ROUNDTABLE REVIEW
the field, which is great. But it means that you have to find a common level playing field to pick them up and carry them forward. All the students are coming out of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, origins and so on, which is fantastic for networking as many of the students want to have global opportunities after their programme to work and to travel. “But there is also a challenge associated with managing this diversity and this different level of knowledge. It’s great to let people talk about their own experiences – because that is such rich content. I think this is something that is really enhanced by having a global audience, the richness of cultural and business backgrounds.” What is your business school’s unique selling point? How do you stand out in a truly global education market? Aldis Sigurdardottir, MBA director, Reykjavik University School of Business, Iceland “We are looking into sustainability and the use of sustainable energy – that is our niche. That is how we differentiate ourselves and use our specialities and knowledge, for example, in the fisheries industry. It is certainly very niche, but that’s where our natural resources and knowledge are. “We have a dilemma though, because our students are mainly from Iceland and I think this would be very interesting for an international student, but not so much for people from Iceland. “That means we are reluctant to go all the way into this speciality because of that. Our students are really looking for a good international programme that is compatible globally.” Yasmina Kashouh, head of international programmes and academics at College de Paris International, France
“To give you a very typical example, over the past two years we have developed two professional digital teaching studios that allow faculty to engage in a very interactive way when we have students studying abroad, so they are not on campus. With this professional digital studio, you can have faculty members teach as if the class were on campus. This optimises the experience for both the faculty member and for the learners, leading to higher impact with a global reach. “In terms of reaching an international audience, we are also currently building smaller micro- credential-type lifelong learning journeys, both synchronous and asynchronous self-paced modules, in order to reach new global audiences we could not reach before.” Diana Limburg, MBA director, Oxford Brookes University Business School, UK “We had online capabilities prior to Covid, so it’s not about reaching a new market, it is about being able to engage with people in a new way. “We were doing successful online teaching before all of this happened. You can imagine trying to do this before everyone knew what Zoom was – it makes it a very different challenge. “For us, it became easier, as suddenly all these technologies were accessible and not just for people based in the UK, but for people all over the world. “Before Covid, there were platforms but they were clunky, expensive and not easily accessible. Now, with these platforms, you’ve have a global audience who can use the technology, as it’s even been embedded into their personal lives. People do yoga and have social engagements online, so they have much more of a foundation to use that technology in an integrated way in teaching and learning. “It is absolutely about enhancing the experience, but also about enhancing the ability to learn. They were learning what they needed to learn before, but it’s easier now to have more engagement, to have more interaction and to have more social aspects through that interaction. I think that’s important and it’s much more straightforward online now than it was previously.” Peter Konhäusner, professor of digital entrepreneurship, Gisma Business School, Germany “Another big topic we can touch upon when thinking about going online – which is also a challenge as well as an opportunity – is diversity. “Right now at Gisma, we have in our MBA programme an average of nine years’ experience in
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“Going back to the business school’s USPs and how they became more crucial, the differentiation will come from the ability and the capacity of the school to match the jobs that are needed. “The closer business schools are to be able to train people to find jobs, the better. That is why the traditional knowledge, although it’s important, is not enough. “The capacity to generate self-
determined, reliable, proactive learners who are able to learn, unlearn and relearn – that will remain the main role of a business school.”
Ambition | FEBRUARY 2023 | 21
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