ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights a range of critical incidents that business school deans experience during their tenures. Significant events challenge a dean’s sense of composure, identity, organizational legitimacy and the role of business schools and businesses in society. The chapter explores how deans deal effectively and ethically with critical incidents to gain and sustain legitimacy and impact. It considers four types of critical incidents: rare unforeseen external events (e.g., terrorism); archetypal situations (e.g., annual budgeting); typical events (everyday encounters and routines); and internal shocks (e.g., fraud). These incidents have various levels of intensity, significance, frequency and outcomes. By reflecting on unique, real-life, critical incidents discussed in semi-structured interviews, the chapter illustrates multiple events and stakeholders at different levels and in different circumstances that have the potential to surprise, shock and distract deans from their core strategic priorities. Importantly, nuanced insights gained from business school deans dealing with critical incidents provide powerful examples of morally responsible business school leadership.
