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Center for Effective Organizations

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CEO Turns 30!

Setting the Standard in Organizational Effectiveness Research

 

Thirty years later, USC Marshall's Center for Effective Organizations is still blazing a trail

By Jeremy Deutchman

When Ed Lawler arrived at USC Marshall in 1978, he had no way of knowing his career choice would shape an entire discipline. Drawn by the school's entrepreneurial spirit, Lawler fit perfectly with a vibrant and dynamic academic culture that emphasized leadership and encouraged innovation. It was an environment that supported his vision of a unique center for the study of organizational effectiveness, one that fused cutting-edge research with a practical goal - helping companies function better. Within a few short months, Lawler had transformed his vision into reality: In 1979, he founded the Center for Effective Organizations (CEO), bringing together researchers and executives to explore critical issues in organizational management.

Thirty years later, CEO is the longest-running center of its kind, and is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading management research organizations. Attracting top scholars and key business partners from around the globe, the Center has developed an international reputation for research that influences management practice and makes important contributions to academic research and theory.

Lawler attributes CEO's longevity and success, in part, to the Center's focus. "We study the key things that you would expect an organization to do, the challenges they face and the determinants of how they function," he says. "It's a flexible umbrella that doesn't limit us, and that's given us the freedom to look at a wide range of important issues." Its flexibility has enabled CEO to evolve with the field, increasing its offering of seminars and conferences, producing more knowledge, growing corporate sponsorships and expanding the scope of its research. Lawler cites a current example: "Today, we are more concerned with sustainability issues - how being in a 'green' world changes organizations," he says.

At the heart of CEO's work is a recognition that theory and research can offer tangible benefits that improve and help organizations operate more effectively. The Center's approach distinguishes it from the crop of competitors created in its wake. Unlike consulting firms, which "don't do research to a standard that would be credible in academic circles," and most academic institutions, which "focus on getting research published in scientific journals," CEO bridges the gap between theory and practice. "Our suggestions for practice," says Lawler, "come out of our research base."

Encouraging businesses to implement CEO's research results is not always easy. "Our track record is good, though not 100 percent," says Lawler, which is not unexpected given the many obstacles to change which exist: "Change is difficult. Most organizations are built not to do it." And yet, for businesses, a willingness - or reluctance - to embrace new realities can often make the difference between success and failure. As Lawler points out, "The business world is changing rapidly. If you don't change with it, you run the risk of being another Chrysler or General Motors."

Developing the ability of organization's to view change not as a threat, but an opportunity continues to fuel Lawler's passion for his work. As he sees it, meaningful research does not take place in a vacuum. "I like writing, but I want it be impactful and for people to use it," he says. And CEO provides him "an environment where I get to do both." The Center's diverse programmatic offerings reflect these dual interests. This coming December, for example, CEO will host a conference on useful research, bringing together about 30 distinguished academics and leading practitioners to look at the interface between research and practice.

The conference highlights a clear strategic advantage of CEO's approach to the study of organizational effectiveness: its emphasis on achieving results by actively involving companies as research partners. Hearing first?hand from practitioners - the people on the front lines of organizational change - provides a vital window into their needs, informing CEO's research and ultimately yielding practical, data?based knowledge that improves a company's effectiveness. The Center's corporate partners, who through their affiliation help sponsor CEO's work, also benefit from access to a peer group that includes a who's who of influential global businesses, from Boeing to PepsiCo to Microsoft, allowing them to share best practices and discuss issues of pressing concern.

Today, the number of those concerns is growing. Unprecedented disruptions to the global economy have made CEO's research findings even more valuable as companies look for ways to stay competitive. At the same time, the financial crisis has presented the Center with its own set of challenges. "We're directly affected by what's going on," says Lawler. The Center's principal revenue streams - executive seminars, sponsorships and research projects - are all tied to the broader economy. "The top things companies cut in bad times are travel, memberships, training and people; that affects us on every level." Yet, Lawler also sees what is happening as an enormous opportunity to expand its research. The crisis, he observes, raises a number of new issues, including how organizations handle cost reductions, how cost reductions affect human capital and whether, in the current atmosphere, organizations are making the right decisions.

It is Lawler's talent for identifying opportunities to do useful research that has made him a leading authority in the fields of human resources management, compensation, organizational development and organizational effectiveness. The author of more than 40 books and a consultant to governments and corporations around the world, including the majority of the Fortune 100, his work continues to earn him countless honors. BusinessWeek has named Lawler one of the top six gurus in the field of management, and Workforce magazine has identified him as one of the 25 visionaries who have shaped today's workplace over the past century. For someone who has dedicated his career to straddling the worlds of theory and practice, it is perhaps not surprising that the most gratifying part of the remarkable accolades he has received is that they come from both academics and practitioners, including the American Psychological Association, the Academy of Management, the Society for Human Resource Management and USC, which has named him a Distinguished Professor.

As CEO celebrates its 30th anniversary, Lawler marvels at its ongoing impact. "The Center has gotten bigger, and lasted longer, than I ever expected," he says, proudly pointing out that CEO has "produced more articles and books" than any of its competitors worldwide. If history is any guide, it is a level of impact that CEO, and Lawler, will continue to have for many years to come.

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