.jpg)
Innovation and Impact
LMU College of Business Administration
Dayle M. Smith, Ph.D., Dean
LMU College of Business Administration
The College of Business Administration at Loyola Marymount University (LMU CBA) advances knowledge and develops business leaders with moral courage and creative confidence to be a force for good in the global community. We see business as central to creating a world that advances economic, social and environmental flourishing. Rooted in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions, we are a community of teacher-scholars, students, and staff, devoted to innovation and impact.
The rapid pace of change in our global business environment challenges all of us to be more agile. “Just in time” education has never been as important as it is now—providing tools, perspectives and strategies to help us become visionary leaders. At LMU, we are building relationships in Silicon Beach and beyond, to operationalize a commitment to integrating innovation, imagination and leadership in everything we do.
LMU CBA prepares students for change—enhancing the student experience and developing their skill sets for today's global business landscape. Building on our reputational excellence through student, faculty and staff engagement, we provide a business education second to none, ensuring that all of our stakeholders are ready to lead and take on the challenge in complex and changing organizations. Business must have a voice at the table to address the most pressing issues of our times.
Experiential, Integrative Experience
Beginning in fall 2020, all incoming undergraduate students will take a required course called “Business for Good” that explores what it means to be a business leader with moral courage and creative confidence who is making a positive impact on the global community. Also set to launch is The CBA Advantage, a gamification platform where students earn points for attending curricular, extracurricular and co-curricular activities that help them achieve the knowledge, skills and abilities related to five core competencies inherent to our mission: business knowledge; leadership; moral courage (and business ethics); creative confidence; and global citizenship. This initiative takes learning outside the classroom, enabling students to build an ePortfolio over their four-year college career.
Institute for Business Ethics and Sustainability
The Institute for Business Ethics and Sustainability (IBES) advances student learning, academic research and stakeholder engagement in ethics and sustainability for the 21st century organization. Affirming the vital role of business in the service of human development, IBES understands that sustainability – business, social and environmental – needs to be the mission and strategic focus of every business enterprise. With an emphasis on ethical decision-making, social responsibility and environmental sustainability, IBES brings business leaders, scholars and community members together to enhance student learning, business success and community partnerships. LMU CBA is also a signatory to the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative and committed to making an impact on the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals.
Graduate Business Programs
We recently launched two new specialty masters programs which can be completed in one year: M.S. in Business Analytics and M.S. in Management. These two programs add to our growing graduate business portfolio, which includes M.S. in Accounting, MBA and Executive MBA. We are currently developing two additional specialty masters programs in entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability and entertainment industry leadership, in addition to our executive education offerings. Key to this growth is recognizing that graduate education should provide flexible pathways – enabling working professionals to upskill and develop leadership competencies in more focused and flexible ways.
Meet the Dean
Dayle M. Smith, Ph.D.
Dayle M. Smith, Ph.D., is dean of the College of Business Administration (CBA) at LMU where she leads strategy for executive, graduate and undergraduate programs.
Since joining the CBA, Smith has led the college in a new strategic planning initiative, which includes developing a new mission statement, growing a diverse faculty, adding new degree programs and enhancing student engagement experiences. She has authored over 25 books and numerous articles on leadership, communication and organizational behavior. Smith co-founded Lexingford Publishing, LLC, a startup that flipped the publishing model by putting authors first. She is passionate about social entrepreneurship, innovation and the emerging role of B-Corps on a global scale.
Under Smith’s leadership, the CBA became a signatory to the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) leading to a commitment to the 17 sustainable development goals. She is an active member of the international collaborative of deans and directors named to the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) to engage in dialogue and joint programs developing sustainable leadership and business practices worldwide. Smith is past president of the Northeast Business Deans Association (NEBDA), a past board member for international NGO, ViviendasLeón in Nicaragua, and served as chair of the Women Administrators in Management Education (WAME) Affinity Group at the AACSB, comprised of more than 600 business education leaders. Smith continues to serve on peer review teams for the AACSB, evaluating business schools globally. Representing LMU, Smith serves on the Board of Governors for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC).
Smith joined LMU from Clarkson University in upstate New York, where she served as dean of the David D. Reh School of Business. As a tenured professor of consumer and organizational studies, she held the Elmer Gates Endowed Professorship for Innovation Culture. While at Clarkson, Smith was instrumental in growing a diverse faculty; developing new programs; merging two business schools; fundraising for student startup funds, two new endowed faculty chairs, and the naming of the school. She successfully led the school through AACSB, ABET, CAHME, and Middle States accreditations. Smith also co-led the design and development of a boundary-spanning innovation hub and an innovation initiative at Clarkson with the dean of engineering. She has been active in service learning in an academic environment, receiving numerous awards for her work in curriculum design and leading university-wide service learning curriculum initiatives.
Prior to Clarkson, Smith served on the faculty at USC, Georgetown University, and spent 20 years at the University of San Francisco as professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior. She has held an extensive list of roles in previous institutions including associate dean, department chair, committee leadership roles and co-founding the St. Lawrence North Country Women’s Leadership Initiative. At USF, she founded both the Business Honors Program and Public Service Internship Program. Selected as a Fulbright Scholar, Smith joined an interdisciplinary team of scholars on a multi-year initiative with seven Hong Kong public universities to reform Hong Kong's General Education Curriculum. She continues to visit Asia as a senior scholar and adviser to Hong Kong Baptist University. Smith earned her Ph.D. and her M.A. in organizational communication at USC and a B.A. in communication studies at the University of Texas, Arlington. When not engaging with students and faculty at LMU, she enjoys travel, golf, tennis and spending time with her husband and grandchildren.