Troy, N.Y. — To determine how top schools rated in 11 different business specialties, BusinessWeek turned to the experts: the students. As a companion to the magazine’s 2007 rankings of undergraduate business programs, staffers asked 80,000 business majors at 123 schools to rank their programs on a scale of one to five in different academic categories. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology came in at number two in the nation in the area of corporate strategy. 

The Lally School was one of nine new schools to be named to BusinessWeek’s latest list of top 50 undergraduate business programs, making its debut at number 40 on the list.

“Even before they enroll, Rensselaer students are given a taste of the program’s strong emphasis on corporate strategy at RPI Discovery Day, where prospective undergraduates and their parents participate in a simulated executive briefing,” BusinessWeek said of the program. “[During the event], students and their parents were given the challenge of developing innovative solutions to problems Sony executives might face. ‘The technological infrastructure is cutting edge,’ says one undergraduate of the program.” 

The “Extreme Executive” for a day program was created by a team of Lally School faculty. Using a series of simulated exercises, the program offered participants a total immersion experience into the mindset, actions, and concerns of senior managers working within a large corporation. Participants were introduced to several issues in the areas of marketing, management, operations, and legal aspects.

“The Lally School is proud to have our corporate strategy program ranked among the top 10 universities in the nation,” said David Gautschi, dean of the Lally School. “Our undergraduate program prepares students to take on leadership roles in today’s technology-driven organizations. This is consistent with the goals of The Rensselaer Plan, and with the vision Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson has articulated for the Institute  to achieve prominence in the 21st century as a top-tier, world-class technological research university with global reach and global impact. 

“Changing times demand a new way to teach business leaders and imbue them with an innovative spirit and entrepreneurial mindset,” Gautschi added. “Leaders and innovators are exceptional individuals whose impact extends far beyond their own personae – inside and outside of business. These are individuals whose vision, creativity, and charisma allow them to transform their organizations and change the lives of large numbers of persons.”

More than 350 undergraduate students are enrolled in the Lally School. Students in the undergraduate program take courses in a number of areas that include strategy and policy, finance, marketing, human behavior, information technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, operations management, and organizational analysis and development. In addition, students are encouraged to take courses from Rensselaer’s other schools in areas of cognitive science, humanities and social sciences, architecture, and computer science. 

Gautschi noted that participation in such courses provides students with a strong background in analytical reasoning, interpersonal skills, and an understanding of how to use technology to their competitive advantage in making business decisions. Students also understand and learn the importance of social responsibility, and how to seek out the ethical and social implications of their business choices, he said.

To view the complete list of the 2007 BusinessWeek specialty rankings, go to:

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/mar2007/bs20070329_286298.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_b-schools.

To view the 2007 BusinessWeek rankings, go to: http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate/07rankings/index.asp.

About Rensselaer’s Lally School
Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management & Technology was founded in 1963 as an integral part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation’s oldest degree-granting technological university. Building on Rensselaer’s heritage of more than 180 years of leadership in science and engineering, the Lally School is dedicated to advancing business through innovation. The Lally School’s curriculum is designed to produce leaders who combine creative passion with the ability to integrate technology across business functions. The faculty emphasizes the value of hands-on experience available through campus resources such as the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and the nation’s first on-campus business incubator. Rensselaer’s Lally School offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in management, doctoral programs in management and technology, an Executive MBA program, and a joint Sino-U.S. MBA for companies operating in China. For more information on the Lally School, go to www.lallyschool.rpi.edu.