ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some questions concerning the management and organization of business schools. For Herbert Simon, the goal of a business school is easily stated: 'The tasks of a business school are to train men (sic) for the practice of management as a profession, and to develop new knowledge that may be relevant to improving the operation of business'. From Simon's perspective, the goals of a university include both the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake and the application of knowledge to practical purposes. Organizing a professional school or an R&D department is very much like mixing oil with water. There is the very particular role given to academic management – pushing back against entropy, mixing oil and water, rubbing practical problems against theory and techniques. The kind of synthesis that Simon was seeking requires the 'lowering of barriers as a major goal' so as to create the right conditions for academic and professional development.
