BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
NEWS AND INSIGHT
CAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE CREATE RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS? COUNTRY: Norway SCHOOL: University of Agder Classic children’s stories such as the Aesop fable The tortoise and the hare are often laced with lessons or hidden morals. Could they encourage kids to be kind to the environment? Berit Huntebrinker, a researcher at the University of Agder recently completed a thesis on how four picture books for children and three comics portray humans’ relationship with nature. All the books and comics were created by Norwegian authors and illustrators and were published between 1974 and 2019. Huntebrinker noted that while some of the texts were directly educational, others left room for a conclusion to be sought by the reader. One key theme to emerge from the majority of the books and comics examined was that the main character had to take responsibility for nature but had free will to choose how they wanted to solve any issues. The onus was on individual responsibility rather than collective responsibility. This focus on individual responsibility did not surprise Huntebrinker. “Children’s books and popular literature are often simplified presentations and the individual is often the focus in popular literature,” she explained. However, Det blå folket og karamell-fabrikken (1974), written by Tor Åge Bringsværd and illustrated by Thore Hansen, was found to have a greater emphasis on collective responsibility. The reason identified for this is that the book’s creators were critical of the political and social conditions in Norway at the time and were therefore interested in promoting a collective conscious. “A nuanced reading is fruitful and necessary to fully appreciate the complexity of children’s literature, also when it comes to the presentation of different views about our responsibility for nature,” argued Huntebrinker. The researcher’s conclusion is that while children’s authors agree that the way we behave towards nature needs to change, they do not agree on what those behaviours should be – a conundrum that has great applicability in the world of business and management. EB
LIFELONG LEARNING INITIATIVE URGES GRADUATES TO REACH FOR THE MOON COUNTRY: Mexico SCHOOL: Egade Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey ‘Moonshot thinking’ was the focus of Egade Business School’s latest lifelong learning programme for alumni, held at the end of March. The moonshot mental model was showcased as a useful approach to thriving in disruption and implementing organisational transformation. It is about trying to make what seems impossible possible, most commonly by attacking big problems with radical thinking (ie thinking that reaches for the moon) with the use of disruptive technology. Speaking ahead of the programme, Alfonso Ávila, innovation and entrepreneurship professor at Egade said: “Viewing disruption as an opportunity rather than a threat will be the mindset after this journey.” The journey Ávila describes is a week-long lifelong learning initiative at the school, known as Egade U Week, of which he is also academic director. Specifically targeting its alumni community, it is designed to provide intensive learning that updates graduates’ knowledge and skills through conferences, workshops and panels, as well as by providing spaces for dialogue and the sharing of opinions and ideas. Speakers during Egade U Week included Esade Business School’s chief innovation officer Iván Bofarull, who is the author of the 2020 book Moonshot thinking , and Fernando González Olivieri, an alumnus of Egade and the CEO of Mexican multinational CEMEX. Also featured were Egade dean Horacio Arredondo and Inés Sáenz, vice-president of inclusion, social impact and sustainability at the wider Tecnológico de Monterrey. Director of alumni relations at Egade María Livas said that moonshot thinking “can serve as a tool to help companies avoid disruption and emerge with enhanced strength”. Offered exclusively to its alumni community, or ‘Exatec Egade’ as the school terms its graduates, Egade U Week is now in its fourth year. Last year’s programme focused on digital transformation with headline speakers from TikTok and Amazon Web Services. TBD
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