In the academic realm, university rankings are one of those … topics. If your ranking is terrific, these mercurial metrics take on the gravitas of words carved in stone. If your ranking slips just a little, year over year, then the new facts are regarded with the proverbial grain of salt and a shrug.
If, however, after a concerted strategy and effort to demonstrate distinction and student success over the past two years, there is a dramatic improvement in these rankings, then it’s time for a bit of a celebration.
With that, we have some incredible news to share: the College of Business accounting faculty has achieved a no. 1 global ranking in their research.
The Brigham Young University Accounting Rankings for Universities, which tracks the research of all 803 universities in the world that have accounting programs has released its 2017 list. Its ranking system is based on publications in top accounting journals. Our faculty are no. 1 in the world for experimental research in accounting information systems and no. 8 for experimental financial accounting.
The BYU rankings are the gold standard for all accounting disciplines, and our rapid ascent from positioning in the mid-range or top third globally to the pinnacle comes in large part to the recent hiring of two standout research faculty, Ania and Jake Rose. The Roses joined College of Business faculty in the fall, and the couple now share the top rank in experimental accounting research.
"We anticipated that the accounting department could move into the top 10 in some categories this year," said Jake Rose, professor of accounting. "But we are delighted to see a top ranking, and solid movement in other categories as well. This attests to the strength of the faculty team we are building here at Oregon State."
Ania and Jake’s experimental accounting research uses insights from behavioral sciences to understand financial decisions and communications. For example, they study the decision-making of corporate directors, auditors, investors and others in order to help businesses make better decisions and improve processes. If you’ve heard of big data — this research is leveraging big data to help improve financial reporting and decision-making.
Additionally, our supply chain management faculty have broken into the global Top 30. The annual Supply Chain Management (SCM) Journal list governed by the SCM Congress ranks schools based on research output in top-tier supply chain management and operations journals. In 2017, the College of Business ranks 28th in the world for empirical supply chain research, an improvement from its rank of 60 in 2015. [Ed. note: Just in, the 2018 ranking released in March moves us to 25th!)
"Our faulty research areas encompass complexity, supply networks analysis, revenue-yield management in retail and e-commerce sectors, and sustainable food systems, said Zhaohui Wu, professor and program director for supply chain management. "And we benefit from collaborating with this region's strong industry partners including Intel, Netrush, Country Natural Beef, Burgerville, Starbucks, Kettle Foods, Mercy Corps, The Collins Company, HP, New Seasons, and Whole Foods, among others.
Wu points out that the supply chain management faculty also collaborate with many faculty around the globe, delivering research seminars in universities in North America, the European Union and the Pacific Rim.
Not to be left off this year’s all-star list, the College of Business management faculty are breaking into upper range percentiles. The Texas A&M/University of Georgia Rankings of Management Department Research Productivity ranks management faculty in U.S. business schools based on publications in eight top-tier management journals. Our management faculty are ranked 30th (out of 150) ― tied with the University of Arizona, University of Illinois and Auburn University. When faculty size is taken into account, the OSU management faculty rank 16th in the nation ― tied with University of Colorado. For our management faculty, this is a steady march forward, moving from 46th in 2016 and 57th in 2015.
Associate Professor Keith Leavitt, the Amundson Faculty Scholar in Ethics and management program director, attributes the group’s success to its principle to build a team based on creativity.
“We’ve hired people who have really interesting ideas — people can get better at research methods, the publication process over time, but deep curiosity is harder to develop,” Leavitt said.
“We also looked for people who described their time as the most important resource for their research. The people in our group are especially adept at figuring out how to conduct excellent research in the most resourceful ways possible,” Leavitt said. He adds that the best academic journals have a rejection rate greater than 90 percent, so they are prepared to be supportive and happy for the group successes.
Once again, we are proud of our online partner, Ecampus, that delivers our online business degrees. This year, we are ranked 6th on the U.S. News & World Report ranking, making this our fourth straight appearance in the Top 10.
“We are excited to see our academic programs and hard-working faculty earning the global recognition that they deserve,” said Mitzi Montoya, Sara Hart Kimball Dean of the College of Business. “The rankings are direct reflections of the kind of academic rigor that help prepare our students to be the highly analytical, innovative and enterprising business leaders of tomorrow.”
In addition to the importance of excellent faculty who publish in impactful peer-reviewed journals, the success of students contributes to a college’s positioning in the list. Metrics on student retention, timely graduation, and job success after graduation are indicators of a successful college. Our programs that support the first-year and second-year experiences, entrepreneurship, networking and soft skills (e.g., Innovation Nation, InnovationX, and Fridays in Austin) are designed to boost our students, first and foremost, but will positively impact the college, too.
