Keller Williams captures attention of Yale, Stanford MBAs
Imagine a classroom of 45 Yale School of Management MBA students divided down the middle in a fot debate about whether Keller Williams Realty's overarching value of God, Family then Business helps or hurts the company.
Imagine Mo Anderson, Keller Williams Realty's vice chairman, sitting in the back of the room, taking it all in.
The story of how Keller Williams Realty came to be a part of the MBA curriculums for both the Yale School of Management and the Stanford Graduate School of Business began less than a year ago when Brian Tayan, research associate with the case writing office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, expressed an interest in writing a case study about Keller Williams Realty.
Eager to participate in an endeavor that would take Keller Williams' cultural and economic models to the halls of higher education, Anderson issued one caveat: Tayan would need to attend Launch Boot Camp.
He did so and was quickly taken aback by the "openness and enthusiasm among team leaders, operating principals and agents. They were curious and completely forthcoming," Tayan says.
Following Launch, he spoke to Keller Williams' executive management team, where he encountered the same spirit of gemerosity and cooperation. "I was truly impressed with the quality of the people and organization," Tayan says. The most striking discovery, he points out, is the degree to which"the culture and the economic models work in conjunction with each other. The culture does not exist for its own sake."
Upon returning to Stanford, Tayan completed the case study, in conjunction with James N. Baron, Ph.D., who has researched extensively the issue of how a company's culture complements it strategy. Explaining that case studies are fundamentally developed as teaching materials, Tayan notes that the Keller Williams case study sets forth for students the eonomic and cultural models that have led to the company's success, It is slated as part of Stanford's core MBA curriculum for 2007-08, and make its way to the Yale School of Management this year following Dr. Baron's acceptance of a professor of management position there.
Anderson accopted Dr. Baron's invitation to attend theclass in which he presented the case study. She says she listened attentively up to the point that she was asked to come to the front of the class to answer questions. "It was clear that the students had really studied the material and were very intrigued about the systems and models that have made our company so successful," she says.
Dr. Baron noted that students found Anderson's perspective to be a refreshing departure from the formulaic leadership style that they normally encounter.
"Having never taken a business class, it was with great pride that I stool before a class of MBA students at the Yale School of Management," Mo says. "As I did so, I thought about our associates and was filled with gratitude for everyone whose integrity and hard work had enabled me to have this experience."
This case study provides a pivotal lesson for MBA students on the important role that culture can play in strategy." Tayan says. "A company's day-to-day practices need to stand by the values that it professed. For Keller Williams' associates, the case study represents a validation for the way the company is proceeding. It should be a source of pride to be a part of the company that is doing so may things right," Tayan emphasizes.
story by Lisa Wahlgren
