Asking Google AI: How Much Money do Universities Pay Search Firms for Conducting Searches for Business Deans?

It's Friday evening and you are probably sitting down with your favorite take-out meal or are preparing to go out for dinner. To add to the enjoyment of your end-of-week relaxation time, Turner Business is now providing a new occasional series for Friday evenings called Asking Google AI. Tonight we are asking Google AI the following question: How much money do universities pay search firms for conducting searches for business deans? Below is an image of Google AI's thorough response.

As explained by Google AI, universities typically pay executive search firms between $60,000 and $250,000+ to conduct a search for a business school dean. As it adds, the exact amount is highly variable because it depends on the university's prestige, whether it is public or private, and the fee model used by the firm. Based on the first two of these, CSU likely paid closer to the low end of the above continuum. CSU also almost certainly agreed to a fixed flat-fee model, where fees range from $50,000 to $150,000. One might assume that CSU is paying Buffkin/Baker a $50,000 flat fee to conduct its search for a new Turner College dean. Of course, as Google AI points out there are hidden and administrative costs. These include travel by consultants, candidate due diligence and marketing and advertising. Based on posts here at Turner Business, the search firm likely spent very little, if anything on marketing and advertising. If we assume there will be 3 or 4 finalists for the position, then we might expect candidate due diligence costs to range from $7,500 to $10,000. Of course, this calculation uses $2,500 for each finalist. Lastly, we know that the search for a new Turner College dean employs two Buffkin/Baker consultants. At $3,500 per consultant, that is another $7,000 in terms of getting search firm recruiters to campus. Given that one of the consultants is a principal of the search firm, maybe $8,500 (or more) is closer to the actual sum for this category. In all, the search for a new Turner College dean will likely cost CSU at least $67,250 (i.e., $50,000 + $8,750 + $8,500). Interestingly, this is about the same as $200,000 x 0.33, or $66,000, which is likely close to the amount CSU would owe Buffkin/Baker under the percentage-of-salary model (using the Rice U example above).