Professor David Finegold
Dean, School of Management and Labor Relations

SMLR’s students and alumni have long known about the excellent quality of our faculty. Now, benchmark data clearly demonstrates our position as a world HR leader. Since 1993 (the year before SMLR officially became a School), the work of SMLR’s HR faculty has been cited in the field’s 18 leading academic journals more than that of any other university’s HR faculty. In fact, SMLR’s 1759 citations were more than the output of Cornell, Michigan State and Minnesota combined. Some of the areas in which we are recognized as a world HR leader include:

• Strategic management of human resources
• Employee ownership and its impact on firm performance
• Strategic staffing: how to attract and retain top talent
• Compensation and performance management
• Global leadership development
• Building effective teams

Maintaining our leadership position at the forefront of HR research and practice requires constant innovation and adaptation to changing global realities. To ensure our preeminent status for years to come, I have personally identified the following three priorities to focus on in the coming year and beyond:

Enhance the community – building stronger relationships within the school, across the university, and externally with top global partners

Build the brand – so that Rutgers and SMLR are recognized as the source for expertise globally on managing people and organizations, the changing nature of work and the employment relationship, and evolving mechanisms for employee voice in the workplace

Expand resources – preparing SMLR to take full advantage of the coming Rutgers’ campaign to secure the School’s financial future and enable our world-class faculty to have an even greater impact