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/
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