Thought Leadership
A Collaboration on the Movement to rethink marketing, branding and life.
By Jim Stengel
I firmly believe that collaborating and connecting with leading-edge academic leaders at great institutions will accelerate this movement.
Throughout my career I have enjoyed—and benefited from—multiple collaborations with the academic side of business. Many practitioners in business and marketing limit their collaboration with colleges and universities to recruiting, which, at its best, is a wonderful process, but is transactional in nature. Some of my best experiences have been in these areas:
- Inviting academics and students into our business at P&G to help solve problems and address challenges
- Collaborating on research and writing in a field of common interest
- Hosting on-site seminars among brand leaders and academics to discuss an emerging trend or capability
- Participating in industry groups and associations together
- Working together in a classroom environment
My plan for the future is to become part of the academic community—not as a full professor but, for starters, as a collaborator. This will be fertile ground for ideas, for dialogue, for inspiration and for research. I know I will gain enormously from this—in fact, I already am as I travel and meet leading academics to talk these concepts. I also hope to give back, through teaching, collaborating on research, and being part of a community to advance learning.
I am currently speaking with a number of Deans and Professors from institutions across North America, including Stanford, UCLA, Toronto, Penn State, Harvard and the University of Cincinnati, to explore possible academic avenues. And a few others, I might add! It is an experience, I believe, that holds great possibilities.
Watch this space for more news as this progresses...