Robert J. Dolan (educator)
Robert J. Dolan was the dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
A professor of marketing, he was a chaired faculty member and administrator at Harvard Business School for 21 years. His major research interests are product policy and pricing. He has published widely on these topics in such journals as the Bell Journal of Economics, European Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business, Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, and Sales and Marketing Management
Dean Dolan earned a Ph.D. and an M.S. in management at the University of Rochester and a B.A. magna cum laude in mathematics from Boston College.
Dolan is author or co-author of eight books and numerous case studies. His Managing the New Product Development Process (Addison-Wesley), based on research to develop the New Product Development course in the MBA Program at Harvard, has been adopted at a number of leading business schools. A recent book, Power Pricing: How Managing Price Transforms the Bottom Line (Free Press), was developed for practitioners. Drawing on research and consulting experiences with firms worldwide, the book sets out a program for proactive management of prices for superior profitability. His case studies and notes, published by Harvard Business School, address a wide range of companies and issues, including Black and Decker, BMW, Henkel Corporation, L’Oreal, and Eastman Kodak. More than one million copies of these materials have been sold to date.
A frequent lecturer and consultant, he assists a wide variety of clients on issues of product policy and pricing. He has testified on marketing issues in a number of major litigations and has served on the boards of directors of several publicly traded companies including Knoll Inc., a leading office furniture manufacturer and Precise Software Inc.
As dean, Dolan has broadened and deepened the Business School’s distinctive capability to combine scholarly theory with practical application. This commitment to action-based learning shapes all aspects of the school’s educational offerings. This key component of the school’s strategy develops the leadership capability of students as well as their analytical skills. Combined with a consistent dedication to innovation, this distinguishes the school as a world-class institution for management education.
Leadership highlights
In 2003, the Business School opened the Tozzi Center, a $2 million, 5,800-square-foot (540 m2) state-of-the-art learning facility that uses wireless technology to support action-based learning. The center includes a new financial analysis and trading floor classroom, a flexible and wireless electronic classroom, and an E-lab seminar room. It is equipped with the up-to-the-minute financial data feeds, information services, and research and trading tools to allow students to experience the look and feel of a trading floor environment.
Dolan also instituted an updated graphic identity for the school, including a new brand mark, color palette and typography. The school adopted the strategic positioning statement – “Leading in thought and action.” Dolan said the statement “communicates in a single, clear voice the school’s distinct strengths to the world.”
Under his management, the School repositioned its executive education strategy to focus open-enrollment programs on three key areas: general management, leadership development, and strategic human resource management.
