读的学术刊物上发表文章的压力，意味着商学院不是在解决商业需求。他提出，在对发表的研究文章进行评判时，商业相关性应放在与学术严谨性同等重要的位置。他相信，这需要思维方式的彻底转变。



他对选择MBA学员的态度也缘自同样的哲学。“我们正在改变寻找和招收学员的标准，更强调证据。”过去，招生是由学术派决定的。他指出：“学术派按照自己的翻版来招生。”从根本上说，就是要有GMAT高分。



相反，他则将重点放在学生是否表现出干劲、雄心和持之以恒——他认为这些是领导的基本素质。



在这种对领导力的强调中，现年55岁的琼斯教授对MBA采取了与前任鲍伯•萨利文(Bob Sullivan)迥然不同的方式。萨利文现任加州大学圣迭戈分校拉迪商学院(Rady)院长，是一个纯学术出身的人。萨利文教授在凯南-弗拉格勒花费了数年时间，把这家商学院发展成一家专攻可持续性企业的商学院。但琼斯教授认为，这已经不再是一个卖点了。



“5到10年前，这还是新兴事物，我们是领军者之一，”他表示。“如今，多数商学院都在做这个。这确实是这家商学院的一个优势，但不是这家商学院的唯一特色。”



如今在议事日程上的，不再是可持续性企业，而是领导技能和全球视角。琼斯教授拥有美国和澳大利亚双重国籍，在澳大利亚最大金融服务公司Suncorp Metway担任首席执行官的多年经验——更不用说还是哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)的MBA，他对这些问题都很有发言权。



增加商学院学员的国际经验，一直是琼斯教授的首要任务之一。如今，作为课程的一部分，60%左右的学员都有一些国际经验，无论是在海外实习，还是曾出国留学。他认为：“如果我们输送的学员没有全球视角，那我们就真的没有做好自己的工作。”



拓宽教职人员的国际思维方式，也提到了议事日程之上。他表示，自他担任院长以来，这个学院有三分之一的教职员工已经离开了，但这也意味着，他可以启用更具全球思维的教授来接替他们。他表示，这都是思维方式的问题。“你必须具备的是，观察形势的视角要随着你所处的环境而变化。”



更广泛地说，琼斯教授对商学院普遍存在的一些问题有强烈的看法。虽然很多顶级美国商学院——比如哈佛和斯坦福(Stanford)——把MBA招生对象瞄准年龄更小的学员（常常是刚从本科毕业的学生），但琼斯教授认为这么做很荒唐，而且这是它们不能吸引年长学员的直接后果。



他解释道：“如果它们能招到所有素质最好的26岁年轻人，你就不会看到这一幕。（录取更年轻的学员）跟企业的说法背道而驰。他们想要的，是能做好一切的学员。”



那么理想的MBA课程时间长度应该是一年还是两年？“就传统课程而言，18个月就可以了。但如果你想加强技能，那两年也不够用。”



他表示，他的教员会认识到他某些观点的可取之处。

• 6小时掌握学英语的秘诀！——点击看答案
• 专治男女记不住单词的秘密