New business dean returns to faculty he helped build

by Maria Lironi

In the space of a few hours, UVic's new business dean managed to do what it might take some people a week to accomplish. During a whirlwind trip to Victoria in May he rented the perfect cottage on Ten Mile Point, lunched at a nearby café and still had time to run a few meetings.

No doubt about it, Dr. Ali Dastmalchian knows how to work a schedule.

It's not a surprising quality considering his area of expertise is organizational analysis. "Essentially, I look at how to design peoples' jobs so that they can cope with the changes that are going to occur within their business," he explains.

Dastmalchian holds an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from the National University of Iran. He also has a master's of science in management and technology and a PhD in organizational analysis, both from the Cardiff Business School at the University of Wales.

His main research and teaching interests are in the areas of organizational design and flexibility, organizational climate, management of change, organizational power and politics, executive leadership, and cross-cultural management theory.

He has designed executive development programs throughout Asia and the Middle East and taught at a number of business schools including Cardiff Business School, Durham University, the University of Alberta, Athabasca University, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Lethbridge.

Over the years, UVic has also benefited from Dastmalchian's organizational skills. He first joined the university in 1991 as director of the faculty of business' MBA programs and professor of organizational analysis.

He created the faculty's integrative management exercisesin which students conduct full assessments of business and managerial problems within a business or industryas an integral component of the MBA program. He was also involved in internationalizing the faculty and developing its executive mentor program. For his efforts, he received the faculty's best educator award, its award of excellence, and its award for professor-of-the-year.

In 1997, Dastmalchian left UVic to become the dean and a professor of organizational analysis of the faculty of management at the University of Lethbridge.

Dastmalchian is coming back to UVic for a number of reasons. "This faculty has the ability and potential to be the best international faculty in Canada and the best example of an integrated program," he says. "Integrated not only because of co-op and the MBA program's integrative management exercises, but because of the three multidisciplinary and highly integrative areas of specialization of the school: international business, entrepreneurship, and hospitality."

His other reasons are sentimental. "Back when we first started in 1991 there were just four faculty. There were no business students, no programs. We had to start from scratch. So, of course, I have a very personal attachment to the faculty of business. It's like seeing a child grow up.

"You know, it's not just about making UVic's faculty of business the best in Canada," Dastmalchian adds. "I'm 47 and when I think about where I want to be at the end of my careerwell, I think Victoria would be a nice place to be."

Dastmalchian takes a break from unpacking boxes in his new office (Valerie Shore photo)