The Sad Truth Behind A Rankings Scandal At The Bloch School of Management

Michael Song was executive director of Bloch's entrepreneurship center when the false numbers were reported

Michael Song was executive director of Bloch’s entrepreneurship center when the false numbers were reported

‘I CANNOT CONCLUDE THE INACCURATE DATA MADE A MATERIAL DIFFERENCE’

The investigation, however, disclosed major shifts in three data points going back several years from at least 2011 to 2013–until the articles published by the Kansas City Star last year. “While I conclude that inaccurate data was submitted to the Princeton Review for three subject matter areas, I cannot conclude that the inaccurate data made a material difference in UMKC’s rankings,” wrote Hisrich. “The Princeton Review Board (PRB) does not disclose its rankings methodology and declined to recalculate the previous rankings based on revised data. And recent submissions of UMKC using more conservative data resulted in UMKC remaining in the top 25 universities in the Princeton Review Rankings.”

Hisrich did conclude that the $32 million gift in 2011 from Henry Bloch was not motivated by past and future rankings but primarily by the need for a new facility to accommodate increasing enrollment. The school was named after the benefactor in 2010, a year after Princeton Review first ranked Bloch’s graduate program in entrepreneurship 25th in the U.S. In the year that Bloch made his gift, in 2011, Princeton Review ranked the school’s undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs higher, 14th and 21st, respectively. In 2012, the Bloch School’s rankings improved yet again, to 12th in undergrad and 19th in graduate. A year later, in 2013, Princeton Review ranked Bloch’s undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship programs 11th and 20th.

It was in years 2011, 2012 and 2013 that the data was, in the words of Hisrich, “misstated” or “flawed.”

HISRICH FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH AN ARTICLE CLAIMING BLOCH IS AHEAD OF HARVARD, STANFORD & MIT IN INNOVATION MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

One other issue was explored by the independent review based on allegations in the Kansas City Star articles. It concerned the publication of an academic study in 2011 in the Journal of Product Innovation Management that ranked the Bloch school ahead of Harvard, Stanford, MIT and other elite universities in innovation management research. That is a hot area in business these days because it is the study of how entrepreneurs turn ideas into thriving companies.

The study, however, was written by two Chinese authors who were visiting scholars at the Bloch School when the paper was written. The relationship between the university and the authors was undisclosed when the study was published. When it came out, the university wasted no time promoting the news. It crowed about the achievement in a news release, and the university chancellor even appeared at a formal announcement of the ranking, telling a crowd of people, ““Oh my, have we made a big score.”

Hisrich, however, concluded that “the circumstances surrounding the publication of the JPIM article and the methodology employed were consistent with generally acceptable professional practices.”

CHANGES IMPLEMENTED TO “IMPROVE DATA COLLECTION”

According to Hisrich’s report, “The article in the JPIM was considered a Perspectives paper and its review followed the procedure of the JPIM for this type of paper – acceptance by editor, copy editing, return to authors for edits, and then the usual proofreading and edits until the article was ready to print. When concerns about the article occurred, an independent review was performed by the JPIM by enlisting the services of three anonymous reviewers with expertise in both the publication and innovation management space. The three reviewers independently felt that the article as submitted was correctly accepted as a Perspectives paper in the journal.

Famous entrepreneur Henry Bloch stands behind the beleaguered business school that bears his name

Famous entrepreneur Henry Bloch stands behind the beleaguered business school that bears his name

“There was no evidence uncovered that the UMKC Professor and Director of IEI influenced the research design of the article and his involvement including commenting on a draft of the article and introducing the authors and the article to the editor of the journal are standard procedures followed by many academics in assisting visiting foreign scholars submitting articles to U.S. academic journals. Once a research design is determined, the results of a counting procedure employed would be obtained by anyone employing the methodology. While it would have been informative for the two Chinese authors to indicate their affiliation with UMKC as visiting professors, overall, the circumstances surrounding the submission, review and acceptance of the JPIM article and the methodology of the study were consistent with generally acceptable professional practices.”

“I am pleased to have the Bloch School’s No. 1 ranking in innovation management research validated, but I take seriously the report’s conclusions on the three areas of flawed data in the Princeton Review application,” said Chancellor Leo Morton in a statement. “We have already implemented changes and will continue to seek ways to improve our data collection.”

BLOCH: ‘THIS REPORT SHOULD PUT THIS MATTER TO REST ONCE AND FOR ALL’

Chancellor Morton said current Bloch School Dean David Donnelly has already made changes to the way the data was collected and reported this year. In addition, Morton said the Bloch School will appoint a special faculty committee to oversee the processes involved in any rankings submissions going forward.

In a statement released by the school, Henry Bloch expressed appreciation for the thoroughness of the independent review. “I am grateful to Gov. Nixon for insisting that an independent expert be brought in to bring the truth to light,” he said. “Dr. Hisrich’s credentials and credibility are such that this report should put this matter to rest once and for all.”

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