BSPC CONFERENCE REVIEW
Creating programmes that stand out The first panel of the conference focused on how business schools can create and sustain a unique selling point to ensure their programme stands out in a crowded market. Chair Joseph Pilkington, senior accreditation manager at AMBA & BGA, asked his panel how they di erentiated their schools and, in particular, their programmes. “Students learn as much from each other and each other’s experiences as they do from the actual academic learning, so diversity is key,” noted Amanda Singleton, deputy director of MBA programmes at the University of Edinburgh Business School. “We know from anecdotal experience that students come here to be part of something that is quite personal – we have a lot of students who come from referrals.” For Patti Brown, executive director of MBA programmes at HEC Paris, the di erentiation comes from the length of the programme. As the programme is 16 months long, she noted that it gives HEC students more time to find and deepen their knowledge of any specialisms. She also believes that students choose HEC Paris due to a desire to live and work in France. Craig Robinson, associate dean of quality enhancement and accreditation at King’s Business School in London, identified the stand-out features of his school’s programme as its location in the heart of the UK capital and the immersive nature of some of the programmes, including elements such as consulting projects and communication exercises featuring pitching and negotiation. New generation of impactful entrepreneurs Felipe Dellinger, events & sponsorship executive at AMBA & BGA, chaired a panel on how business schools can create programmes that enable entrepreneurs to flourish. He asked the panellists how business schools could cultivate entrepreneurial traits in their students. José Pedro Carreón Gutiérrez, MBA programme director at Egade Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, spoke about creating high-impact entrepreneurs who are able and willing to embed technology into their companies and make a sustainable impact. A recent graduate of the University of Edinburgh Business School, Garrett Sprague, CEO and co- founder of Smplicare, reflected on his programme and said that a prominent part revolved around learning about resilience and consensus-building in teams. Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE, the country’s biggest business funding competition, emphasised successful collaboration as being key to impactful entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs need to have the right intentions and consider the environmental impact they will have, she noted, adding that success in entrepreneurship comes from ecosystems of people who actively work together to support and mentor other businesses.
Delegates from all across the world shared their expertise and experiences
In the post-pandemic world, leveraging technology is an in-demand leadership trait
Reflecting on programme content BGA’s Programme Consultancy Review is used by member schools to identify gaps and benchmarks in management programmes. Approaching this from a BGA assessor’s point of view, Victor Hedenberg, membership director at AMBA & BGA, shared the elements commonly missing when programmes are reviewed. The session reflected on how schools could make programmes more enriching and impactful. The key components included linking the programme to responsible management principles, experiential learning, creativity, a multidisciplinary approach and sales and influencing. The use of AI in education Closing the conference, Oliver Matthews, vice-president & CMO of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, spoke about integrating AI and large language models into higher education. Matthews began his presentation by discussing some of the ways Frankfurt School of Finance and Management is using AI, such as for translations, answering incoming questions and training and inducting new sta members. As he remarked: “Whether we like it or not, this is around us, it’s on the news, in our social media and, of course, it’s becoming more and more integrated into our education. We have to adapt – we have to learn how to use it. Students are embracing it and we as administrators and academics need to understand what they are doing with it and how they are using it.”
Ambition SEPTEMBER 2023 | 15
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