罕見的務實的商學院院長

On many levels Susan Hart is a surprising business school dean. She is one of the few women to have made it to the top of a business school, to be sure, but the dean of the University of Strathclyde Business School, in Glasgow, also unashamedly pursues the practical alongside the academic.

從許多方面來看，位於格拉斯哥的斯特拉思克萊德大學商學院(University of Strathclyde Business School)的院長蘇珊•哈特(Susan Hart)都是一位令人驚訝的商學院院長。無可否認，她是爲數不多的成功升任一家商學院院長的女性之一，但在追求學術成就的同時，她也問心無愧地講求實際。

“We have a very clear policy that everything has to link with the world of practice,” says the ebullient marketing professor, now six years a dean. “If you are not connecting your students to the world of practice, you are doing something wrong.”

“我們有一項很明確的政策，就是一切都必須與現實世界相掛鉤，”這位熱情洋溢的市場營銷教授說。她現在已當了6年院長。她說：“如果你不讓學生跟現實世界相聯繫，你就錯了。”

The approach is perhaps unsurprising for a university in Scotland’s industrial heartland that has built its reputation on strengths in technology as well as entrepreneurship, and which also espouses the notion of “useful learning”.

斯特拉思克萊德大學採取這一策略或許並不出奇——它所在的格拉斯哥市是蘇格蘭的工業中心、憑藉在科技和創業方面的實力創下盛名，該大學也支持“有用學習”的觀念。

In practical terms this means Prof Hart spends time courting the support of a cadre of business executives to be academic fellows at the school. “We can’t make it the way business wants it to be unless they come and help us,” she reasons.

從現實角度而言，這意味着哈特教授會花費時間爭取公司高管的支持，讓他們成爲商學院的研究人員。“如果不請他們過來幫我們，我們就無法把學校辦成企業想要的樣子，”她解釋道。

Given that Prof Hart’s education and career have taken place almost entirely within the Scottish higher education system, she has an additional role that is perhaps unusual too – she is leader of international activities for the whole of Strathclyde University.

鑑於哈特教授的教育經歷和職業生涯幾乎完全侷限在蘇格蘭高等教育體系內，她的另外一個角色可能也是非同尋常的——她是斯特拉思克萊德大學所有國際活動的負責人。

However, even a rudimentary perusal of the business school’s teaching and research shows why. To begin with, the school runs programmes in nine countries. But more significantly, everything taught there is designed around an international agenda. This is as much a necessity for those entrepreneurs setting up their own businesses in Scotland’s largest city as is it for those who join the corporate world, says the garrulous dean.

然而，粗略瀏覽該商學院的教學和研究情況，就能看出其中原因。首先，該商學院在9個國家開展業務。但更引人注目的是，商學院的所有授課內容都是圍繞着一項國際議程設計的。這位健談的院長表示，這麼做對那些投身公司界的人、以及對那些在蘇格蘭大城市自行創業的人來說，都是同等必要的。

“We have students who have gone on to create small businesses, but the market is global, especially if the company is selling luxury and niche products,” she says. “If you’re a fashion designer, where do your fabrics come from? Even local companies will have influences and dependencies internationally.”

“我們的一些學生已向前一步，創立了小型企業，但市場是全球性的，尤其是如果他們的公司出售奢侈品或小衆產品的話。”她說，“如果你是一名時尚設計師，你的布料從哪裏來？即便是本地公司都會產生國際影響，並對國際市場產生依賴。”

When quizzed about what she would nominate as the school’s flagship programme, the dean is pensive and equivocal. Certainly the school has a strong undergraduate programme, she says, and it is increasingly successful in introducing specialised master’s degrees – Strathclyde will launch a global energy management degree in Abu Dhabi in 2015, and an MSc in leadership in sustainable cities next year as well.

當被追問她認爲學院的旗艦項目是什麼時，這位院長沉思了一會兒，然後做出了模棱兩可的回答。她表示，學院擁有實力很強的本科教育項目，推出的專業碩士學位教育項目也越來越成功——斯特拉思克萊德商學院將於2015年在阿布扎比(Abu Dhabi)推出一項全球能源管理學位教育項目，下一年還將推出一項可持續城市領導力方面的理科碩士(MS)項目。

The MBA has also been revamped and has changed dramatically in the past four years, according to the dean. General management has been updated with a technology focus and the careers office has moved up a gear.

這位院長稱，學院在過去4年裏也對MBA項目進行了大刀闊斧的調整與改革。學院按照以科技爲重心的原則對整個管理進行了改進，就業辦公室的工作也上了一個臺階。

But the biggest change has been the increased flexibility that has enabled MBA students to study in any of the nine countries where the school operates. The school is particularly strong in the Middle East, teaching in Bahrain, Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but also has facilities in Greece, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

但最大變化是增加了靈活性，使MBA學生可以在該學院分佈於九個國家的任何一個授課點參加學習。該學院在中東地區實力尤爲強大——授課地點有巴林、阿曼、迪拜和阿布扎比，不過它也在希臘、瑞士、新加坡、香港和馬來西亞授課。

“A part-time student in Glasgow can study a module in any of the other centres,” says Prof Hart – for example, learning about logistics in Dubai or Singapore. Online learning is also being introduced on all campuses.

“格拉斯哥的非全日制學生，可以參與其他任何一個授課點的課程學習，”哈特教授說，比如學習迪拜或新加坡的物流課程。所有分校園也都在引入在線授課方式。

This increased flexibility has been one of the hallmarks of Prof Hart’s tenure as dean, but she is swift to point out that an increased focus on research has also been central to her development of the school. Indeed, she was appointed dean in 2008 following a very successful stint as vice-dean for research at the business school. She insists, though, that it is academic research with a practical application.

一直以來，這種靈活性的提高已成爲哈特教授擔任院長的特色之一，但她迅速指出，學術研究也是她在學院發展方面的工作重點。事實上，她在2008年被任命爲院長，正是因爲此前她在擔任商學院負責研究的副院長時成績斐然。不過，她堅稱，她所注重的學術研究是結合實際應用的學術研究。