Final Word:
Why I Do What I Do

James Fredrickson
Tom E. Nelson, Jr. Regents Professor of Business, Department of Management

Being an academic provides an unrivaled combination of independence and intellectual challenge, along with the chance to interact with great students in the classroom.

Research is a critical part of our responsibility as academics. For me, research is about solving interesting and important problems, and in my area of strategic management, they are problems that affect entire organizations and how they perform.

Mostly, I study what top executives do. I find this research intriguing because these executives can have a profound impact—positive or negative—on their organizations. And in contemporary society, business organizations have a tremendous effect on all of us. When they are well managed, businesses can go far beyond providing a product or a service or a return to shareholders; they can enrich and improve our lives.

I like to tell my students that truly great companies are great because of the values they perpetuate. I really don’t care if they give to this charity or that, but I care deeply about the values expressed in the quality of their products and services, how they treat their suppliers and employees and so on. I see the job of running them successfully as a noble undertaking.

As far as teaching is concerned, I am in my 26th year as a professor, and teaching is no less important to me today than it was when I started. I like the challenge, I like the interaction and I love the result when a class session goes well. Moreover, since I am primarily a case teacher, I thrive on directing the collaboration that takes place in a classroom setting.

It is very heartening when a student takes the time to tell me that what they learned in my class was helpful in getting a job or that something I said led them to rethink their priorities. Of course, especially gratifying is when I see a former student years later and they indicate that my course was substantively useful in their career and life.