On this episode of Deans Counsel, hosts Ken Kring and Dave Ikenberry welcome back to the podcast François Ortalo-Magné, Executive Dean (External Relations) and Professor of Management Practice in Economics and Strategy & Entrepreneurship at London Business School. He served as the School's ninth Dean from 2017 to 2024, leading it through the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical upheaval, and the sustained pressures facing global higher education. Before that, he was Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business, leading the school and university through a period of significant institutional innovation. Across sixteen years in senior leadership and sixteen years as a professor of economics, he has developed a distinctive perspective: rigorous academic research combined with operational accountability under pressure.

That combination now shapes his work with students, senior executives, and boards. François helps leaders make better decisions under pressure — not through generic frameworks, but by bringing academic research in economics, psychology, and the humanities to bear on the specific, high-stakes problems they face. His approach is grounded in three questions: How do we frame this decision clearly? How do we strengthen the decision process? How do we live with the consequences — including the need for healing and repair?

Francois addresses those questions, as well as such topics as:

- The linkage between research and brand value

- The different aspects of scholarship

- Linking teaching to research funding

- Addressing the headwinds of stakeholders

- Sage advice to deans

Learn more about François Ortalo-Magné.

Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note.

Thanks for listening.

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Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts

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DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership.

James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019)

David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016)

Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry

DeansCounsel.com