CLEVELAND – The Weatherhead School of Management is pleased to announce a $2.44 million gift from an anonymous benefactor that will assist Weatherhead’s on-going work in “Managing as Designing.” This concept brings ideas from the world of art into management thought and takes management best practices into the world of art and the nonprofit sector.

As part of a new curriculum slated for implementation in the fall of 2009, Weatherhead’s MBA program will combine the philosophies of architecture, music, graphic design, and computer programming to help blur the line between creative and analytical management practices. “There is little doubt that creative thinking from the arts will bring a much needed perspective to management thinking and education. We are exploring whether these holistic ways of viewing an organization’s performance provide different insights into their performance and capabilities.” said Dean Mohan Reddy.

Weatherhead is among a select group of management schools with a focus on the role that designing plays in management. The initiative is built on the concept that great managers are also designers, responsible for building relationships, project teams, incentive and compensation packages, business models, and financial instruments. As a result, they design the processes by which all of these fit together and mutually function. The program has also been recognized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a broad range of constituents in the management industry.