Expert Management Theorist to discuss new Educational Theory12:00AM / Friday, April 08, 2005
Williamstown – William Ouchi, a Williams graduate known for his groundbreaking innovations in management and education, will give a Class of 1960 Scholars Lecture in Psychology on Thursday, April 14, in Bronfman Science Center, room 105 at 4 p.m.
The talk titled "Making Schools Work" will focus on the result of an extensive study evaluating the effectiveness of management in 223 schools across six cities. The study showed a clear relationship between school performance and management, prompting Ouchi to suggest a method of decentralized management systems.
"Our education system needs to be shaken apart. No one can lead this effort like Bill Ouchi, said Richard Riordan, mayor of Las Angeles, 1993-2001. "His ability to think 'outside the box' is phenomenal."
Ouchie writes that the keys to making schools work are an entrepreneurial spirit and parents who arm themselves with information.
"Once the principal and teachers in your school realize that you know what questions to ask … they'll come up with answers for you," Ouchi writes "If you don't ask, though, they're likely to continue business as usual, with the same results as before."
Ouchi is the author of "Theory Z: How American Management Can Meet the Japanese Challenge," which has been published in 14 foreign editions and for a time ranked as the seventh most commonly held book in the more than 4000 libraries in the United States.
Theory Z was the product of Ouchi's endeavor to combine elements of the successful Japanese business model into the American model to create the best management system for American business. By merging popular Japanese business qualities such as those of collective decision-making and a holistic concern for employees with standard American protocols of individual responsibility and more specialized career paths, Ouchi offered a successful and popular hybrid business model.
He received his B.A. in political economy at Williams College, his M.B.A. in 1967 at Stanford University, and his Ph.D. in business administration in 1972 at the University of Chicago. A former trustee at Williams College, Ouchi is the Stanford & Betty Sigoloff Professor in Corporate Renewal at The Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. |
