Introduction Letter
World-class Carlson faculty uphold our rich tradition of research excellence
The story of our school goes back a century, when just a handful of students enrolled in what was then simply known as the University of Minnesota Business School. The dreams the founders had for it were big, but few could have predicted its impact.
For 100 years, our faculty have shaped the business world: Dale Yoder studied and developed tools for the emerging human resources field; Walter Heller provided economic advice to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson; Gordon Davis was a pioneer of the Management Information Systems field; and E. Jerome McCarthy literally wrote the book on marketing.
The Carlson School faculty of today continue this legacy of excellence—in fact, they rank No. 4 in the world for management, according to the Center for World University Rankings. Their curiosity leads each of them to explore different areas of interest, but they’re all united in the belief that business is a force for good. Within these pages, you’ll find the stories of our faculty’s curiosities.
Professors Connie Wanberg and John Kammeyer-Mueller studied the potential drawbacks of introversion in the workplace, drawn to the topic by students worried they would struggle against their extraverted peers.
Mindfulness is often pitched as something of a workplace cure-all by modern corporate business leaders. But Professor Kathleen Vohs was skeptical of some of the claims.
And Associate Professor Evan Rawley wanted to test the conventional wisdom that says that when a company is struggling, it should streamline its operations to focus on “core competencies.”
I have the immense privilege of sharing research like those above in this issue of Discovery at Carlson. You’ll also find an introduction to our newest faculty and a Research Briefs section that provides a glimpse into even more work taking place at the Carlson School. As you read through this, if you have any comments on the publication, please feel free to contact me at gupta037@umn.edu.
Professor Alok Gupta
Associate Dean of Faculty and Research
Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Information Management
