Here are the questions Dr. Ricardo Azziz addressed during this podcast episode.

1. You list 7 critical competencies for BSC. Where did they come from?

2. We talked about how you used case studies throughout the book in our first podcast. Let’s talk about the one you use here: Connecticut State Colleges and Universities. I remember reading a lot about this and it was a contentious process. Step us through the highlights and lowlights. Lessons learned: “Extraordinary courage is required to face continued challenges”. Put that into context for us and share how you saw that at CSCU.

3. Following up on that, let's talk a little about uncertainty and risk aversion in higher education What about major change in higher education? Step us through the major differences of M&A in higher education and other industries.

4. P. 81: “The degree of risk aversion in higher education is so high that it borders on the impossible.” If we accept that statement, I contend that some serious financial set of catastrophes are needed to move higher education toward consolidation in the form of M&A. Am I right or wrong?

5. Competency 2: All-inclusive Operation Envisioning Hope International Univ and Nebraska Christian College are the case study you used. This was not a proximate merger, but one of close mission alignment. I want to step you through each of the 4 lessons learned on p. 90 [Gary Stocker: leads through each. ]

6. Talk about operational envisioning as it related to higher education mergers.

Here are the questions asked in this first review of Dr. Azziz' book: Leading Existential Change in Higher Ed, Mergers, Closures and other Major Restructuring

1. Early in the book you discuss how the type of leadership that brought us here generally can’t get us there. That is going to be a challenge for many college leaders. What is your thought process behind that belief?

2. You effectively use case studies throughout the book (both real and fictional????). How can this approach help college leaders put your content and suggestions into real-world application?

3. Talk about how you came up with and use Big Scary Change as related to M&A in higher education.

4. Laggards and Early Adapters: In today’s higher education market, which of those two types of leaders put their organization at greater risk?

5. I shared with many that higher education has not been through it M&A phase – unlike almost any other industry I can think of. You use a quote from Lamar Alexander (p. 19) that humorously suggests that there is nothing harder than being a college president. In that context, is it reasonable to believe that higher education will enter a period of substantial M&A activity?

6. P. 53: In chapter 3, A Different Kind of Leadership, you suggest that the legitimate use of authority and power by the college president and governing board is greatly broadened. In that same section you write that higher education M& A require a much faster pace of implementation than almost any other major intitiative in higher education. Expand on those 2 items for our listeners.

7. Let’s step back and talk more about BSC. The history and culture of higher education is effectively the opposite of BSC. It is slow, deliberative, sensitive, and encumbered in decades of ineffective business practices. What is your sense of

8. P. 58 You have a table in the book that lists leadership skills in the normal course of business and in the face of BSC. Let’s look at a few.
In the normal course of business In the face of BSC
Transparency Confidentiality
Deliberative (slow) Rapid pace
Promotes unity Recognizes there will be winners and losers