UConn Professor #1 in World in Strategic Management Research

Michael Lubatkin, who holds the Thomas John and Bette Wolff Family Chair in Strategic Entrepreneurship, is Professor and Ackerman Scholar of Management. He has been named the most prolific scholar from among 3,000 professors of Strategic Management in the world, according to a global study conducted by researchers at Arizona State University. Based on research published in the six most prestigious Management journals, Professor Lubatkin was ranked second over the last ten years (with one less article than the top-ranked researcher), but with respect to the most recent three years, he ranked number one by a large margin.

 "I guess I'm just a blue-collar scholar," Lubatkin commented. "I really do believe in the old adage that creativity is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. You have to be willing to sweat it out sometimes, and I've been fortunate in perspiring in the correct directions. Incidentally, I probably also have more rejections than any other Management professor in the world." Hard work is a hallmark for Lubatkin. He's often in his office at 4:00 a.m., even on weekends, "though I tend to go home after a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays," he smiled. "I came to understand that routine is important to me. There's a big start-up cost on Mondays if I don't give at least a few hours over the weekend to thinking and writing. Also, I like to go home without any books, and this work strategy allows for that."

Much of his research has come from bridging the techniques and strategies of different disciplines. His first recognition came from winning the 1983 dissertation award from the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management for research that applied theories of management and strategy to the financial arena of mergers and shareholder wealth. "I rarely follow a mainstream approach. I'm always looking to bring the intellectual thrust of different disciplines, anything from cognitive psychology, economics, or anthropology, to strategic issues. What excites me is to look at the interfaces between various streams of thought."

His research strategy has been very successful. He has learned the importance of seizing an intellectual "first-mover advantage," and therefore attributes his success not so much to finding the right answers, but rather in knowing the right questions to ask. "I try to practice what I teach," Lubatkin explained. "If I'm involved with a project for months or years, I own a kind of core understanding of the research that gives me a head start on new ideas that that project might generate." He has received global recognition for his research, including three regional and two international awards, as well as serving as President of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management in 1996/97.

Teaching is also very important to Lubatkin. He teaches regularly in UConn's MBA program, as well as in graduate programs in Sweden, France, and Israel. "The rewards of research are wonderful, but long-term in nature. The more instantaneous rewards are in the classroom. I was originally an elementary school teacher, so the love of the classroom has been with me for a long time. I try to bring a fresh approach to my classes. I always rework my teaching notes for each class just to breathe some freshness and excitement into the material. Also, I've become more and more interested in the mentoring process, working in collaboration with my younger colleagues, where I can use my experience to help them in the early stages of their careers."

Professor Lubatkin's achievements in research and in the classroom are highly regarded. Management Department Chairman Jack Veiga commented, "We're extremely pleased and proud to have Mike as a colleague. His work has really helped put our department and the Business School on the map nationally and globally." Dean Thomas Gutteridge agrees: "It's because of the efforts of faculty like Mike Lubatkin that we have received such positive recognition for our research work. His achievements greatly advance us toward our goal of becoming a nationally top-ranked program. So, what does the future hold for Lubatkin? More of the same, it seems: "I've been at UConn since 1983. I like it here. I have a very understanding department head and a very supportive dean who both trust me enough to let me go in my own direction. In addition, my colleagues are wonderful and celebrate in each other's successes. I have more interesting papers in process right now than at any other time in my career. You know, when I first started in this profession, I was motivated by a fear of being average. Now fear is no longer my motivation; it's love of the game." A game, that by all indicators, Michael Lubatkin is at the very top of.

MBA@uconn: Developing Leaders for a Technilogical World, Summer 2000 Newsletter, UConnMBA@sba.uconn.edu.