Mission-Based Management

How is mission-based management different from traditional management systems?

Mission-based management represents a significant enhancement of traditional management tools and methods. While MBM embodies distinctive elements of a management philosophy, it is sufficiently flexible and adaptable to complement different organizations and leadership styles.

• Differences in management
• Differences in budgeting
• Differences in collaboration and team work

Differences in Management

Traditional Management

Department-Based Management — The school is organized and operated with heavy reliance on individual departmental units, based on the assumption that what is best for the department will ultimately be best for the organization. Department chairs make major decisions somewhat autonomously, often negotiating favorable arrangements with the dean or hospital director without explicit reference to the impact on other organizational units or the school as a whole. Department chairs have considerable discretion in spending surplus funds within their budget. This "eat-what-you-kill" model can be beneficial in rewarding faculty for productivity and entrepreneurial initiative.

Mission-Based Management

Institution-Focused Management — Mission-based management preserves the essential elements of department-based management, while elevating the perspective of faculty leadership so that they are able to understand and explicitly deal with the well being of the whole school. Faculty leadership participate in a process of developing recommendations that specify institutional, financial, and productivity goals, the accumulation and use of reserves, the application of assessments to various revenue streams, strategies for funding academic priorities, guidelines for unfunded research, and policies related to faculty compensation and bonuses. Once its recommendations have been approved, this faculty leadership group holds the school and its leaders accountable for achieving and complying with performance expectations and guidelines.

Differences in Budgeting

Traditional Management

Non-Standardized Information — Department chairs have to integrate information from disparate sources, including the university, hospital, group practice, school, and department in order to compile the financial and productivity reports needed to manage. School-wide budgets and financial reports are a "roll-up" of departmental information, making it difficult to integrate basic revenue, cost, and productivity information for the whole institution. A lack of standardized accounting policies and practices across departments, combined with a range of business capabilities within departments, make it even more challenging to develop a complete picture of the school's performance by mission, and by program or department. When they exist, reports that track faculty productivity are generally housed within the department, whereas information capturing clinical revenues, courses taught, grants received, and publications can be either department-based or centralized within the dean's office.

Mission-Based Management

Mission-Based Reporting — School-wide budgets, financial reporting tools, and faculty productivity reports are developed using a standardized template. Faculty and administrative leadership groups participate in developing these reporting tools to measure mission-based activities. These tools allow for customized methods of measuring and tracking diverse mission-centered activities, while integrating information from all sources to produce consistent performance tracking reports at three levels: the school, each department, and the individual faculty member. Methods for compiling and integrating information are defined and automated to ensure timely, accurate reports. These reports are then made available to departmental leaders and the dean's office, to manage productivity and evaluate financial performance.

Differences in Collaboration and Team Work

Traditional Management

Academic Collaboration — An open exchange of ideas, information, and documentation, along with peer collaboration, are hallmarks of a productive academic environment. Under these conditions, creativity and the rigorous application of science foster both the development of people and the advancement of learning. Individuals draw upon one another, stimulating new avenues for exploration and personal growth.

Mission-Based Management

Management Collaboration — Mission-based management extends collaborative techniques into the realm of departmental and school management. Recognizing that chairs do not all come into their positions with the same management capabilities, mission-based management provides a supportive but demanding environment in which peers share, coach, challenge, and hold each other accountable. In turn, chairs receive tools and techniques for counseling faculty and identifying concrete approaches to improving both individual and departmental productivity. Performance information is shared among faculty leadership across departments, providing a foundation for candid discussion, better understanding, broader collaboration, and growing trust.

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