For his last episode as host of the podcast before transitioning the hosting duties, Matt sits down with incoming interim dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Brent Williams, to discuss the future of the Walton College and Brent's experience that has prepared him for this role. They begin the episode with Brent discussing his broad range of experiences at the Walton College and Matt and Brent's relationship for 20+ years that began with Brent as a Walton College student. They then move into a discussion around the future of the Walton College and what Brent's focus will be. Brent hopes to instill in students at the College a mindset of solving business problems at the intersection of technology, data, people and processes to prepare them for the future. Brent also shares details of the Walton College's strategic plan that was recently revised with an emphasis on developing the student experience, growing graduate programs, and increasing research impact. He also discusses the College's connectivity throughout the state of Arkansas, our unique connection with industry and how the optimism in Northwest Arkansas acts as a tailwind for the College.
Episode Transcript
Brent Williams 0:00
When our students are solving business problems, they're managing their leading, they're
solving business problems. They're trying to innovate within a company. I think they've
got to do that at an intersection of, of technology, data, people and process.
Matt Waller 0:10
Excellence, professionalism, innovation, and collegiality. These are the values the
Sam M. Walton College of Business explores in education, business, and the lives of
people we meet every day. I'm Matt Waller, Dean of the Walton College, and welcome
to the be epic podcast. I have with me today, Brent Williams, who is the interim dean
of the Sam M. Walton College of Business. And he has been with the University of Arkansas
for many years. He actually got his master's degree from the University of Arkansas,
in logistics and supply chain. And then he got his PhD in 2008, from the University
of Arkansas, and then he went to TCU, Texas Christian school, university, which is
the Neeley School of Business. And then he was at Auburn University. And then he came
here to the Walton College once again, back in 2011. He has also served as chair of
the department of supply chain management, he served as interim Chair of the Department
of Marketing, Associate Dean, and now interim dean. So Brent from being a master student
to a PhD student to lots of different administrative positions and faculty positions,
including in two different departments. And then associate dean, you've had a wide
range of responsibilities in your, in your career here. So you're, you're you're very
well prepared to be interim dean. But thank you for letting me interview you.
Brent Williams 2:06
Well, thanks for having me. And a lot of that opportunity to get a real broad set
of experiences is due to you. You've always allowed me the ability to try new things
and and be a part of the new initiatives that we're taking on so you deserve most
of the credit for that.
Matt Waller 2:24
Well, I have to say, I always look for people who are high performers and have lots
of ability and deliver. And you have done that the entire time I've known you going
back 20 years.
Brent Williams 2:39
I know.
Matt Waller 2:40
Can you believe it? No, I remember clearly still to this day, when you and Jennifer
came to my office considering getting a master's degree.
Brent Williams 2:51
And and and you still let me in after that after that conversation.
Matt Waller 2:58
That was really it was it was clear to me that you would be a great choice. I I actually
was already thinking at that point. I think I even told Suzanne, afterwards that I
thought you would be a good professor so.
Brent Williams 3:14
Well, you are right, that, you know, it's kind of rare, particularly in one institution,
I have, you know, been at a couple of other institutions. But to get to be a student,
to be a faculty member, to be a department chair, to be Associate Dean, senior associate
dean and now interim dean. That's, that's pretty rare to get to see an organization
from that many dimensions.
Matt Waller 3:40
Yeah. And, of course, working together over the years. I mean, I have brought you
into my most strategic endeavors everywhere. I mean, even when you were a student,
and we worked on the big project with General Mills and Walmart, you were the one
really doing the work and from the very beginning,
Brent Williams 4:06
Well, I've I've loved those challenges, but it's been particularly fun to work with
you. And in some ways this change is going to be a really big change for probably
both of us. We've worked very, very closely together for 20 years.
Matt Waller 4:20
Absolutely. Well, and you also have helped a lot with the accreditation of the college,
the strategic planning. You've led these things, but you've also taken leadership
roles in the founding of the McMillon Innovation Studio. And if you're listening,
you don't know what that is. You should look it up. It's an amazing offering that
we have. We also have Walton College at 2nd and Main in downtown Little Rock where
we offer exec ed. You headed that up. And you've done many other things but in addition
to that, You've been a great researcher, you've published in top journals like Journal
of Business Logistics, Journal of Pperations Management, Production Operations Management,
Decision Sciences, and other top journals in our field. So again, you've done so much
to prepare you for this, that most Dean's, in my opinion, and I'm aware of Dean's
getting positions all the time, haven't had the breadth of experiences you've had,
and are successful researchers, because you can find some that have a lot of experience
broadly. But they're not great researchers or vice versa, you've been able to do both,
and we need that in a leader.
Brent Williams 5:48
You know, I think that one reason, there's a couple of reasons for that, I think one
of having great co authors and an excellent network. And, and we've got a we've got
a track record of great PhD students coming through the department of Supply Chain
Management, you know, that, and, you know, being able to work with PhD students, even
as a department chair or an Associate Dean, or in your case, Dean, you know, that
gives you the ability to really stay engaged. But also and you you taught me this,
you it was maybe inadvertently, but you taught it to me, you taught me that working
with industry and research could create synergies. And sometimes that gets missed
in our industry, right? We did lots of projects, starting when I was a master student,
particularly when I was a doctoral student, and since then, with industry partners
that that I think, created thought leadership, I think it it helped our partners improve
their businesses, and we've published them. And you know, I don't know, I think that's
been that's been probably the secret sauce, probably for both of us as researchers.
Matt Waller 6:59
Definitely I, you know, I always part of the reason I've always had that orientation
is that, you know, in academics, we're supposed to be building theory, a lot of times
when people hear theory, they think that means something that's not relevant, but
it really means an ability to explain, describe, and predict, whatever the phenomena
is, could be forecasting could be supply chain design, it could be marketing, whatever
it is, theory is actually good theory is helpful. I think the challenge is so much
theory tends to be built in a vacuum. Whereas what we're trying to do is to be engaged
with the real world, and solve real problems and develop theory, in areas that are
where it's really needed to solve problems.
Brent Williams 7:50
I couldn't agree more. You know, and, Matt, I believe, I think you believe the same.
We have a lot of advantages as the Walton College of Business, but maybe the most,
you know, our best competitive advantage is our connection to industry. And, you know,
there's some universities and business schools in bigger markets than we're in. But
the connectivity of business in this community and the openness to collaborate, is
a real advantage.
Matt Waller 8:21
It is. It's unusual. I had a dean at a really high, highly ranked business school
that isn't close to a lot of business. They're close to some big cities. But you know,
he told me, If you all could just have our buildings, and we could have your connections
to industry. And I thought, wow, I would rather have my connections to industry
Brent Williams 8:49
That's exactly right.
Matt Waller 8:50
It not only helps us do a better job in research, but it also helps us do a better
job of teaching. And it helps us do a better job of placing students in great jobs.
Brent Williams 9:00
I couldn't agree more. And again, synergies amongst those things, but as you know,
you know, critical to our mission is, is transforming lives. You know, we say in our
vision statement, we're a catalyst for transforming lives. We, we don't say that we
do it alone, right? I mean, that catalyst word is something I've been thinking a lot
about lately. You know, and we, we create the platform for it to happen. But you know,
faculty and industry partners are a really, really key part of that equation.
Matt Waller 9:35
You know, Brent, I want to shift gears here and look ahead a little bit. And people
always say, as long as I've been around, the world is changing. Business is changing,
and it's changing faster than it used to be. And so you could say, well, then, people
always think that whatever stage they're in. And I won't belabor the point. But there's
lots of evidence that the rate of change has been steadily increasing since the Industrial
revolution. And you know, many people think we're entering into a another industrial
revolution because of certain technologies that are being created. These changes create
a new situation. And I think as a business school, I know you have been giving this
a lot of thought, you've been thinking about, how should a business school change
in light of the changes that we're seeing in the economy? Would you mind speaking
to that a little bit?
Brent Williams 10:44
Yeah, as you as you know, I agree completely right, that we are entering into a new
phase of change, even more rapid, rapid change. And, you know, if I just stop and
pause on students, and how do we prepare them? I guess that's really what's on my
mind is not only how do we prepare them for the first job, but how do we really prepare
them to succeed in the long run? And I believe, as we as we think about our roles
in that, I think that I think currently and particularly in the future, when our students
are solving business problems, oh, I would say, you know, they're managing their leading,
they're solving business problems. They're trying to innovate within a company. I
think they've got to do that at an intersection of, of technology, data, people and
process, you know, and I think maybe it hasn't been that long ago that we our mindset.
And I think it's mindset that's going to be critical for our students. But I think,
you know, you could think about solving business problems at the intersection often
of process and people. But we know today that you have to intersect with that technology
and data. And and oh, yeah, by the way, I don't think you can think about solving
a business problem purely with technology and data absent of people and process. And
so I think it's really teaching students to lead, manage, and solve problems at that
intersection is what's going to be so critical. And, you know, I don't know that that
means that we can teach them every emerging technology, but we have, they have to
have a mindset, you know, to where they get exposure with us. They understand how
it's being applied. And then they have the curiosity to go learn and apply in new
ways that either they've not seen or really haven't even been invented yet. And then
as leaders of people, and most of our students will lead people in some way, shape
or form. I think they've then got to think about how do they bring people alongside
that change, you know, and help the people harmonize with the technology in a way
that that improves the life of that person and improves the overall profitability
of the organization.
Matt Waller 13:22
You know, Brent, your point is so spot on, you know, and sometimes you see business
schools saying, well, we don't want to teach current technology, because it's going
to go away. But I've always thought, well, no, you do because that technology might
go away. But the ability to learn a new technology and then apply it to a new problem
is valuable.
Brent Williams 13:51
Yeah. I was telling this story yesterday, that before I started the master's program,
I don't know if you remember this. I'm sure I went through a university orientation.
I don't exactly remember that. What I do remember, is you making sure that I went
and spent time at Walmart, learning the processes and technology. I shadowed basically,
and that technology is not used anymore. Was that valuable for 20 years for me? Yes.
Right. Because I started to see how the technology the people and the process, were
interacting with one another. So I think I think that's a flawed way of thinking of
just because the technology, maybe it doesn't stick or maybe it ends up getting applied
in ways that we don't think it's going to be applied today. Again, I think it's about
that mindset, you know, have at that intersection.
Matt Waller 14:50
Well, you know, when you went and I remember when when I asked you to go to Walmart
and spend time in replenishment. At that time, we were doing research on replenishment,
I had been doing research on it as well. And I had the benefit of all, I had been
in so many situations where I had actually been involved with a company touching the
technology, trying to figure out how to improve what they're doing. And so when you
spent time at Walmart in replenishment, it is true, you were exposed to a technology
that isn't being used now. I would argue it probably is one of the best technologies
still out there for for replenishment. And, you know, one good thing about learning
a new technology like that, and seeing how people interact with it, I remember, one
of the things you learn from it again, this is over this is 20 years ago about but
was that the users, this is an important point, many of the users of that great technology
for replenishment forecasting didn't because they in some cases, they really understood
the theory of inventory management forecasts are they could play well. But there were
some people in any organization that's using replenishment and forecasting technology,
they don't understand the theory behind it. And as a result, they're kind of like
a mindless, they'll say, Oh, if I change this variable, maybe if I increase the time
between replenishments, we'll have fewer stockouts. And it's true. But you don't want
to increase safety stock that way, which is essentially what it's doing, it's forcing
safety stock, but then it's throwing off all kinds of other variables. And so if you
really understand the theory, think, okay, I could have more inventory in between
replenishments, that'll increase my fill rate through for the year, or I can increase
my safety stock where I could make the lead times shorter, or I could in the real
world, not in a system. But I remember you really understood that after having gone
through that, that process. Whereas, you know, and I think that then as the benefit
to us as professors, is it helps motivate us to teach this material, because we realize,
oh, they really need to understand this, because you see people misapplying these
ideas in practice so often.
Brent Williams 17:39
Yes. And I think that when you think about our student experience, this why I think,
you know, I think our College of Business, at least I'm going to speak for, I think
creates tremendous value. Now, I think that students can some get more value out of
that opportunity in the other. But when I think about the real sweet spot, you know,
I think about a student who is getting the most out of the classroom, you know and
hey, some of those concepts may have held true for decades.
Matt Waller 18:15
Yeah,
Brent Williams 18:15
You know, and then take that into a work environment. And more and more we find our
students are working while they're in school, which I encourage and I know you do,
too. We want them in internships, we want them in co ops. But really what we want
is the ability to take what's being learned and apply it and understand it in application,
whether that application succeeds or fails, and then bring that back into the classroom
in a way that informs the learning. And now you have a loop that is really, really
meaningful. And so I think I learned that not only in that experience, but I learned
it doing internships, and I've learned it throughout my life in terms of learn, apply,
learn, apply. And I think it's just a really important part of the experience that
our students have the ability to access.
Matt Waller 19:10
Well, you know, the other thing that's interesting that I think sometimes people don't
think about, but when you've got a Dean, who not only has been involved in the school,
but he's been involved in industry. I mean, you know, executives, all these companies
around here are the suppliers, the big three, Big Four, counting them ArcBest and
others. I mean, that helps glue, bring the glue to the school if you were if you didn't
have that experience, you wouldn't even know necessarily what the size of the opportunity
was in terms of internships. I know internships are really important to you.
Brent Williams 19:57
They are they are and that's something that has grown and developed for me over time.
And I think I think it's, I think it's the experience of teaching, engaging with students,
mentoring them. But then being out in industry, you know, every single week in some
way, shape or form, both of us have been, you know, you get to see, you get to see
those in industry talking about, you know, the contribution that those students can
make. You know, and I'll say, my, my time at the Walton College, it has allowed me
to work with all the companies here in Northwest Arkansas, the large companies, and
you're right, we've got relationships with all of them. When I think back to our decision
to found Walton College at 2nd and main, in Little Rock. This was a great experience
for me, I'm from Arkansas, I grew up in Arkansas. And you know, so it's probably something
I wanted to do intrinsically, I think I was intrinsically motivated by it. I think
the benefit that I don't know, that I anticipated, was the ability to now have those
relationships in Central Arkansas and throughout the state. So, you know, you think
about the Stephens organization in Little Rock that has been so meaningful to this
state, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, the hospital systems, you know, I could keep
going on and on. But that's really important. And then, you know, what, there's some
great businesses particularly agriculturally focused in the Delta of Arkansas, and,
you know, I want our students connected to all of that in some way, shape, or form.
And I think work experiences and internships is if, if, if an executive asked me,
how can I help the Walton College, there's lots of ways, but probably my first ask
is going to be hire an intern.
Matt Waller 21:59
I agree with you. And, you know, if you have kids that are in college, or going to
be in college soon, you have this feeling, I mean, what parent doesn't want their
kid in great internships. Right? And I, I was just, I was just talking to a parent
who has a kid at not not in the Walton College, but at a another SEC business school.
And she was relating to me, because they also have a kid here, the difference in terms
of the ability to get great internships with unbelievable companies, or even an internship
with a early stage company, because we have the venture intern program, if you're
listening to this, and you know, someone that might be interested, you can look that
up the venture intern program, which I love, because, I mean, it's wonderful. If you
can get an experience with an early stage company and a big company.
Brent Williams 23:06
Absolutely.
Matt Waller 23:07
And I remember back to the Little Rock thing, something that needs to be said is I
was trying to figure out where to put my effort geographically because I can't remember
how this happened. But somehow I realized, the Walton College is doing great in Northwest
Arkansas, but we need to venture outside of Arkansas. And you actually were the one
that said I would really focus on Central Arkansas to start with and I thought, well,
that would be great. But how? And then of course, I had that meeting with Warren Stephens.
And he really opened the opportunity for us to do that.
Brent Williams 23:51
He did. He truly did. I think he saw an opportunity for us, you were willing to take
the risk and say yes, and and then I was in a position to be able to help make it
happen.
Matt Waller 24:03
Yeah.
Brent Williams 24:04
And, and that, if you recall, it started with building relationships. And, you know,
in doing that, you know, I think we've gotten more of our students hired.
Matt Waller 24:16
Yes.
Brent Williams 24:16
I know, we've succeeded in executive education, which which is our main focus there.
We are providing noncredit education and working directly customizing programs with
companies using the expertise in the Walton College. And and I know it's worked, because
we increasingly engage with organizations that I actually probably never would have
thought possible. Many of them are our state, governmental organizations that we've
had a chance to assist, which makes our state better off but also, you know, many,
many companies there but it does all come back to building those relationships and
and Mr. Stephens was was truly the one that made that happen.
Matt Waller 25:04
You know, and I remember early on, we got a new client in Little Rock a big one and
I was talking, I can't remember who I was talking to. But one of the executives, you'll
know this story, maybe you were there. And I said, how did you find out about us?
And they said that they were just walking down the street and saw Walton College,
the 2nd and main and thought, what is this? I don't remember if they went in, or they
Googled it, but somehow they found out about it, that led to one of our biggest clients.
Brent Williams 25:40
That's exactly right. You know, so I think it's, I think, you know, and for us, it's
probably a lesson for us as administrators and leaders of colleges. I mean, it is
very, very important to be present, you know, throughout our state and engaged with
business. Because you just never know what opportunity that that's going to lead to.
Matt Waller 26:04
You really don't. And that gets to another point. You know, we've talked about technology
and the future, but you, you've been leading our strategic planning, development and
would you mind speaking to that a little bit, just in terms of how you went about
it? And then what we're going to be doing in the future?
Brent Williams 26:32
Yeah, absolutely. We did revise our strategic plan, about a little over a year ago.
And, you know, we decided too that we thought the best thing to do to move forward
was to develop a stakeholder focused plan, that was really relatively short term in
nature. And so, you know, in doing that, we really looked at key stakeholders, our
students, our faculty, our business and alumni partners, and then society at large,
and, and, and identified with, with a fairly extensive group of faculty and staff
that were served as conduits to all the departments and units of like, what were really
some important things that we could accomplish, that would, that would make the Walton
College even more valuable to our stakeholders. And those, as you will know, right,
those stakeholders abroad, you know, it's our faculty and staff, it's our students,
it's our parents, it's our alumni. And it's the businesses throughout the state. And,
you know, it's the state of Arkansas. So there's a broad set of stakeholders that
we serve. And, you know, I think, Matt, as we go into, as we go into next year, there's
really a few things that were from that strategic plan that we're really going to
focus on, over the next year. And we've already talked about one of those. And it's,
it's, it's that student experience in making sure that, that internships and work
opportunities and experiential learning opportunities are there for our students that
complement what's happening in the classroom, you know, it, those things complement
each other. So when you got a wonderful faculty, like we have, and then and then you
have these experiences, I really think you truly create value for students and families.
And then, you know, I really want us to be able to build on the platform that I feel
like you've established and that's our graduate programs, as you know, well, know,
you you made this happen. We've been able to stand up many masters programs that are
specialized, and that provide working professionals with skills they need, whether
that be in analytics, supply chain marketing, coming up soon product innovation, and
that goes alongside an amazing Executive MBA program that is remarkably healthy, that
serves professionals, not only in Northwest Arkansas, our state and actually beyond
that, and our full time MBA program. I just, I think in our graduate programs, we
have the opportunity now to take that platform and grow it and share it with more
people. And I think, particularly, you know, you go back to the rate of change in
business. I think these master's programs offer a wonderful opportunity for professional
that it may have been a while, you know, so since they've been in college, they're
probably learning all on their own along the way. A graduate program can accelerate
that learning. And so that's really important. I think a third thing that's really
important for us is to grow our research impact um and I didn't necessarily say grow
you know, our research, I really think that research is the core of who we are as,
as faculty members. And you know, there's ways we can share that. And you mentioned
theory building. And that is remarkably important. And that's why we publish in academic
journals. It's why we want that work to be cited and be built upon. And we are knowledge
builders, as faculty. But there's other ways to let that research have an impact.
And I'm thinking about this, now, you've done all of these. And so have I, you know,
our faculty are a tremendous resource to businesses in our area for consulting when
needed if they need specific expertise. We've talked about executive education, you
know, executive education really can't happen without the deep expertise in the college.
So you're actually utilizing the research as the base that creates expertise that
now gets shared through consulting, executive education, through our publishing, through
funded research projects with companies. So I think just continuing to broaden the
research impact, those are the three things that I think are really important for
us right now.
Matt Waller 31:21
Well, you know, Brent, you're taking over leadership of college at a time when Northwest
Arkansas is booming. Business here is succeeding in many, many different ways, many,
many different ways. And a time when the population is growing. It's hard to buy house
here, it's hard to build a house here. But people are optimistic here. You know, you
compare it to so many places, I go in the United States, you know, and a lot of places
you go, people don't feel an identity with the place they live. Here they do. And,
but the level of optimism out there, shocks me. And that's something you can't conjure
up. What do you think about that, and how that affects the college?
Brent Williams 32:30
I think it's a tailwind for us. I really do. I agree with you. I couldn't agree more,
that there is an optimism here. You know, and, and there's a pride here. And, and
I think that's true about Northwest Arkansas and our state, you know, and we benefit,
there's absolutely no doubt that, you know, we've talked about all the things we try
to do. But the community and the state around us is a tailwind. And this place is
growing. And it's increasingly a wonderful place, not only to work, but to live, you
know, the amount of outdoor recreation opportunities that exist. My, you know, a few
miles from in where any of us where we live, and actually right outside this building,
there's a mountain biking trail, right? And that, that we can hop on and ride the
Greenway is literally steps from here that we could ride 40 miles, if we want to,
and there's opportunities to climb and paddle, and all of those things. And, you know,
I believe that people want to be a part of this place. And I think that that's part
of success in attracting great faculty and staff. People increasingly, know, this
is a wonderful place to live and be and then, you know, young people and their families
realize this is a great place to spend your college career. So it you know, we, Matt,
I feel like the Walton College is tremendously fortunate to be a part of this region
and state.
Matt Waller 34:09
Well, you know, and you, I've talked about all the things you've done in Northwest
Arkansas, in college and Little Rock, but you grew up in Newport. And you went to
Lyon College, in Arkansas. So really your experience and preparation for leading the
college in the state. You know, there could be other people prepared, but you're prepared
in this state, you know, this state. And I know that I mean, I'm not from here. I
grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, moved here from Michigan and lived in Pennsylvania
before that. And you still know more about the state of Arkansas than I do. And I've
lived here for 30 years. And I love it. I mean, it's wonderful. But I know you've
got ideas about how to even reach out to the rest of the state, not just and you've
already been doing. You've already been engaged in it. Would you mind speaking to
that a bit?
Brent Williams 35:08
Yeah, I think I think you're right. You know, I'm fortunate to be from here. I love
it. You know, I grew up in a small town in East Arkansas in an area that, you know,
Northwest Arkansas is beautiful. In my opinion, you know, that area of Arkansas has
its own has its own unique beauties. And, you know, the economy there is quite different,
you know, and the areas like, like agriculture and the steel industry that's emerging
in Northeast Arkansas, you know, are vibrant, and you have the forestry industry in,
in South Arkansas. So, you know, I think there's ways for us to increasingly connect
to those industries. And, you know, the fortunate thing for us, you know, we talked
about the tailwinds of Northwest Arkansas and our state, our alumni are truly a tailwind
as well.
Matt Waller 36:05
Yes.
Brent Williams 36:06
They care.
Matt Waller 36:07
They do
Brent Williams 36:08
They care about the success of this institution. They care about the success University
of Arkansas, and I think ultimately, they care about our students success. And I think
the connectivity of this state is pretty rare. You know, the ability for you, Matt,
as having been the dean of the Walton College for eight years, to probably reach any
person in this state so easily is is a really rare thing. And so I hope to be able
to capitalize on those relationships as well.
Matt Waller 36:42
Absolutely. Well, Brent, thank you for all your service to the college over the past,
I was gonna say years, but it's been longer than that, because you've really been
here for 20 years. It's things you did, even as a student, contributed to where we
are today and the successes we've had. But thank you for all you've done, and I look
forward to serving as a professor under your leadership.
Brent Williams 37:06
You've been a huge reason for any success I've had. So thank you, Matt.
Matt Waller 37:10
On behalf of the Sam M Walton College of Business, I want to thank everyone for spending
time with us for another engaging conversation. You can subscribe by going to your
favorite podcast service and searching be epic Be E P I C
