New academic departments to be added to Notre Dame’s business school

For the first time in more than 60 years, the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame is adding a new academic department to its organization.

In fact, the College functionally is adding two new departments as a result of restructuring its current management department, announced Roger Huang, Martin J. Gillen Dean of the Mendoza College, on Friday. The new departments are the Department of Management and Organization, and the Department of Information Technology, Analytics and Operations.

The reason for restructuring is to represent more accurately the nine disciplines that fall under the “management” umbrella, said Huang.

“At present, the department is comprised of a broad array of disciplines under the single ‘management’ nomenclature, which paints very distinct areas of teaching and research with too broad of a brush,” said Huang. “It’s critical that our organizational structure appropriately recognizes the emergence of information technology and business analytics as distinct and substantive areas of knowledge and associated skillsets.”

The restructuring process will be initiated immediately, and will involve realignments of the full-time members of the management faculty into the appropriate department according to their areas of research and teaching.

Management Department Chair Robert Easley will become the chair of the Department of Information Technology, Analytics, and Operations.

“We have had an unusually large number of disciplines combined in one department for some time,” said Easley. “We've all gotten along well despite these differences, but it has been challenging at times to unify around strategic initiatives. The faculty are now energized to find that their research and teaching will play a more prominent role in the new, more focused departments.”

Professor Craig Crossland was named as the chair of the Department of Management and Organization.

"It's an honor and a privilege to be named chair of the Management and Organization Department,” said Crossland. “Although our previous department was both collegial and highly successful, we think the creation of two new departments will help us to better serve students and faculty by focusing on our own respective core strengths.”

Students enrolled in the current management programs, majors, minors and concentrations at the undergraduate and graduate levels will complete their studies as planned.

The new Department of Management and Organization will house the research disciplines of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Communications. It will continue to offer the current undergraduate Management Consulting major, as well as the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Minor.

The faculty in the new Department of IT, Analytics and Operations are researchers in the areas of Information Systems, Business Analytics and Operations Management. This department will house the current undergraduate IT Management major and manage the area of business analytics in the College’s Master of Science programs, as well as in the Notre Dame MBA. In fall 2017, the department will introduce a new Business Analytics major for undergraduates.

USA Today recently named Notre Dame as No. 1 on its list of “2016 Top 10 Colleges for Degrees in Management Information Systems,” a ranking of universities offering the management IT programs that provide excellent outcomes to students, including high graduation rates and high starting salaries.

The Mendoza College of Business, founded in 1921, is a premier Catholic business school that fosters academic excellence while promoting business as a force for good in society. Mendoza degree programs include top-ranked Undergraduate Studies, as well as seven graduate business degrees: Notre Dame MBA, Executive MBA, Master of Science in Accountancy, Master of Science in Business Analytics, Master of Science in Finance, Master of Science in Management and the Master of Nonprofit Administration. The College also offers custom and open-enrollment program in executive education and nonprofit administration.