08-28-2025
As part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at building the future of business, the Daniels School of Business has transitioned into nine newly defined departments — an ambitious move that underscores the school’s commitment to market responsiveness, business and STEM specialization, and leadership excellence. As head of the Strategic Management Department, I am energized by the group’s alignment with the school’s core strategic goal.
There are a lot of opportunities on the research and teaching front including concentrations in Management Consulting and Innovation Management, areas where technology adoption and business model transformation are central. The department isn’t stopping at strategy. It also now includes Business Law and Ethics, creating a multidisciplinary platform for students to grapple with both the practical and ethical demands of a tech-driven business world.
We’re forging a collaborative, innovative culture for the department’s faculty. The Strategy group has a very informal culture centered around our research-oriented workshops and a common focus on ideas in the field. Meanwhile, the Business Law and Ethics group takes pride in both teaching excellence and innovation in the scholarship of teaching and learning. This dynamic, open environment encourages faculty and students to question, experiment and advance how business is taught and practiced.
Looking ahead to the next year, the department has set three ambitious goals:
These programs are designed with the ecosystem in mind. Each leverages expertise across technology, business planning and legal frameworks, preparing students to lead in rapidly evolving markets.
Success will be twofold: growing enrollment in majors and the new MS program, and achieving research excellence, especially in strategic management and innovation domains. Student excitement and engagement are key metrics, but so, too, is faculty research impact, measured by scholarly publication and innovation.
The department is uniquely poised to address the “AI Moment” and broader digital transformation trends. A lot of the excitement in AI involves thinking of revisions in business plans to use AI tools effectively.
Courses are designed not only to address current activities but also to empower students to reimagine workflows — and invent new ways to deliver value. The integration of Business Law and Ethics ensures that students consider not only what is possible with technology, but also what is responsible and sustainable.
One of the core strengths of the Strategic Management Department lies in its adaptability. Teaching in this field centers on change, whether environmental, technological or organizational. Project-based courses connect students with real-world consulting and engineering projects, ensuring that theory links directly to practice.
Very few business schools have the explicit mission to focus on integrating STEM and business education. It is exciting to see what our faculty enthusiastically pursues to accomplish this mission. The new, focused structure empowers faculty to pioneer our innovative courses, new majors and interdisciplinary collaborations.
We are offering students a diverse array of innovative, hands-on learning opportunities. Recent curriculum enhancements include a new course in Innovation Management and an established Technology Strategy course within the Master of Business Technology program. We also are planning an important course on AI in Business Transformation. Entrepreneurship courses at both undergraduate and master’s levels empower students to explore business plans for launching their own ventures, while project-based courses support the Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) and Master of Business Technology programs through consulting management and technology commercialization projects.
This multidisciplinary approach ensures that students gain practical experience at the intersection of business strategy, technology, and innovation. It’s one more way that the Daniels School is not only keeping pace with change — we’re setting the standard for what the future of business education can achieve.
Tom Brush is head of the Department of Strategic Management and a Professor of Management in Strategic Management at the Daniels School of Business. He earned his PhD in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Michigan, where his dissertation won the 1991 Free Press Award for Outstanding Research in Business Policy and Strategy. Before Purdue, he served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and was a Visiting Research Scholar at IBM’s Watson Research Center. His research focuses on corporate and manufacturing strategy, outsourcing and digital integration. He has published extensively in top management journals and consulted for major firms, including IBM and Dow Corning.
