2009 saw CEIBS professors publish nine articles in prestigious FT40 journals as of December, with 11 more slated for publication. Thus, the past year marked a significant improvement in the quantity and quality of research generated by CEIBS faculty, an indicator of the school's growing reputation as a source of new knowledge. The FT40 refers to a list of forty academic journals rated as best-in-class by the Financial Times.
Meanwhile, CEIBS professors remained prolific in penning books during 2009, raising the school's profile in both the academic and business worlds. All told, CEIBS faculty authored 17 books last year, with another two now in the printing process.
“CEIBS has been historically weak in research but in the past five years we have made significant improvement in two areas: one is in academic publications, in terms of FT40, and the other is in the publication of books,” said Associate Dean and Chair of the CEIBS Research Committee Professor Chang Chun. “These areas have different kinds of audiences and I think both are important for us.”
In 2008, FT40 publications accepted eight papers written by CEIBS faculty, versus 20 in 2009. This increase, says Prof Chang, illustrates CEIBS'expanding research capacity. FT40 journals are widely regarded as significant not only within academic circles but also in influencing the business world and shaping policy. In recent years, there has been a trend towards publishing articles that are academically sound and have strong practical application.
During the first decade of CEIBS'existence, the school was “mostly focused on teaching,” says Prof Chang, adding that “this was mostly done by visiting professors.” He explains that FT40 publications are credited to the school which employs the authors full-time, making it nearly impossible for visiting CEIBS professors to enter this elite publishing circle. Says Prof Chang: “We did not have the capacity to engage in a lot of research. However, we recognized that in order to become an internationally recognized school and to have an impact in the field of education, especially in terms of China-related knowledge, we needed to expand our research capabilities.”
Because the bulk of CEIBS revenue is generated by course offerings, compared to the healthy endowments of longer-running b-schools worldwide, the school has traditionally focused on its teaching. The challenge now, says Prof Chang, is maintaining teaching excellence while enhancing CEIBS'research.
In 2006, CEIBS began offering reduced teaching hours to faculty members conducting research. Prof Chang believes that this incentive scheme coupled with CEIBS'growing number of top-calibre full-time faculty, are the reasons for the sharp uptick in CEIBS'FT40 presence.
Publication in FT40 journals also enhances performance in the annual Financial Times global MBA Programme rankings. “Our #8 ranking in 2009 was not primarily because of our research but because of the other areas in which we excelled,” said Prof Chang. “If we improve our research while maintaining those areas in which we already have an advantage, (all things being equal) our ranking could be even better.”
Prof Chang also stressed that the school's faculty penned 13 books in 2008, compared with 19 in 2009. Titles included classroom texts as well as commercial business guides. “Many schools in North America tend not to emphasise books, only the FT40 academic publications. But for the China market, publishing a book has more impact than academic papers,” explained Prof Chang. “In addition to our strong showing in FT40 publications, the impressive number of books written by our professors is also one of our strengths.” (Research papers available in the New Papers section of www.ceibs.edu/knowledge)
