Business Impact covers the big challenges facing global management education as the world asks more of its future business leaders.
THE MAGAZINE OF THE BUSINESS GRADUATES ASSOCIATION (BGA) | LEADERS NEVER STOP LEARNING | ISSUE 15 FEBRUARY 2023
PLUS: • CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN LEADERSHIP • EXCLUSIVE MBM ADMISSIONS RESEARCH
CHANGING MINDSETS HOW SHIFTING THINKING ON SUSTAINABILITY CAN TRANSFORM BUSINESS COMMUNITIES FOR THE BETTER
GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR DEANS & DIRECTORS Seville, Spain | 14-17 May 2023
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
Masterful performance The business master’s landscape is in good health, according to new and exclusive admissions research from AMBA & BGA
Changing the mindset on sustainability Transforming business communities by shifting minds on the impact of sustainability – highlights from a recent BGA workshop
Raising the roots of cultural difference NEOMA Business School’s Sirio Lonati on the need to understand where cultural differences in leadership come from
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CONTENTS Issue 15 February 2023
04 Editor's letter Building a movement 07 Guest column How to make mentoring work 08 Invested in impact News of the winners of the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards, including Athena School of Management’s victory in the BGA Business School Impact Award for its emphasis on impactful leadership
10 Masterful performance
20 Raising the roots of cultural difference NEOMA Business School’s
32 Click or mortar?
New research on admissions to business master’s programmes worldwide underlines a healthy demand for the qualification 14 Cover story: Changing the mindset on sustainability How can business communities be transformed for the better? A recent BGA workshop on implementing sustainable practices in Africa and the Middle East centred on the need to change thinking
ESSCA School of Management vice-dean Benjamin D Morisse considers the relevance of physical campuses in the digital age, arguing that they must facilitate both community and innovation 38 From the CEO As BGA celebrates the four-year mark, Andrew Main Wilson looks ahead to the organisation's future and offers timely advice to protect and grow businesses
Sirio Lonati traces the roots of cultural differences in leadership to centuries-old societal change and explains what this means for modern-day managers and those who help develop them 26 0 The engagement equation Business school leaders on the challenges and opportunities in online and blended learning experiences
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
EDITOR’S LETTER
EDITORIAL
seeds of change in our leaders of the future. Should business schools become activists for such change? Potentially, “yes”, as Henley Business School Africa’s dean and director, Jon Foster-Pedley, describes: “Being seen to be provocateurs or activists is very uncomfortable. In fact, many people would say it's absolutely not what business schools should do, but I would question that now.” For the American University in Cairo’s Ali Awni, the sheer number of those who pass through a business school’s doors is where the opportunity for impact lies. “Schools of business can play a major role in changing and creating the mindset of graduates who can go out and change their communities. Once you have enough of a critical mass, then it becomes a culture and a movement,” he points out. Speaking of movements, the event on which our cover feature is based forms part of BGA’s ongoing series of capacity-building workshops. Designed to support continuous improvement in the industry, the series hits four of India’s biggest cities between 13 March and 20 March. But, before that, I’m very much looking forward to meeting those in attendance
Content editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul t.dhoul@amba-bga.com Head of editorial Colette Doyle c.doyle@amba-bga.com
Art editors Laura Tallon Yvette Beattie Sub-editor Heather Ford
Insight, content & PR manager Ellen Buchan e.buchan@amba-bga.com C orporate Membership director Victor Hedenberg v.hedenberg@amba-bga.com BGA membership & account manager Ben Maheson b.maheson@amba-bga.com Senior marketing executive, BGA Shareen Pennington s.pennington@amba-bga.com Head of commercial relations Max Braithwaite m.braithwaite@amba-bga.com Head of marketing and communications Leonora Clement l.clement@amba-bga.com Finance and commercial director Catherine Walker Director of accreditation and director of BGA services Mark Stoddard Chief executive officer Andrew Main Wilson Executive assistant to the CEO Sharon Sidaway s.sidaway@amba-bga.com General enquiries info@businessgraduates association.com
Building a movement
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Part of Business Impact ’s raison d’être is to challenge traditional approaches to management education in the search for creating more meaningful contributions to business and society. There’s no greater reservoir to tap in this regard, in my opinion, than sustainability. The topic is so wide- ranging in its remit and all‑encompassing in its relation to our everyday lives that it is simply inescapable. And yet, sustainability targets remain at odds with how business is done on a day-to-day basis in many parts of the world. This is a conversation that is particularly apt for Africa and the Middle East, a region teeming with opportunities and enthusiasm
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“Once you have enough of a critical mass,
it becomes a culture”
for development done right. Our cover feature (page 14) showcases a range of ideas and initiatives for the successful implementation of sustainable practices from those working at, or with, business schools in the region. A recurring theme in the feature is the need to recognise how the demands of business and society are changing, challenge how people – both inside and outside the management sector – think about sustainability and sow the
at the next instalment in Berlin, Germany on
16 February, where the topic of focus will be building and designing global programmes and partnerships. Tim Banerjee Dhoul, Editor, Business Impact
Copyright 2023 by The Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association. All rights reserved. Material may not be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. While we take care to ensure that editorial is independent, accurate, objective and relevant for our readers, BGA accepts no responsibility for reader dissatisfaction rising from the content of this publication. The opinions expressed and advice given are the views of individual commentators and do not necessarily represent the views of BGA. Whenever an article in this publication is placed with the financial support of an advertiser, partner or sponsor, it will be marked as such. BGA makes every opportunity to credit photographers but we cannot guarantee every published use of an image will have the contributor’s name. If you believe we have omitted a credit for your image, please email the editor.
TO THE WORLD BRING YOUR SCHOOL’S RESEARCH Leverage BGA’s global network and promote your business school’s research initiatives to an international audience through the IMPACT TRAILBLAZER initiative
PRESENT TO AN INTERNATIONAL
GENERATE NEW IDEAS
CHALLENGE KEY CONCEPTS
NETWORK OF PEERS
Discover upcoming IMPACT TRAILBLAZER webinars, view past recordings and promote your school’s latest research, at www.businessgraduatesassociation.com/impact-trailblazer
The monthly magazine of the Association of MBAs (AMBA) BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY Ambiti n
Issue 58 NOVEMBER 2022
Learning from
Latin America
AMBA’s Ambition magazine
offers thought leadership, insight, advice and analysis of key trends in business and is tailored exclusively for business school leaders
Overview of the Deans & Directors Conference Cartagena 2022
FUTURE-PROOFING IN FRANCE ESSCA dean Jean Charroin discusses the ways in which his triple-accredited school is gearing up to deal with the challenges faced by the sector
ENGAGING IN DISCUSSION Roundtable participants deliberate on the need to create a seamless, high-quality and personalised experience for students
HOW TO PERFECT PROFESSIONALISM A new book on the DBA qualification explains how the programme can help managers to better handle complex work scenarios
SUBSCRIBE TODAY to Ambition magazine in print and remain ahead of the curve: www.associationofmbas.com/product/ambition-magazine-subscription/
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
GUEST COLUMN
How to make mentoring work
M entoring gets a bad rap. All too often it’s reduced to a dispensable, moveable side project shunted according to time, urgency or enthusiasm. This diminishes its value – grossly, in my opinion. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the definition of ‘mentoring’ is too often taken to mean “more experienced party passes down information, skill and advice to less experienced party”. There should be so much more to it. Secondly, appropriate time isn’t always given to agreeing the focus and confines of mentoring to set it up for success. After all, there’s always something more urgent to do and, before you know it, it’s simply a rushed conversation between two parties where little value is given or gained. Fortunately, the winds of change are blowing. Our multi-generational workforce is making the “older knows best” adage look increasingly outdated. A melting pot of Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z all share today’s workplace and provide much‑needed diversity. This diversity isn’t a threat. It’s a virtue from which mentoring can feed, learn and ensure the formulation of a proper value exchange. Some key tenets of Gen Z inform this, too, leading to the following: • Credible company purpose Leaders are investing time, money and resources in purpose and creating genuine value in working for their organisation. They’re creating something relevant that motivates their employees. Gen Z
• Reverse-mentoring becomes commonplace, not just a trendy buzzword Being comfortable learning from those younger and less experienced takes confidence, but it’s happening. Equally, those providing the mentoring upwards can develop authority and credibility in a safe, non-judgemental space. Their curiosity and confidence grows as does their stickiness to their employer. • The leaders of tomorrow start to lead before they officially lead Gone are the days of needing grey hair to lead. If you know what you’re talking about, project confidence and command respect, you’re already practising leadership. Well- defined, equal-value mentoring provides these conditions by stripping away the constraints of hierarchy. And yet, alongside this organic development you also have the advantage of a steady, seasoned hand at the tiller. By doing this, tomorrow’s leaders get to build their leadership's muscles in a healthy and sustainable way. In this way, mentoring moves from being a traditional, stiff ‘obligation’ to a fluid, meaningful and mutually beneficial undertaking. It ceases to be something ill-defined and mandate-driven but is something that happens naturally. With cross-generational workplaces slipping into a natural groove, the next generation is already set up for success and stands in a good position to develop a healthy mentoring culture further. Steve Jefferys is an executive coach at YourShift
in particular want to be with a company that aligns with who they are and what’s important to them. This foundation of purpose provides fertile soil from which proper, valuable mentoring can sprout. • Bottom-up approaches to purpose Traditionally, purpose has been top-down from what an employer offers and gives to employees, with little consultation. Nowadays, we’re seeing more bottom-up approaches to complement this, with newer generations seeing and pushing the value of their views and perspective. This creates a healthier, more empowered and motivated pool of mentees that are fully tapped into the organisational big picture. • Two-way street Knowledge is beginning to flow in both directions between employer and employee, with everyday interactions benefiting from this. Individuals learn from an organisation, the experience of its employees and seniors, but there is also something to be added in from the bottom to make the whole fabric stronger and more future-facing. Fresh perspectives, new ideas and more agile ways to do things set up a healthy balance of advice and progression. With these foundations in place, mentoring will have the solid basis it has so often lacked in the past. If purpose and cross-generational unity is there, mentoring’s role will be to continually stoke these fires, enabling renewal and development and ensuring things don’t stand still. Everyone gains as a result. There are two ways I see this happening:
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community.mbaworld.com
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
INVESTED IN IMPACT
An emphasis on nurturing impactful leadership saw Athena School of Management recognised among the winners at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2022/23. Tim Banerjee Dhoul reports
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A thena School of Management in India picked up the BGA Business School Impact Award 2022/23 amid a backdrop of glitz, glamour and fine dining at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2022/23. Athena was recognised for its focus on developing leadership with impact in its educational provision. As its entry describes: “Athena School of Management aims to take a clear, focused path to inspire and innovate internal and external stakeholders to make an impact on people, profit and planet underpinned by a deep commitment to ESG, the UN SDGs, sustainable finance and digital transformation.” It was selected by judges ahead of the Netherlands’ Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, which was highly commended, and the UK’s Wrexham Glyndŵr University and Arden University. “We truly believe in the power of collaborative advantage and this amazing award and recognition encourages us to continue
on our path towards creating global impact,” said Aditya Singh, director of Athena School of Management. The BGA Business School Impact Award 2022/23 was one of six categories of this year’s Excellence Awards open to members of the BGA network. The winners in the remaining five categories were as follows: BEST CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE 2022/23 School of Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China (BGA-accredited business school) for Training Global Talent with CSR Competency and a Sense of Sustainability The School of Business at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies has a focus on instilling the values of SMILE – social responsibility, mutual respect, integrity, learning by doing and entrepreneurship – in its students so that they are better able to take on social challenges and ethical issues. Not only have CSR and sustainability been strongly embedded in the school’s curriculum, research and extracurricular activities,
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards
BEST BUSINESS SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP 2022/23 Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Netherlands (BGA member business school) with Dutch Brazilian Chamber of Commerce The Talent Academy developed between Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and the Dutch Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (Dutcham) aims to brings together young professionals from the Dutch business community in Brazil. To date, 24 talented people have been selected from top Dutch companies operating in Brazil to share expertise and crack a business case, growing their personal and professional skills in the process. BEST INNOVATION STRATEGY 2022/23 IN ASSOCIATION WITH BARCO TBS Education, France for The Blind Search Inspired by the reality singing competition The Voice , The Blind Search aims to introduce edutainment and consider educational wellbeing in courses, making them truly student centric. TBS believes it opens new paradigms for designing and delivering courses post-pandemic that enhance students’ classroom learning experiences. The awards were presented at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2022/23 and Gala Dinner in December 2022 at The Biltmore, Mayfair in London. For the full shortlist of finalists, please refer to Business Impact ’s November 2022 edition or visit the BGA website.
but Confucianism has also been integrated by faculty members into blended learning activities, which has been highly praised by students and has won a provincial-level excellent education prize. BEST LIFELONG LEARNING INITIATIVE 2022/23, IN ASSOCIATION WITH KORTEXT Universidad Externado de Colombia for Privilegios Program Privilegios Program offers graduates a platform for updating and generating a network of contacts through which they can also develop and strengthen their skills. Offered at no cost, around 1,000 people have already registered in the programme, representing 70 per cent of Universidad Externado de Colombia’s MBA graduates. This initiative has also been highlighted as a strength in both the AMBA and AACSB accreditation processes. BEST CULTURE, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE 2022/23 School of Business, the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt (BGA member business school) for AUC Egypt Women on Boards (WoB) Observatory With the aim of accelerating and improving the gender balance of corporate boards in Egypt and the MENA region, the AUC Egypt Women on Boards (WoB) Observatory fosters women's readiness for boards and eliminates barriers to entry. Specifically, the initiative aims to raise awareness of gender issues among male board members and advocate for policy and legislative changes that institutionalise gender diversity in organisations.
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Athena School of Management director Aditya Singh accepted the BGA Business School Impact Award via video link
Clockwise from top left: Guangdong University of Foreign Studies won Best CSR and Sustainability Initiative; guests at the awards ceremony and gala dinner; Rotterdam School of Management received the Best Business School Partnership award from AMBA & BGA director Mark Stoddard; AUC School of Business won Best Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
performance Masterful
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
AMBA & BGA RESEARCH
Far from going into freefall from the problems associated with Covid-19, the business master’s landscape is in good health, according to new admissions research from AMBA & BGA exclusive to Business Impact . Tim Banerjee Dhoul and Ellen Buchan report
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
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he numbers of those enrolling on master’s in business and management (MBM) programmes worldwide remained steady between 2020 and 2021, according to new research into the pre-experience format complied in conjunction with the
enrolments per individual programme. This indicates the increase in the number of programmes offered across the region in 2021.
India masks mixed application picture The average numbers of MBM applications per business school and per programme look to have risen markedly between 2020 and 2021 when looking at the global picture, by 26 per cent per school and 19 per cent per programme. However, these figures are somewhat misleading because they are skewed by the extremely large numbers of applications for MBM programmes in India, where its business schools recorded an average rise in applications per school and per programme of 31 per cent. Taking India out of the equation produces a slight drop in MBM applications per business school across the rest of the world in 2021, of three per cent. It also gives an average 10 per cent decrease per programme although, here, the uptick in programme options should again be noted. In addition, India was not the only region to record an increase in applications. In Latin America, the number of applications rose by five per cent at both a school and programme level between 2020 and 2021. In Europe (excluding the UK) however, there was an average two percent decrease in the number of applications per school and a 11 per cent decrease per programme. Similarly, UK business schools recorded a five percent decrease per school and a seven percent decrease in applications per programme. Return to classroom teaching In 2021, 49 per cent of MBM programmes worldwide were taught in the classroom, among responding AMBA-accredited business schools. This represents a 34 percentage-point rise on 2020, when only 15 per cent of programmes were delivered in the classroom and is a significant return to prominence for the format in the aftermath of the initial disruption caused by Covid-19.
AMBA Application and Enrolment Report 2022.
Regional growth amid global stability Across 56 AMBA-accredited institutions and 186 programmes, there were an average of 546 enrolments in master’s in business and management (MBM) programmes worldwide per business school and 164 enrolments per individual programme in 2021. This represents a three per cent increase in enrolments per school and a decrease of three per cent per programme on the equivalent figures from 2020. While the growth in overall enrolment is a clear positive in another year marked by Covid-19 disruptions, the fall in enrolments per programme could be linked to an increase in programme options. Indeed, the average number available rose by six per cent to reach 3.3 programmes per school worldwide, while in Europe (excluding the UK) it rose by 10 per cent. Enrolment growth was largest in the UK, where schools recorded an average rise of 23 per cent rise per school and a 20 per cent rise per programme. India also saw a significant increase, with a seven percent rise in both enrolments per school and per programme. Latin America had a similar increase to India, with an increase of six per cent at both the school and programme level. Enrolments among business schools in China rose slightly, with a one per cent rise per programme and per school. Elsewhere, while the number of enrolments per business school between 2020 and 2021 remained stable in Europe (excluding the UK) there was a decrease of 10 per cent in the number of
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“The growth in overall enrolment is a clear positive in another
MBM enrolment, 2020-2021 Average enrolments
year marked by Covid-19 disruptions”
Percentage change, 2020-2021
Average enrolments per programme, 2021
Percentage change, 2020-2021
per business school, 2021
546
+3%
164
-3%
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
AMBA & BGA RESEARCH
Programme delivery modes, 2020-2021
Blended
Classroom
Online
“Online delivery dropped from 38% to 18% highlighting the preference for providing in-person learning experiences”
Intended mode of delivery 2020
4%
12%
84%
Intended mode of delivery 2021
3%
17%
80%
Most used mode of delivery 2020
47%
15%
38%
Most used mode of delivery 2021
33%
49%
18%
Use of the blended format fell from 47 per cent to 33 per cent, while online delivery dropped from 38 per cent to 18 per cent highlighting the preference for providing in-person learning experiences where possible. The pandemic’s lasting effects on the industry remain clear for all to see, however. Enforced use of online and blended delivery has led many business schools to appreciate the formats’ advantages in the modern age and that certain aspects of delivery may be more effective online. This means some aspects of courses are being kept online, despite the ability for them to be taught in the classroom resulting in a blended delivery. There is a hint of the trend towards this hybrid way of working in these results, as the intended use of a blended mode of learning increased by five percentage points, from 12 per cent in 2020 to 17 per cent in 2021. International students remain in force The proportion of international students enrolling in MBM cohorts worldwide rose slightly between 2020 and 2021 to reach an average of 29 per cent. This increase is testament to prospective students’ willingness to travel for high-quality master’s programmes in the fields of business and management as well as institutions’ commitment to international diversity in the face of continuing economic and geopolitical uncertainty. The split between male and female applications and enrolments onto MBM programmes, meanwhile, also remained steady between 2020 and 2021. While the percentage of female applications dropped by one percentage point, to 36 per cent in 2021, the global average proportion of female student enrolments remained unchanged in 2021 at 47%. To learn more about AMBA & BGA’s research projects and to access recent reports, including the AMBA Application and Enrolment Report 2022 , please visit: www.businessgraduatesassociation.com/about-us/research
METHODOLOGY AND SURVEY SAMPLE
As part of the MBA admissions data compiled for the recently released AMBA Application and Enrolment Report 2022 , 65 AMBA-accredited business schools also provided data on a range of master’s in business management programmes (commonly known as MBMs, or MiMs). Of these, 56 schools also submitted their data in 2020 allowing for the direct like‑for‑like comparison on which this exclusive research feature for Business Impact is based. Generalist, postgraduate and predominantly pre-experience – MBM degrees typically provide a foundation for individuals starting a career in management and have been identified as a particular area of interest for members of the Business Graduates Association (BGA) which aims to ensure graduates of all levels of business education commence their careers with a firm understanding and appreciation of the principles of responsible management, positive impact and lifelong learning. Data has been analysed with the use of nine regions which reflect the geographic spread of AMBA-accredited business schools. For example, business schools in the UK, India and China are treated as separate regions due to their distinct and separate markets, and the high volume of AMBA-accredited business schools based in each country. In instances when figures do not sum to 100 per cent or to a combined sum, this is due to rounding. MBM programmes analysed in this research feature were delivered at schools in the following locations: Europe (excluding the UK) (48 per cent); the UK (18 per cent); India (18 per cent); China (five per cent); Latin America (four per cent); North America and the Caribbean (two per cent); Oceania (two per cent); and Africa (four per cent).
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
CHANGING THE MINDSET ON SUSTAINABILITY
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
SUSTAINABILITY
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Transforming business communities for the better can be achieved by changing society’s mindset on the impact of sustainability. Tim Banerjee Dhoul presents highlights from BGA’s online workshop on implementing sustainable practices in Africa and the Middle East
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
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he distinction between legitimacy and legality, the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a code of ethics, knowledge transfer and walking the talk on sustainability – all of these ideas and more were discussed at a recent BGA workshop attended by business
school practitioners where the need to change mindset was a common thread. This is true not just for those working and studying at business schools, but also for the wider society, particularly in the way business schools are perceived by others. Exploring definitions A focus on mindset could help channel business schools’ strategy when you consider the complexities inherent in defining ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’. As Jane Usher, head of department at Milpark Business School, explained: “‘Sustainability’ is an incredibly broad term and means different things to different people, from environmental sustainability to economic and social sustainability and so on. There are so many different definitions.” Usher then outlined which definition she found most useful in her role as a business school leader. “The one that I really like is from Santander; it says that sustainability consists of fulfilling the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future generations while ensuring a balance between economic growth and environmental care and social wellbeing. I think those elements are very important for us to focus on as business schools.” Helmi Hammami, a professor of finance and accounting at Rennes School of Business, agreed with this focus when citing his preferred definition of the term as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This particular definition is taken from 1987’s Our Common Future from the World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Report in recognition of former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland’s role as the organisation’s chair. Teaching the SDGs in totality At the BGA workshop, Usher went on to demonstrate how the UN SDGs can also help provide focus to business schools’ sustainability initiatives. “The sustainable development goals can direct us and give us some movement towards a holistic look at improving the various aspects of sustainability,” she said. Developing this idea, Ali Awni, a professor of practice and director at the John D Gerhart Center for Philanthropy, Civic Engagement and Responsible Business at the American University in Cairo (AUC), emphasised the value of positioning the UN SDGs as an all-encompassing set of principles to follow. “A school has to stress that the SDGs are taught in totality. You have to look at the SDGs as a code of ethics – you cannot really divide them and say I'm going to do one and ignore 10. You have to have a minimum acceptability performance across them all. “If you think about it from this perspective, it becomes clear. We rarely talk about SDGs as human rights and a very
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
SUSTAINABILITY
“Business schools can play a major role in adapting the mindsets of those graduates who go out and change their communities”
strong wave of thinking has developed of businesses as a major contributor to either human rights violations or human rights successes.” Awni also pointed to India’s new National Education Policy as an example of what needs to change in business education. The policy talks, in his words, of the need to “reorient the education system from one focused on sorting top talent and identifying top talent students to one that is focused on human development that can improve learning for all”. “Think about it,” he went on to explain. “Education is about sorting the top talent; it's looking for the gold medallists. We're not trying to spread sports to every facet of society and there is never any mention of human development that can improve learning for all. “Innovations do not serve the base of the pyramid, with few exceptions. We don't celebrate frugal innovation and grassroots innovation because they tend to be more pragmatic and open source. This makes development and sustainability
horizontal and not vertical, which requires a realistic and multi‑disciplinary approach. “In my view, schools of business can play a major role in changing and creating the mindset of graduates who can go out and change their communities. Once you have enough of a critical mass, then it becomes a culture and a movement.” Disrupting conventional thinking How can business schools foster the conditions from which movements spring? For Henley Business School Africa’s dean and director Jon Foster-Pedley, it starts with challenging schools to go further in their actions on sustainability and disrupting conventional thinking. “I want to think about the difference between legality and legitimacy,” Foster-Pedley said. “Extinction Rebellion says the science is clear. We're heading towards catastrophic climate change, or feeling it already, and the government and wider society is mainly ignoring this, so we must do something about it.
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
“Students need to understand that current forms of economic activity are either unsustainable or will be subject to a wider raft of ethical, social and environmental constraints”
“Where should business schools sit here? Of course, being seen to be provocateurs or activists is very uncomfortable. In fact, many people would say it's absolutely not what business schools should do, but I would question that now. “What sort of ethics do we need to deal with? Do you want to build a world where you know our children are, collectively, going to grow up in a boiling planet with fewer species and less opportunity? “If we want to really engage with sustainability in business schools, we have to not just study and talk about this, we also have to integrate these thoughts like DNA into the heart of our activities and be prepared to challenge some of our most sacred thoughts.” Ensuring students are “awake to what's happening” Milpark Business School’s Usher also questioned whether current approaches were sufficient, arguing that business schools must “walk the talk” on sustainability in their operations and that their faculty members should do the same. “Business schools have a very important role to play in promoting awareness and finding innovative ways to enable their students to embrace specific aspects of sustainability. It is threaded throughout the curricula of our schools in South Africa, but I wonder if we are doing enough.” She then outlined Milpark’s current teaching approach in this regard. “We have a module on business ethics and corporate governance and a module specifically on social responsibility and environmental management. All of our postgraduate and MBA students do these foundational modules and they underpin all the ones that come after that. “We want to ensure that students have a theoretical understanding and are able to analyse corporate social responsibility issues. They also need to be able to understand that current forms of economic activity are either unsustainable or, at least, will be subject to a wider raft of ethical, social and environmental constraints in the future. They need to be forward‑looking and they need to be awake to what's happening in their communities and localities. “The most important element in this [social responsibility and environmental management] module is that students need to identify a charity within their community that is willing to work with them. Students learn what is happening and what is required from the charities and then find ways of assisting them to ensure that they are sustainable, that they can receive funding and that they can continue to have an impact within their local community… We've seen students who have graduated and still go back to the charity.” In a similar vein, Rennes School of Business’ Hammami talked of his school’s work to incentivise collaborating on projects with local communities. “We have put a system in place to reward
people who work on solving local problems. [In particular] we incentivise those who work with local entrepreneurs to create case studies that talk about their successes and failures. We then incorporate these case studies into the classroom to teach our students about real companies from the region,” he noted.
A literacy test Two of the commentators also described their use of a
sustainability literacy test, known as the Sulitest, something that is a featured initiative of the UN Partnerships for SDGs. It offers tools aimed at engaging learning and raising awareness on sustainability challenges and solutions. Awni noted that the American University in Cairo School of Business picked up the test from its early involvement in the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). The school now ensures that all students take the test before graduation, although he insisted that the “focus of the test is on education, not assessment.” Of its use at Milpark, Usher remarked that the test’s value lies in helping “students self-assess what they know about economic, social and environmental sustainability and the challenges that are facing the world”. She then added: “The Sulitest also says it’s the responsibility of all our business leaders to consider sustainable development in their practices; not only because our planet and society are calling for responsible and restorative action, but also because sustainability knowledge is increasingly a requirement for employers, investors and other business stakeholders.” Widening access Another area of sustainable development that business schools are particularly well placed to address relates to SDG number four, that of providing inclusive and equitable quality education to all. On this topic, Henley Business School Africa’s Foster-Pedley spoke of business schools’ responsibility vis-a-vis addressing inequality in the country and Africa as a whole. Referring to the Gini coefficient [a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income or wealth inequality within a nation or a social group] he said: “South Africa has the most unequal distribution of resources and finance in the world and it's been getting worse. I know that most of the countries in Africa are not doing particularly well in this respect either. The majority of people don't have access to education or resources.” Foster-Pedley then underlined the importance of widening access to education. “Education doesn't create intelligence; it amplifies, challenges and builds it. The thought that [all] people are not inherently intelligent is a legacy of colonialism and racism, so we have to do something about this.” The Henley Business School Africa dean also affirmed how addressing the legacy of colonialism sits at the heart of his
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
SUSTAINABILITY
institution’s plans. “People make institutions. The way people think, what they believe in and what they believe they're capable of forms their output and we believe people should be able to build businesses and create new value and new forms of economies that are going to build Africa and, in the process, address the very inherent issues of colonialism, its residues and how it still influences everybody.” Mutually beneficial collaborations The importance of knowledge transfer for business schools in developing and furthering sustainability solutions was discussed at the BGA workshop by Hammami. He began by drawing on a Cambridge University definition: “Knowledge transfer is a term used to encompass a very broad range of activities to support mutually beneficial collaborations between universities, businesses and the public sector.” He went on to elaborate: “We cannot do innovation by just sitting in our offices. Innovation is about knowledge transfer. There is a myriad of channels [through which we can] share knowledge. First, we have our students – we train them, they go for internships and then they are on the job market. These are very good ways to disseminate the knowledge that we create in schools/universities, training and workshops. “Then you have research projects and publications that serve the community, businesses and society. Following this, you have consultancy, new business creation and community engagement. These are channels we can transfer knowledge to outside the boundaries of our organisations. This is what we call the ‘knowledge triangle’ – a model that makes the links between research, higher education and business.” Hammami, who is also a senior advisor to the Rennes School of Business dean on knowledge transfer, ended by saying that the process is not without its challenges. “Business schools are not always seen as hubs of knowledge creation. There is a misconception about what such schools do, with narratives that they live in a bubble that is disconnected from the reality of society and business needs.” With this remark, he returned to the central theme of the need to shift mindsets – of those outside the business school sector as much as those within it.
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This event forms part of a series of capacity-building workshops organised by the Business Graduates Association (BGA) across the world. The next workshops take place on Thursday 16 February in Berlin, Germany, followed by multiple dates in India throughout March. Learn more by visiting BGA’s website: www.businessgraduatesassociation.com/events/ capacity-building-workshops/
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
RAISING THE ROOTS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCE
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
LEADERSHIP
To better understand cultural differences in leadership, we need to understand where they come from. NEOMA Business School’s Sirio Lonati traces their roots to societal change brought on by changes to agricultural practices that took place centuries ago and explains what this means for modern-day managers and those who help develop them
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BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
uch has been said and written about leadership in the social sciences and popular press. This attention comes as no surprise. Leadership is a pervasive social function found at many levels of our societies. Institutionalised leadership
Western business school, it would be easy to (mistakenly) think that leadership must be a recent and ‘WEIRD’ discovery. I do not mean WEIRD as in ‘odd’, but as in ‘Western’, ‘Educated’, ‘Industrialised’, ‘Rich’ and ‘Democratic’. In fact, most modern-day leadership research – and, especially, research on organisational leadership – has traditionally been conducted in Western contexts and with samples composed, mainly, of rich and educated managers, employees, or students coming from a handful of North American and European countries. The focus on such samples was, at least partly, accidental. Many researchers studying leadership just happened to work in Western countries, where WEIRD subjects abound. It is, therefore, not surprising that most theories have been derived and tested thanks to the observation of a relatively limited and culturally homogeneous subject pool. Yet, this ‘Northern American bias’ begot – and still begets – some key questions for leadership researchers. As we have studied mainly US and European leaders, are our theories and results valid in other cultural contexts? Are the leadership characteristics and behaviours deemed excellent in the West also applicable in other countries? Are we teaching ‘biased’ leadership techniques in our business school courses? To answer these questions, the field embarked on a truly ‘cross‑cultural leadership’ endeavour in the 1990s and early 2000s, as the rapid globalisation of markets and businesses made it urgent and practically relevant to tackle cross-cultural subjects. The most important study in this field is certainly the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) project, which contributed to drawing a map of how effective leaders should behave in different countries. A cross-cultural map of leadership ideals The key idea behind GLOBE is that we all know a leader when we see one. That is, each of us has some ‘leadership ideals’, or some clear ideas of how ideal leaders should behave and which characteristics they should possess. For instance, some
roles exist in virtually all human organisations (from CEOs of companies to presidents of countries and football coaches, for example). In addition, extemporaneous and informal leaders often emerge in small groups of peers. And individuals that engage in the goal‑influencing process that we usually call ‘leadership’ do not only exist in contemporary societies, but they are also found in small-scale, traditional ones. Leadership is, therefore, a human universal. However, there seems to be no universal way to lead. On the contrary, casual observation suggests that the behaviours and the characteristics of leaders can differ quite substantially across the world. For instance, it is almost a cliché to imagine the prototypical American manager as a very decisive yet participative individual. On the contrary, it is commonplace to believe that the average Japanese boss requests strong deference to hierarchy and stresses status differentials. Are these impressions true or are such differences based on mere anecdotal evidence? And where do these differences come from? Research shows that leaders (and organisational leaders, more specifically) are indeed expected to behave differently around the world and that these present-day differences might also be due to factors that trace back to our ancient past. A WEIRD approach to leadership The study of leadership and of great leaders has a long tradition and features the contributions of world-famous philosophers and intellectuals from the East and the West, ranging from Aristotle to Max Weber. But if one were to read academic articles on leadership published just some years ago or enrol in a leadership course at a
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“Across cultures, individuals often expect different behaviours and attributes from their leaders”
BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
LEADERSHIP
of us believe that effective leaders should be democratic and protective of their followers, whereas others think that ideal leaders should be strong and directive. These ideals might depend on a myriad of individual factors, but the novel notion brought to the fore by GLOBE was that individuals belonging to different cultural groups might share systematically different leadership ideals. These ideals are learned during one’s life (possibly, when one is still young) thanks to interactions with parents, teachers and group leaders in a specific cultural context. To test the idea that leadership ideals might vary across cultural groups, GLOBE researchers took an apparently simple approach: they asked many individuals directly which leadership attributes they deem more or less desirable. While intuitive, this research effort has been logistically and methodologically titanic. We are talking about thousands of questionnaires administered to middle managers working in hundreds of companies located in about 60 different countries. Specifically, these questionnaires asked middle managers to rate their perceived appropriateness/effectiveness of more than 100 items describing specific leadership attributes (for example, ‘diplomatic’, ‘bossy’ and ‘administratively skilled’). Thanks to these responses, researchers managed to derive different ‘macro-dimensions’ of leadership (such as autocratic leadership, visionary leadership and face-saving leadership) and to then explore whether such dimensions are seen as more or less effective in different geocultural clusters. How do cultural attitudes to leadership differ? “So, how should I behave in different cultures to be seen as an effective leader?” you might ask at this point. As often happens in research, the correct answer to this question is: “It depends.” Yet, the GLOBE results suggest at least three key conclusions for both researchers and practitioners: • There are some universally positive attributes of leadership. These characteristics are appreciated in virtually all societies studied. For instance, leaders’ descriptors such as ‘communicative’ or ‘dynamic’ are seen as facilitating outstanding leadership everywhere. • GLOBE also found some universally negative attributes of leadership – ‘irritable’, ‘ruthless’, or ‘dictatorial’, for instance, are all seen as major impediments to outstanding leadership everywhere. • The GLOBE project highlights some leadership characteristics and behaviours that are particularly effective in some countries, but less effective in others. For instance, followers in Northern Europe tend to prefer ‘participative’ leaders (ie leaders that encourage consensus-based decision-making, delegation and consultation) but do not highly value leader behaviours related to compassion and generosity. However, followers in the Middle East or Confucian Asia tend to see participative leadership less positively and endorse more status-conscious leaders. Aside from describing ideal leadership profiles for various geocultural areas, results from GLOBE also highlight how specific dimensions of national culture predict differences in leadership
ideals. Simply put, the idea is that each society has relatively stable norms and values that tend to be endorsed somewhat homogeneously by all its members. In turn, these stable norms and values – culture, in short – predict the expectations about leadership that each society has. For instance, societies scoring highly on the cultural value of power distance, where hierarchical differences are seen as normal and are widely accepted, tend to prefer more directive leadership and less visionary and inspirational leadership. Societies with a high uncertainty avoidance, which rely on formal and informal rules to cope with the uncertainty of future events, tend to endorse compassionate and generous leaders. Where do these differences come from? The GLOBE results offer us a valuable and complex picture of what individuals want from their leaders across cultures. This descriptive evidence is vital for researchers and practitioners alike, who often need to manage teams in which members come from different cultures, or work in multicultural environments. Yet these studies do not answer some more basic questions about the origins of such differences. Why do cultural differences in leadership ideals exist? Where do these differences ultimately come from? Why do we even like the leaders we actually like? These questions are rather novel, so it is not so surprising that most leadership theories are still relatively silent on them. Some suggest that the differences in leadership ideals across the world might be driven by the differences in political and economic environments. Others indicate that geographical factors might play a role. Other theories imply that pre-existing cultural differences such as religion, philosophical tradition or other dimensions of culture might cause societies to have different expectations about leadership. The influence of pre-industrial agricultural practices While all the previously mentioned factors are probably important, they might not give the whole story. In a study published in The Leadership Quarterly , I explore an alternative possibility: whether pre-industrial agricultural practices are related to contemporary leadership ideals and organisational practices. This work moves from a simple observation derived from the GLOBE data. In some societies, leaders are expected to delegate, empower their subordinates and be consultative, whereas leaders demand more obedience and provide clear guidance to their subordinates in other societies. Why do these differences exist? Building on literature in anthropology, archaeology and classical comparative history, I suggest that agricultural intensification in pre-industrial times (for example, the use of the plough, irrigation and hillside terracing) generated important societal changes that led to the emergence of more authoritarian and directive forms of leadership. Intensive agriculture brought about an increase in group size, complexity and diversity that called for the emergence of stronger and more directive leaders that could ‘manage’ and coordinate such complex groups. The higher agricultural
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