vol. XV no. 2

				In his five years at Robinson, Dean Sidney Harris has created an institution with the flexibility necessary to respond to changes in today's complex global business Sidney E. Harris joined Georgia State's College of Business as dean five years ago. During his tenure, he has shown that a large academic school with many departments can be a flexible institution that anticipates market trends and absorbs change as a matter of course. One of the earliest strategies Harris pursued was building the funds critical to underwrite the College's success. In the first year of his administration, the Results Campaign raised $1.6 million in private gifts under his leadership, and since 1997, the fund-raising initiative has increased that amount to more than $25 million. The number of endowed faculty positions has grown from ten to 29. In 1998, President Carl Patton and Dean Harris spearheaded the naming of the college for Atlanta business icon J. Mack Robinson and in 2000 the naming of the International Center for Entrepreneurship for entrepreneur and civic leader Herman J. Russell. Harris also has welcomed major gifts from other organizations and individuals in these five years. Bank of America, for example, has funded both scholarships and a distinguished lecture series at Robinson. Kenneth Reid has endowed the Moses Lee Reid Awards in entrepreneurship. And the U.S. Agency for International Development has pledged support for the recently established Ronald H. Brown Institute, which conducts business training and skills development in Sub-Saharan Africa. His leadership also has encouraged an increase in student talent at the Robinson College. New enrollees are building on the extraordinary legacy of their predecessors, with consistently rising GMAT scores (averaging more than 600 in the MBA and MS programs) and GPAs. Female enrollment likewise has increased. In fall 2001, female students numbered 4,037 compared to 4,427 enrolled males. The student body also has become more international in the last five years. More than 47 countries are now represented, including China, Egypt, Germany, India, Jamaica, South Korea and Turkey. Since 1997, the College has offered a Master of International Business degree, with an international internship that connects classroom experience with the real world. Robinson students now have study abroad and internship opportunities in 16 countries. Harris, a member of the 2002 class of the Society of International Business Fellows, has emphasized globalization during his tenure, and programs at Robinson increasingly reflect that emphasis. Robinson partners on MBA programs with institutions in Azerbaijan, Egypt, France, Georgia and Poland and offers executive education in conjunction with institutions in Argentina, Brazil, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The school has established partnerships with an additional 14 countries. The Expanding Horizons program brings business leaders from Latin America to Atlanta for tailored instruction and access to executives at the city's premier international companies. In fall 2000, the Robinson College joined a consortium of leading business schools throughout the world to introduce a Global eManagement (GEM) program. Since its inception, approximately 400 students from 10 countries have graduated. Despite GEM's success, Robinson recently decided to discontinue enrollment due to fundamental shifts in the economy that caused interest in such an approach to wane. "Innovation and experimentation are key ingredients to the way we view market opportunities," said Harris. "The GEM program was a real breakthrough effort. Its true success comes from the fact that it raised awareness for the Robinson College as an innovator and leader and enhanced our reputation as an international educational institution." The decision to discontinue GEM further demonstrates Robinson's flexibility in action. This ability to change will continue to be a hallmark of Dean Harris's administration. He stays aware of changing trends through his own research on the strategic use of information and by serving on the boards of directors of AACSB International and several firms. These experiences have taught him that "today, change is a given. How you adapt to change affects how successful you'll be." Top Return to Agility in Action article

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