Ambition is AMBA’s thought leadership magazine, offering regular insights into the challenges and trends that matter most in global management education
Ambiti n The monthly magazine of the Association of MBAs (AMBA) BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
Issue 65 JULY/AUGUST 2023
Signs of the Times AMBA & BGA global conference tracks all the trends in business education
ROUNDTABLE REVIEW: KEEPING AN EYE ON AI Debating the merits of a contentious algorithm
AMBA SURVEY ON WHY MOBILES MATTER Utilising smartphones & apps as tools for learning
THE CURIOUS TALE OF THE INQUISITIVE MIND Bayes on the power of challenging the status quo
RESEARCH AND INSIGHT: STAY AHEAD OF THE TRENDS IN BUSINESS EDUCATION
AMBA & BGA’s Research and Insight Centre has produced a wealth of groundbreaking original research and compiled reports citing views from MBA thinkers, practitioners, faculty and leaders across the globe on the issues that matter most in business education
Recent research has investigated climate change, lifelong learning and education technology. AMBA & BGA also continues to analyse application and enrolment figures across a spectrum of programmes, as well as career trajectories and graduate success
If you are interested in partnering on research,
joining one of our roundtables or focus groups to delve into our findings, or just want to share your thoughts on topics you would like AMBA & BGA to explore, please contact research@amba-bga.com
Issue 65 | JULY/AUGUST 2023
NEWS & INS IGHT
REGULARS
EDI TOR’ S LET TER An overview of this issue’s coverage of the most crucial
trends in business education, from geopolitics and digital technology to new pedagogical approaches SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS A look at Iteso University Business School, a new addition to the AMBA network in Mexico
FROM THE CEO
How the MBA employment market is changing and the way graduates can create the right irst impression
BUS INESS BRI EF ING The latest news and research from across AMBA’s global network
OPINION
EDUCATION CALL ING
What role do mobile apps and web portals play within an MBA student’s academic journey? A new AMBA survey investigates THE LIFE AQUAT IC The winner of AMBA’s MBA Start-up of the Year 2023 award, Damien Demoor, on his work to preserve our marine ecosystems using cleantech
PEDAGOGY Learning through play can provide a novel lens for developing holistic skills
Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 3
AMBA & BGA Indian Capacity Building Workshop
13 SEPTEMBER 2023
HYDERABAD, TELANGANA, INDIA
AMBA & BGA’s second capacity-building workshop in India will focus on leveraging international partnerships to build unique joint programmes. Attendance is free of charge. Scan the QR code to learn more and register
Issue 65 | JULY/AUGUST 2023
FEATURES
ALL EYES ON AI A panel of international business school faculty discussed practical ways of working with AI on programmes and assessment while weighing up key challenges posed by the technology
UP FOR DEBATE Top takeaways from this year’s AMBA & BGA Global Conference, held in Seville
A LASTING LEGACY Highlights from a day of celebration and reflection held at the University of Glasgow in honour of famed philosopher and economist Adam Smith’s tercentenary
THE POWER OF PURPOSEFUL CURIOSITY Bayes Business School’s Constantine Andriopoulos reminds us of the importance of using our innate inquisitiveness to gain a greater understanding of the world around us
Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 5
AMBA CONNECT EVENTS 2023
AMBA Connect is a series of events designed to bring together student and graduate members from AMBA-accredited programmes around the world These evening events provide the perfect setting for students and graduates to meet and exchange insights with like-minded peers
UPCOMING EVENTS
O CTOBER 26 LONDON , UK
SEPTEMBER 27 MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
Students can discover more at: associationofmbas.com/students-and-graduates/member-events
EDITOR’S LETTER
EDITORIAL
State of PLAY
Head of editorial Colette Doyle c.doyle@amba-bga.com Content editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul t.dhoul@amba-bga.com
here are a fair few noteworthy trends involved in the future of management education: lifelong learning, micro-credentials, sustainability and the impact business schools have on society at large, to name but a few. In this issue’s review of the AMBA & BGA global conference recently held in Seville, we touch on these and hear from speakers on related topics such as the importance of incorporating geopolitics This issue covers the latest trends in business education, such as digital technology and new pedagogy techniques
T
Art editor Sam Price
Sub-editor Heather Ford
into the MBA programme; the benefits and challenges of AI; and building bridges with the business community. Our global conference was also the platform for a roundtable featuring a number of leading lights of academia, organised in association with feedback service Studiosity. It looked at how algorithms such as ChatGPT can be harnessed to enhance the educational experience. The panel debate sought to find practical ways forward for business schools intending to work with the technology. Participants offered a wealth of insights into the challenges ahead and how they see programmes and assessment methods changing. Another partnership in this issue involves a survey conducted on behalf of library software specialist Ex Libris, revealing some highly pertinent statistics on the use of smartphones and digital apps in management education. App usage among business schools has risen by 37 percentage points, when comparing the experiences of those who graduated in 2018 and those still studying in 2022. As many as 79 per cent of respondents said they find their institution’s app useful; the most common use is to access personalised timetables, as cited by 74 per cent. Innovative ideas in pedagogy are also explored in our guest column, contributed this month by Meredith Storey of the Impactful Five (i5) project at the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative of the UN Global Compact. PRME has been collaborating with the Lego Foundation to translate lessons from young learners to the adult audience of business school students and educators. The i5 pedagogy was specifically developed to create meaningful educational environments in tertiary business and management schools. Enjoy the issue – we’ll be back in September with a review of the speaker sessions at the Business School Professionals Conference, held earlier this month in Edinburgh, plus an insightful analysis of the management education sector in the Middle East and Africa.
Insight, content and PR manager Ellen Buchan e.buchan@amba-bga.com
CORPORATE
Head of commercial relations Max Braithwaite m.braithwaite@amba-bga.com
Head of marketing and communications Leonora Clement
Senior marketing executive Edward Holmes
Head of IT and data management Jack Villanueva
Head of events Carolyn Armsby
HR and employer relations manager Aarti Bhasin
Colette Doyle , Editor, Ambition
Finance and commercial Director Catherine Walker
THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS
Chief executive officer Andrew Main Wilson
Executive assistant to the CEO Amy Youngs a.youngs@amba-bga.com
ACCREDITATION ENQUIRIES accreditation@amba-bga.com
CONSTANTINE ANDRIOPOULOS
DAMIEN DEMOOR
GRAEME ROY
CRAIG SMITH
MEREDITH STOREY
FRANCISCO JAVIER VÁZQUEZ JR
Copyright 2023 by Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association ISSN 2631-6382 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, AMBA 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 AMBA. Whenever an article in this publication is placed with the financial support of an advertiser, partner or sponsor, it will be marked as such. AMBA 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.
Ambiti n
Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 7
BUSINESS BRIEFING
All the latest updates from across AMBA’s global network
Walking the talk on sustainability, narrowing the funding gap for female-led start-ups, encouraging inclusivity and a new tech MBA in Canada are all featured in our latest selection of research, projects and initiatives from AMBA-accredited schools. Compiled by Tim Banerjee Dhoul and Ellen Buchan
TECH MBA PUTS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FIRST
SCHOOL: Schulich School of Business, York University COUNTRY: Canada
“Schulich’s new Tech MBA will produce graduates who bring cutting-edge managerial knowledge to help companies deal with technological disruption and the ongoing digital transformation reshaping the world of business,” said dean of the Schulich School of Business Detlev Zwick. As part of the programme, Schulich has also launched the Venture Studio in conjunction with OneEleven, a start-up community led by the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) that aims to help new tech companies transition to scale-ups. The studio will enable students to work on pro bono strategic product and fundraising analysis for companies in this community. It will also bring in guest lecturers and mentoring opportunities from founders and venture capitalists. “The Venture Studio will unlock a world of learning opportunities and relationships for our students,” enthused co-leader of the studio and Schulich adjunct professor Chris Carder. The programme comes with an estimated price tag (as advertised at the time of writing) of CAD$82,750 (c US$62,000) for domestic students and CAD$127,500 (c US$96,000) for international students. TBD
A new 16-month MBA programme focusing on the pressures felt by businesses in light of the rapid application of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technological advances is to launch in September at York University’s Schulich School of Business. Emphasising the value of a hands-on approach, the school says that experiential learning will account for 40 per cent of the new MBA in Technology Leadership (Tech MBA). It also features a mandatory 12-week internship that runs the full length of one of the programme’s four terms. Career support will come courtesy of two professional development courses focusing on employability skills and career readiness. “With a focus on experiential learning, real-world projects and personalised coaching, our programme prepares graduates to excel in leadership roles in tech-driven industries,” declared Schulich associate professor and director of the Tech MBA Murat Kristal. The aim is to provide students with the leadership and management skills needed to succeed in the age of technological disruption. Focus areas in the curriculum include strategic thinking, systems design, digital transformation, value creation and technology management and integration.
8 | Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2023
NEWS & INSIGHT
THE ROLE OF SERENDIPITY IN CAREER PROGRESSION
SCHOOL: Audencia Business School COUNTRY: France
Climbing a ladder is a commonly used metaphor for career progression, in which each rung is a promotion on the way to the top. But what happens when unexpected events get in the way of this clearly defined path? A new piece of research led by Audencia Business School’s Céline Legrand and Christine Naschberger, together with Yehuda Baruch (Audencia and Southampton Business School) and Nikos Bozionelos (Emlyon Business School) examines the role of chance events on careers. The research draws from 682 questionnaires completed by company managers in a major European capital. Among respondents, more than 60 per cent reported a significant chance event they believe impacted their career outcomes. Of this number, 77 per cent said their career was impacted by a positive chance event while 23 per cent reported a negative event. Positive events included fortuitous professional encounters that led to opportunities for career development in terms of further networking, coaching, mentoring or information about job openings. Negative events, meanwhile, ranged from restructuring, downsizing and the sudden closure of an organisation to internal issues, such as a toxic new manager.
However, negative events did not necessarily lead to a negative career impact – in around 70 per cent of cases, respondents said that their negative chance event ultimately yielded a positive impact on their careers. Examples included the adoption of a new career stance and a change of company/sector that proved beneficial for an individual’s career. The remaining 30 per cent reported that their negative event had led to a negative career impact. Examples here included difficulties in finding a job of similar standing, a blocked career path, an unfavourable change of role and the deterioration of employment conditions. Positive chance events yielded positive career outcomes, such as promotions to new career challenges, in approximately 97 per cent of cases. However, in three per cent of cases the positive event did in fact lead to a negative impact. Overall, the researchers found that occurrences of these chance events tend to be associated with long-term career benefits rather than career losses, suggesting that people should be open to the possibility of these events rather than fear them. EB
Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 9
SOCIAL IMPACT INCUBATOR TARGETS FEMALE LEADERS
SCHOOL: Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University COUNTRY: Singapore
A new start-up incubator for female-led enterprises in Singapore has been launched by Singapore Management University (SMU), home to the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank. The Women in Entrepreneurship Incubator will be run by SMU’s Lien Centre for Social Innovation and will o er a six-month programme of masterclasses, mentoring and pitching exercises. It is funded by a US$300,000 donation from Standard Chartered Bank given to support female entrepreneurship that has a focus on achieving social impact. Alongside fuelling ideas that can help to solve common concerns, the incubator’s principal aim is to narrow the funding gap between male and female entrepreneurs in southeast Asia. Although women account for 30 per cent of entrepreneurs in the region, they receive only eight per cent of venture capital funding, according to a 2020 International Finance Corporation report. For this reason, seed funding is also available to the top-performing projects in the new incubator. “The Lien Centre for Social Innovation is delighted to be part of the movement aimed at increasing gender
equity in business ownership and entrepreneurship in Singapore,” said executive director of the SMU Lien Centre for Social Innovation Steve Loh. “With the Women in Entrepreneurship Incubator, we are especially keen to support enterprises that create a sustainable impact, within the overall context of contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).” There are places for 10 early-stage start-ups and up to 20 female entrepreneurs in the incubator’s first cohort, kicking o in October. At the programme’s conclusion in March 2024, the five best-performing start-up teams will be selected to receive up to SGD$80,000 (c US$60,000) in seed funding. All 10 of the participating start-ups will receive post-programme support from the SMU Lien Centre for Social Innovation. Applications to join the incubator are open until the start of September. To be eligible, start-ups must address at least one of the 17 UN SDGs as well as holding a focus that aligns with at least one of SMU’s three strategic priorities of digital transformation, sustainable living and growth in Asia. TBD
10 | Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2023
NEWS & INSIGHT
LINGUISTIC DIFFERENCES FUEL INVESTMENT
SCHOOL: Bayes Business School, City University COUNTRY: UK
How close does the future feel? People are more likely to invest in crowdfunding entrepreneurial ventures when a pitch is delivered in a language that blurs the present and the future, according to new research from Bayes Business School. The premise is that some languages create a perception that the future is closer temporally to the present than others. These are called ‘weak-future’ languages and they include Chinese, whereas an example of a ‘strong-future’ language in a characteristic known as the Future-Time Reference (FTR) is English. In the first of two studies in the research, it was found that people engaged more heavily in crowdfunding investments where a weak-future language is prevalent across 53 countries. In the second study, an analysis of 77 bilingual Chinese students (speaking English and Chinese) found that individuals were more likely to invest following a pitch in Chinese (ie the weak-future language) than one delivered in the strong-future language of English. This study also confirmed that the first study’s findings were driven by linguistic rather than cultural di erences. “The overall study demonstrates that the perception among weak-future speakers of a future that is close results in the future assuming greater psychological importance, which increases the higher present value of a future reward. This in turn inspires higher current investment,” reasoned co-author and entrepreneurship professor at Bayes Business School Vangelis Souitaris. It also provides an interesting example of how variations in a language’s characteristics, such as FTR, can influence behaviour. “It contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by linking entrepreneurial finance to a linguistic perspective of entrepreneurship,” Souitaris added . TBD
PUTTING WORDS INTO ACTION ON SUSTAINABILITY
SCHOOL: IÉSEG School of Management COUNTRY: France
It’s becoming increasingly common for business schools to emphasise how they are embedding sustainability issues into their teaching. While this is a much-needed development, it’s also important for schools to ensure that they walk the talk when it comes to meeting environmental goals in their operations. IÉSEG School of Management in France has made a number of changes to reduce its climate impact and recently published the results of an initiative aimed at diminishing the school’s energy consumption that was launched in October 2022. The school has since implemented measures that include new timeslots for permanent lighting, the reduction of heating temperatures to 19 degrees Celsius across all the campuses and the closure of buildings during holidays. The short-term goal was to reduce energy consumption by 15 per cent during the winter of 2022-23, but IÉSEG has already registered an 18 per cent decrease in electricity consumption on its Lille campus and a 28 per cent drop on its Paris campus. These savings equate to the typical annual energy consumption of nine 150 square-metre houses, according to the school. Heating consumption, meanwhile, is down by 24 per cent on each campus – the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of 30 houses of 100 square metres. Alongside these operational changes, IÉSEG has also connected its buildings to urban heating networks, leading to a reduction in the school’s carbon footprint. The energy initiative is one arm of IÉSEG’s environmental commitments – the school also signed the Grenoble Agreement in 2022 and the Lille Low Carbon Pact In 2021. In addition, it has started an employee training plan to further understanding of sustainable development and diversity among its own people. These initiatives combined are designed to allow IÉSEG to meet the institution’s long-term aims of reducing its carbon footprint by 30 per cent and its energy consumption by 40 per cent by 2030, as compared to its figures from 2019. EB
Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 11
NEW ENTREPRENEURIAL COURSE AIMS TO ADVANCE INCLUSIVITY
SCHOOL: Technological University Dublin COUNTRY: Ireland
Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) has announced a new course aimed at people who want to start their own business but also have a disability. Thanks to a partnership with Allied Irish Banks (AIB), the course is free for all successful applicants. Anyone who self-identifies as having a disability and wishes to start their first business is eligible to apply. The course kicks o in September and will last for 12 weeks, during which time participants will cover 12 key business issues including idea evaluation; presenting a business plan; test-marketing an idea; understanding legal matters; balancing business and personal wellbeing; and the distinctive challenges that people with disabilities may face when becoming self-employed. To help bring the course to life, TU Dublin will draw on a range of guest speakers to share their expertise. The course will also allow participants to use an online business simulation and entrepreneurship teaching tool called SimVenture Validate that will allow the participants to develop their ideas week on week. O ered at level six of the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), successful participants will be awarded five ECTS credits. They will also be full students of TU Dublin and can therefore make use of the university’s resources. In addition, each participant will be allocated a business mentor from Dublin City Council’s Local Enterprise Offices who will be available to provide support and advice on individual participants’ business ideas. The new course has been co-founded by the Open Doors Initiative, an organisation that seeks to provide greater opportunities for marginalised members of society by creating pathways to work. EB
IS A ‘CLAN CEO’ BETTER FOR BUSINESS?
SCHOOL: Durham University Business School COUNTRY: UK
New research shows that ‘clan CEOs’ are more focused on the long term, more international in their outlook and are likely to enjoy greater shareholder support. The ‘clan’ element is here defined as a kinship-based community whose origin can be traced back to a common ancestor. The research was conducted by Xinming He, professor of marketing at Durham University Business School, in collaboration with Wuhan University. The team investigated a sample of 285 publicly listed Chinese firms from 2012 to 2018 and analysed the characteristics of the CEOs at the helm. “Internationalisation is a strategy that comes with long-term benefits but also short-term risks,” explained He. “There is certainly a trade-o between the two and the decision to become more internationally focused or not often rests on the values and preferences of the CEO. Those that have a greater sense of serving their long-lasting family and believe they can look further towards the future in their positions – like clan CEOs – will take more of an international approach to their strategic decisions.” Apart from the long-term focus, clan CEOs were also found to be more likely to secure support from stakeholders, suppliers and distributors. The authors reasoned that this is due to increased trust in families within a clan. The researchers believe their findings have important implications for CEO recruitment by highlighting the importance of hiring the right leader for an organisation. If a company values long-term orientation, for example, then a clan CEO may be a better fit than appointing a leader from outside this group. However, there is no mention of the gender dynamics at play here – would a preference for a clan CEO provide fewer opportunities for emerging female leaders or more if they hailed from the right lineage? EB
12 | Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2023
NEWS AND INSIGHT NEWS & INSIGHT
WHEN POLICY INTERVENTION GOES WRONG
SCHOOL: Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia COUNTRY: UK
Multibuy discounts, such as ‘three-for-two’ or ‘buy six, get 25 per cent off’ deals, are designed to encourage consumers to buy more. Therefore, it stands to reason that a ban on such discounts should lead to consumers buying less. However, this may not always be the case, according to research from Norwich Business School and the School of Economics at the University of East Anglia. Analysing the effects of a multibuy ban on alcohol sales in Scotland that came into force in 2011, the study found that the intended effect of reducing sales and curbing overconsumption was not achieved. Instead, retailers simply switched their deals to more traditional money-off discounts and this is said to have encouraged high-consumption households to increase their shopping frequency and buy more alcohol. The research, which was led by associate professor in economics Farasat Bokhari and professor of business strategy and public policy Paul Dobson, has direct implications for the UK’s ongoing attempts to devise policies that can help to alleviate the excessive consumption of unhealthy foods and drinks.
A ban on multibuy deals for foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt or sugar was due to be implemented in England in October 2022, but was postponed amid fears that the removal of such discounts would stoke inflation and raise consumer costs during a time of financial crisis for many. The study, published in the European Economic Review , suggests that a rethink may be in order as, on the basis of its evidence, the policy could easily backfire and bring about heavier spending by consumers on unhealthy foods and drinks. However, it does add that such a ban could be more effective when introduced alongside further measures, such as minimum unit pricing, that would set limits on retailers being able to offer alternative discounts and undermine the purpose of this kind of policy initiative. TBD
SHARE YOUR NEWS AND RESEARCH UPDATES by emailing AMBA & BGA’s content editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul at t.dhoul@amba-bga.com
Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 13
All eyes
14 | Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023
ROUNDTABLE REVIEW
What does the growing availability of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools mean for business education? AMBA & BGA’s recent panel debate sought solutions to a question that has caused consternation across the world. Tim Banerjee Dhoul reports I n the wake of ChatGPT’s public release at the end of 2022, the capabilities and potential impact of generative AI have captured the imagination of consumers around the world. By January, the chatbot had mustered more than 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer software application in history. In higher education, much of the ensuing clamour has centred around how the technology might a ect teaching, learning and assessment. Can it be harnessed to enhance the educational experience, or does it damage integrity by opening the door to cheating? While debate over details remains heated, there is consensus that AI and related tools are here to stay. With this in mind, a roundtable session at the AMBA & BGA Global Conference held in the Spanish city of Seville in May sought to find practical ways forward for business schools that seek to work with the technology, or that are at least mindful of its growing ubiquity. Held in association with feedback service Studiosity, panellists o ered a wealth of insights into the challenges ahead and how they see programmes and assessment changing.
on AI
Are generative AI and associated technologies good or bad for business education?
Javier Yanez-Arenas “I keep telling my students that AI is artificial and, up to this moment, not very intelligent in the sense of what we think ‘intelligence’ is. But it will keep developing and become a very good tool, so I think we should encourage its use.” Pauline Parker “What AI can help us achieve is the removal of some of the more mundane aspects of our work, so that we can do a better job in preparing students for the future. I see it as an opportunity.” Nicolas Forsans “It’s part of a process that is deskilling people. As human beings, we’re becoming less and less intelligent. When I was young, I used to be able to read a paper map – we had skills like these because
Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 15
top. There’s no reason whatsoever that we, as universities, cannot have the same capabilities as these banks. You just need the funds and the vision to do it.” Ronan Carbery “This isn’t going to go away, so a degree of digital and AI literacy is going to be important. Google’s recent relaunch of Bard, for instance, is going to be integrated with your Gmail Suite and Google Docs in the same way that you would use a spellchecker. We’re going to have to embrace the fact that students will be using [this technology] in their day-to-day lives and we must train them in the correct use of AI.” Richard Hodgett “I think we are behind. Higher education uses all these legacy systems that aren’t interconnected. So, we’re not getting data-driven decision-making. I think that we need that first before we can make full use of AI.” Mark van der Veen “A lot of people are very positive about the use of chatbots in the private sector, but I know that many are frustrated when they encounter a chatbot instead of a real person and that’s even for simple services, like banking, let alone something that is as highly complex as education. “I don’t see such good examples outside our industry, so I think we should have a little more self-confidence. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we also learned how important it is to have students in a social environment on campus and to be motivated by real people. This is a strength we have – the real person and the connection and not just the software.” Where are the opportunities for students and/or faculty to use the technology behind robot writing, or similar technologies, at business school? Javier Yanez-Arenas “I asked ChatGPT a question. Then, two hours later, I asked the same question; then, the following day, I changed the question a little and asked it again. I brought these three answers to the students in one of my classes and asked, ‘What do you think? What is the uniqueness in each of the answers? What are the differences?’ There were some differences, but it was basically providing one insight. And the students had to spot that and start thinking out of the box.” Oksana Gerwe “It’s important to ask what we’re really preparing our students for. As an MBA director and educator, I’m thinking about what employers will expect my students to demonstrate. Will they expect some basic familiarity with ChatGPT? I can’t ignore that in my classroom so, at the beginning of my strategy course in September, I will ask students to check out definitions of ‘strategy’
The panel members agreed that business schools should actively engage with AI technology
we couldn’t do without them. Now, give a young person a paper map and ask them to go from A to B – they will not have a clue.”
Oksana Gerwe “A lot of my time at primary school was spent practising cursive handwriting. It’s a valuable skill and develops your fine motor skills, but my children don’t write cursive because it’s no longer relevant to their success. Does this mean that they are less intelligent? It’s nice to have good handwriting, but I think we evolve and, as educators, I don’t think we should look back and think that we are now worse off.”
Should business education be more tech-oriented, given the anticipated changes to workplaces and careers?
Oksana Gerwe “Our students live in a world where everything is excellent. You want to date? You can use apps that are excellent. You want to watch content? Netflix is excellent. You want to do your banking or invest online? The apps are excellent. You walk through a university’s doors and the quality of experience drops. Somehow, we think that this is okay, but it’s not. The pressure is on us to find ways that will allow students to have a similar level of seamlessness in their experience.” Javier Yanez-Arenas “Some people say [certain technologies and software] are too expensive. No, it is expensive not having them and not using the appropriate tools that are used across the world.” Pauline Parker “Most of the systems being used by, for example, investment banks are actually more than 30 years old, with layers added on
16 | Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023
ROUNDTABLE REVIEW
PANEL PARTICIPANTS
using ChatGPT before we formulate our own answer as a group. Then, in some of their assessments, I will give a question and answer provided by ChatGPT and request a critique.” Nicolas Forsans “We’ve got a system called the learner engagement activity portal (LEAP). Whenever students go to a lecture, they tap a card onto a reader that registers their presence. It also registers when they log on to the library website, whenever they submit assignments and so on. That is powered by AI and it produces an engagement score. It then sets a threshold, let’s say of less than 40 per cent, to identify anybody who may be in danger of dropping out and that prompts a meeting with the personal tutor. “This is very helpful because when you’ve got 400 students in a BSc programme, or even 80 in an MBA programme, it’s hard to keep track of who’s turning up and who’s not. We don’t know what’s happening in their lives. This system has been around for a few years. We need to enhance it and make it a little more intelligent, perhaps to help us identify areas in which students may need more personalised support.” Diana Limburg “Writing assessment briefs that are fully accessible is hard and I think you could train AI to pick up on the things that catch people out, either because they’re from a different language background, or because they have dyslexia, dyscalculia or anything like that.” Cristina Sambrook “During an MBA consultancy project, I told my students that, traditionally, they’d have to gather lots of information in a week and be critical with any related reports produced. This is a hugely challenging ask on a person’s time, so they used ChatGPT to help gather data. The students then analysed the data themselves because the project is a real case study and ChatGPT is unable to provide that kind of input. Combining the use of technology with human analysis in this way could be a good opportunity.” How do these technologies impact on methods of assessment? What changes are you making, or planning to make? Cristina Sambrook “I held a focus group of around 30 MBAs and only five of those students thought using ChatGPT in their studies would be wrong. Many of the other students indicated they had already used it – to help them write personal statements for job applications, for example. Some may also have submitted essays using ChatGPT in the past six months and this makes it more difficult to verify what they should have been learning during that time.” Ronan Carbery “One of the things we do is to tell students that by over-relying on this [technology], they’re silencing their own voice.”
CHAIR Tim Banerjee Dhoul Content editor, AMBA & BGA
DELEGATES
Ronan Carbery Head of graduate studies for the College of Business & Law and executive MBA programme director at Cork University Business School
Nicolas Forsans MBA director at Essex Business School, University of Essex
Oksana Gerwe MBA director at Brunel Business School, Brunel University London
Richard Hodgett MBA director at Leeds University Business School
Donald Lancaster MBA director at University of Exeter Business School
Diana Limburg MBA director at Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford Brookes University
Pauline Parker MBA and executive education director at Kingston Business School, Kingston University
Cristina Sambrook Executive MBA director at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham Sir Eric Thomas Member of the Studiosity UK Academic Advisory Board and former vice-chancellor of the University of Bristol Mark van der Veen Director of the Graduate School of Business at Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam Javier Yanez-Arenas MBA director at Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 17
no manager is waiting for a new recruit to produce a 60-page report with old referencing. “It’s not that anyone will ever write a thesis again [after graduation], but the skillset that the student has acquired in that time works – the analysis, critical thinking, discussion and feeling that he or she was really mastering the knowledge gives them the self-confidence to play a role in a new team. “I don’t think we need to start having assessments that are copies of what is done in the first year of a new job. In conversations with my advisory boards, I might ask ‘Do you need more soft skills?’ or ‘Do you need students to learn programming?’ In reply, they often say, ‘I don’t care if you teach them Greek – as long as they have a positive mindset, critical thinking skills and can collaborate with others, send me your talent.’” Javier Yanez-Arenas “The point about the thesis is so important because it’s about the process and not just the end-result. Employers are looking for the skills that were developed through the process.”
Diana Limburg “It [AI and the use of ChatGPT] forces us to be more explicit about what we want students to learn. We also need to explain why they need to learn that – for example, if you don’t know what your sources are, then you don’t know if what you’re telling us is true.” Nicolas Forsans “Over time, we moved away from exams because we wanted to assess skills. We went for a science-based type of assessment, whether that’s individual or group-based, but if there is a strong rationale to assess knowledge, then there is a case for bringing the exam back to see what students can provide without the support.” “Simulations are also a good way of assessing that takes students away from a pure memorisation of knowledge and towards the application of knowledge to a particular situation.” Donald Lancaster “The way we shape the question for an assessment is critical. We can ask students, for instance, to answer a question that references what we’ve taught them in class. ChatGPT wouldn’t know what we’ve taught them in class, so they would still have to use their knowledge and understanding.” Sir Eric Thomas “I feel there’s a possibility of an antiquated exam room and the viva coming back. It’s very difficult to cheat or talk your way around a viva. Of course, cultural differences might make the whole dynamic of how people perceive what happens in a viva much more difficult, but you can’t get somebody to write your viva for you.” Nicolas Forsans “We have an MBA project at the end of the programme with three options – business plan, dissertation or consultancy project report. This project is currently 60 credits out of 180 and, in my view, that’s the takeaway of their MBA. The possibility of someone not writing that report themselves is not okay… I’ve seriously been thinking about trying to organise a viva so that they defend the outcomes of their project, but we’ve got 80 students on the MBA, so that would be 80 vivas.” Richard Hodgett “In South Korea, there is now a K-pop band that is fully powered by AI. They have actors on which the voices are based, for example. So, virtual professors that use our faces could perform an AI viva in which the technology asks the questions and then analyses students’ responses.” Mark van der Veen “There is already a huge discrepancy between how we are assessing and the realities of the labour market. I’m from a research university and the master’s thesis is a major piece of the assessment – maybe a quarter of the study load at that stage. Many students struggle with it and I’m certain that
How can AI help business schools offer regular and formative feedback to students?
Mark van der Veen “Using AI to give feedback is a real timesaver for teachers. We don’t always have the time to read every essay in full detail and give sufficient feedback – and AI can help. The teacher might not even be needed if students can get the feedback themselves.”
Donald Lancaster “It’s not going to be ChatGPT that does [the feedback], it’s going
AI could impact many aspects of teaching, from assessment methods to feedback forums
18 | Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023
ROUNDTABLE REVIEW
to be delegated AI that we train. That’s going to take a lot of time and investment. But then it can be extremely useful in providing formative feedback on a regular basis.” How can we regulate new technology without limiting its potential benefits? Do business schools need specific policies on appropriate use? Mark van der Veen “I think we can easily agree on the general principles, but the details are more difficult and we should claim time for experimentation. We should also look at how other industries, as well as other universities, have used AI or related technologies.” Javier Yanez-Arenas “There are for-profit companies that are reacting immediately and have the entrepreneurial mindset to say, ‘we’ll try it and we’ll make a lot of mistakes, but we’ll learn from those mistakes and we’ll move forward’. But that’s not the situation [in higher education], particularly in research-intensive universities. We want to have everything solved and be sure before we make a policy. “However, it also seems to me that we are moving towards having too many regulations. We need someone to tell us what to do and what not to do. But I believe that part of our responsibility is being responsible and accountable – and knowing the values that we defend. Tools will keep evolving and changing and, regardless of the specific tool, we must be responsible and, as I have said, accountable for how they are used.” Oksana Gerwe “The EU has already come out with a set of principles for AI. Everyone is working on these, so it’s not a question of whether it’s feasible – it will be done and will be needed for higher education.” Donald Lancaster “The key point here is when we use the word ‘principle’ rather than ‘policy’. If it’s about values, ethics and the environment that we want for the future, then principles make sense. However, if we try and make these into a policy for a specific product or use, we might find that they will be dead in the water.”
CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK
Studiosity’s mission is to increase the life chances and wellbeing of students everywhere. It does this by working with university partners to provide students with personal, routine and formative feedback right at the point of need, such as those 10pm study moments where students need a confidence boost to check they are on the right track, helping to develop their capacity for higher-order thinking skills that are critical for success in higher education
normally do. It isn’t plagiarism.’ That might be the same with ChatGPT, in that ideas about where one should and shouldn’t use it will vary with different cultural backgrounds.”
Diana Limburg “We are in classrooms with lots of different people and
backgrounds, so finding out how those people make decisions and what they consider to be morally acceptable is fundamental and that includes decisions around AI.” Mark van der Veen “If we start using more oral presentations and debating as assessment methods because writing assessments become too easy, it may become more difficult for non-native English speakers, for example, and we will have to be aware of this.”
Will AI ever be able to write faculty research papers or student research reports from scratch?
Oksana Gerwe “What generative AI could easily do is go back to the end of any of our papers that list future research directions and ask very specific and precise questions that merit further investigation. By authoring based on our inspiration, this would be human-originated research undertaken by AI.” Ronan Carbery “You need to be held accountable for the research that you produce and AI can’t be held accountable for that.” Mark van der Veen “ChatGPT is not doing research, it’s writing a text. AI can generate a photo album from your ‘holiday’ in Seville, but it can’t give you the experience of being there. Students can give us reports as if they had been doing research, but they would be missing out on fundamental skills in reporting on what they learned and what the questions and discussions were.”
[At the start of July, the UK’s 24 Russell Group universities agreed on a set of guiding principles aimed at ensuring that students and staff are AI-literate]
How can we factor in cultural differences to our thinking on assessment and what might constitute cheating in our programmes? Sir Eric Thomas “What is understood to be plagiarism is one of the real challenges. People from different cultural backgrounds often have entirely different views. For example, some might say: ‘This is just sharing knowledge. I took his or her essay and that’s what we would
Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 19
The benefits and challenges of AI, how to incorporate geopolitics into the MBA curriculum and the need to build bridges with business were just some of the top takeaways from this year’s AMBA & BGA Deans and Directors Global Conference, held in May in Seville. Colette Doyle and Tim Banerjee Dhoul report Up for debate
20 | Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023
ROUNDTABLE REVIEW AMBA & BGA GLOBAL CONFERENCE 2023
T he way in which China’s MBA education recalled how China’s National Economic and Trade Commission collaborated with the US Department of Education and the European Community to launch the Dalian Management Training Centre and the China-Europe Management Institute respectively, both of which offer the MBA programme. As of 2022, some 278 universities had been granted the right to offer MBA education; Chen described Antai as “a pioneer” in this regard, the college having launched its MBA in 1992 in Singapore and its MBA in mainland China in 1994. China’s MBA education market reached CNY11.5 billion offering has developed significantly over the past three decades was the subject of the opening presentation at this year’s AMBA & BGA global conference, entitled MBA education in China – the past, present and future . Fangruo Chen, dean of the Antai College of Economics and Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ($1.6 billion) in 2019 and is expected to be worth CNY14.7 billion ($2.3 billion) by 2023, encompassing 45,000 students. The popularity of the MBA and a growing economy help drive tuition fees. This year, about 100 universities are likely to put up their fees; as Cheng pointed out, the part-time MBA at Antai will now cost CNY518,000 ($71,600), a rise of nearly 15 per cent over 2022. The MBA market in China is characterised by three main factors, according to Chen: increasingly mixed student backgrounds; the geographic diversity of MBA education providers; and market demands driving the need for innovation. While MBA students previously came from business backgrounds, more learners from diverse industries, including engineering, IT, the arts and healthcare, are now showing a greater interest in taking the programme. In addition to top cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, more cities in middle and western China, eg Chengdu and Wuhan, are now offering MBA programmes with their own individual strengths. Leading business schools are continually launching new MBA programmes with finer segmentation to meet market demands and pricing strategies are also becoming more diversified. Chen noted that English language MBA programmes are now widely available in many business schools in China, with three main streams: Sino-foreign co-operative programmes, eg Tsinghua International School collaborating with Insead on an executive MBA; independent branded programmes, eg China Europe International Business School’s MBA; and university- corporate joint programmes, eg Santa Clara-headquartered technology company Intel working with Peking University. Entrepreneurship & research Chen then outlined Antai’s Entrepreneurial Talent Development System, offering a multi-dimensional curriculum system, a practical training platform, all-round support and access to
The delegates enjoyed a traditional display at Hacienda El Vizir during their stay
Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 21
lifelong learning. The school’s entrepreneurship fund provides comprehensive support for start-ups and helps them to grow rapidly. As many as 94 projects have been funded to the tune of CNY31.6 million ($4.4 million) over the past 10 years and have obtained external financing of CNY2.7 billion ($37.3 million). The Antai dean highlighted the importance of industry research to the school, featuring closer integration with industry, as well as the alignment of MBA education with enterprise partners and alumni. The incorporation of research content into courses covers a variety of subjects, including the automotive, cultural and smart energy sectors. Industry community courses and forums involve around 60 students in more than 20 industry research projects. There are now 31 research teams at the school, up from 25 in 2019; among their other achievements, they have compiled 208 reports and published 50 textbooks. Wrapping up his presentation, Chen turned to the challenges currently facing the business education sector. His list included the significance of having a demonstrable “value proposition”; the ‘new normal’ in terms of sustainable development and corporate social impact; the double- edged sword of technology, offering both opportunities and threats; the de-globalisation movement; and problems of our own making, such as research disconnected from practice and the use of outdated teaching materials. So, what actions can schools take? Chen had a number of compelling ideas to share: we must create diverse learning environments; take advantage of new technologies while limiting their disadvantages; focus on continuous quality improvement; keep crossing academic boundaries; embrace the university and the outside world; and invest in international partnerships (he referenced in particular the International Business School Shanghai Conference). “We must change ourselves before we can change the world”, concluded the Antai dean. Focus on learning David Bach, dean of innovation and programmes at IMD in Lausanne, began his talk on What executive education reveals about the future of the MBA by saying he believed the emphasis in business schools should be on learning rather than teaching. “We must focus on students and what they need to learn”, as he put it. The commonly held point of view is that the students are lucky to be here, said Bach, but he cautioned that schools need to turn this notion on its head and understand that they are in fact the fortunate ones. Schools are lucky to get access to the students’ time, as learners have lots of choice about where they decide to study. Bach outlined a 10-point approach: learning is a journey and must be tech-infused. It should also be data-driven and tailored to the individual, enabling personalisation
Fangruo Chen is proud of Antai’s part in the growth of China’s MBA offering
at scale. Other elements to factor in are that modes of learning must be deliberately varied, integrated and applied in terms of concepts such as business model innovation; digital transformation; change management; sustainable growth and inspired team leadership. The context is also important – think about how a person acts differently in various situations, for instance when with friends, family, their boss and so on, suggested the IMD dean. Educators should focus on “coaching not training”; in addition, the pedagogical experience must involve stackable credentials for lifelong learning – “Think Lego towers, not ivory, and how we can rebuild trust in higher education”, urged Bach. Lastly, it must be demonstrably impactful – “measure output, not input”. To achieve this, Bach offered four pieces of advice: firstly, promote governance that balances the interests of learners and faculty. Then perforate disciplinary silos to enable learner centricity and also break down organisational silos – especially in the context of a degree versus executive education – and invest in data gathering, measurement and analysis. He closed the session by repeating three little words for the business management sector to bear in mind: “impact, impact, impact”. Responsibility to the fore South Africa may be 10,000 kilometres away from London and some might complain of feeling disconnected, but it is the “economic heartbeat” of the Southern Africa region, engaging with multinational corporations and operating in a highly competitive space. So said Morris Mthombeni, dean of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria, at the start of his highly engaging presentation, entitled Navigating complexity through responsible leadership .
22 | Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online