A View From The Top: Deans on Australian Business Schools

Abstract

Australian business schools are often viewed by senior university managers as 'cash cows' because of their revenue‐raising capacity. However, a competing view has emerged that challenges their status as 'cash cows' and contends, instead, that business schools should focus on maximising 'public value' as a means to enhance their legitimacy. Using the analytic framework of 'public value,' a broad cross section of Australian business schools deans was interviewed. These interviews afforded a greater understanding of how the tensions inherent in these competing narratives are reconciled, and how they impact on the day‐to‐day management of business schools in Australia.