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 73 JUNE 2024
Transformative tales How storytelling can be a valuable asset for business schools
NEOMA ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Why companies need to get a feel for the flex
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT WORK AUC develops a springboard for start-ups
THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP Essca explains why schools need science
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Taking place in the beautiful surroundings of the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur , the AMBA & BGA Asia Pacific Conference for Deans and Directors will present, discuss and debate key issues for business schools in the Asia Pacific region over the next five years and beyond The full programme will be announced over the coming weeks. In the meantime, save the date or secure your place by booking now
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Issue 73 | JUNE 2024
NEWS & INS IGHT
REGULARS
07 | EDI TOR’ S LET TER
22 08
How storytelling can benefit business education by making learning more engaging, effective and memorable 34 | SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS Newly accredited by AMBA, the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Zagreb now holds the coveted triple crown 38 | VIEW FROM THE TOP Andrew Main Wilson highlights the importance of business schools capitalising on lifelong learning to tackle today’s key challenges
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08 | BUS INESS BRI EF ING Our latest selection of news and research from across AMBA’s global network includes a re-examination of how and why students engage in course readings and a study that reveals the persuasive power of unexpected behaviour in others
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OPINION
36 | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Can we delegate meetings to technology and rid ourselves of a common source of frustration and inefficiency in the workplace?
30 | TALK TO ME Esade Business School dean
Joan Rodón Mòdol recounts how the institution came to establish its award‑winning MBA elective on race and discrimination, as part of efforts to promote inclusive leadership among members of its community
Ambition | JUNE 2024 | 3
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Issue 73 | JUNE 2024
FEATURES
24 | ONE STEP AT A TIME Charting the journey towards creating a campus-wide ecosystem of entrepreneurship at the American University in Cairo
14 | COVER STORY BEYOND WORDS
University of Sussex Business School professor of strategy and innovation Stephan Manning looks at how management education programmes can incorporate the magic of storytelling
28 | BRIDGING THE GAP Essca professor Orsolya Sadik-Rozsnyai explains why the seismic shift in technological advancement presents important partnership opportunities
20 | A FLEXIBLE APPROACH Serge da Motta Veiga, professor and director of research at Neoma Business School, explores the impact of remote working policies on the business landscape
Ambition | JUNE 2024 | 5
RESEARCH AND INSIGHT: STAY AHEAD OF THE TRENDS IN BUSINESS EDUCATION
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EDITOR’S LETTER
FROM LECTURES TO LEGENDS
EDITORIAL Head of editorial Colette Doyle c.doyle@amba-bga.com Content editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul t.dhoul@amba-bga.com
Real-life stories can be a powerful tool for educators aiming to provide students with an unforgettable lesson
W
Art editor Sam Price Sub-editor Heather Ford
ho doesn’t love a good yarn? Whether you’re a paperback fan or a Kindle aficionado, the power of words can stimulate our imagination in endless ways; in fact, the art of storytelling has been an essential part of being human from the time before the written word even existed.
In the business education sector, storytelling can be beneficial in numerous ways, including encouraging student engagement and attention. It’s a powerful tool that educators can use to make learning more engaging, effective and memorable, as stories tap into our natural inclination to connect with narratives. By illustrating a principle or theory with a historical anecdote, a scientific discovery narrative, or even a personal experience, academics can bridge the gap between theory and real-world application. Such stories let students see information from different perspectives and consider its impact. This can lead to a more nuanced understanding of the topic and encourage critical thinking. Many of these points are referenced in this month’s cover story, which comes from Stephan Manning at the University of Sussex Business School. He elaborates on how complex concepts can feel abstract, but stories provide a context that makes them relatable. Elsewhere in this issue we look at how flexible working can benefit staff performance and retention. An article from Neoma examines how employers should ensure the work environment is dynamic and constantly providing employees not only with fresh challenges, but also opportunities to have their abilities recognised and rewarded. We learn, too, how the American University of Cairo’s School of Business has been spearheading a campus-wide entrepreneurial ecosystem to help nurture and grow tech-enabled start-ups. Then we hear from Essca on how business schools need to adapt to the ongoing seismic shift in technological advancement by partnering more closely with science and technology organisations. All in all, plenty of compelling stories that we hope will attract your interest.
Insight, content and PR manager Ellen Buchan e.buchan@amba-bga.com CORPORATE Commercial relations director 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 Finance and commercial director Catherine Walker
Colette Doyle , Editor, Ambition
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
SHERIF KAMEL
STEPHAN MANNING
MARK MINEVICH
SERGE DA MOTTA VEIGA
JOAN RODÓN MÒDOL
ORSOLYA SADIK-ROZSNYAI
SANJA SEVER MALIŠ
HOWARD THOMAS
Copyright 2024 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 | JUNE 2024 | 7
BUSINESS BRIEFING
All the latest updates from across AMBA’s global network
Featured among our latest selection of news and research is a re-examination of how and why students engage in course readings, the role of collaboration in developing entrepreneurship education in Africa and the persuasive power of unexpected behaviour in others. Compiled by Tim Banerjee Dhoul and Ellen Buchan
NOVEL METHODS OF BOOSTING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH COURSE READINGS
SCHOOL : University of Sydney Business School COUNTRY : Australia
trying to achieve with readings?’ and ‘How can we better design them so that students will want to engage?’,” Zeivots added. Over three terms, the authors worked with international business professor and course coordinator Vikas Kumar, as well as tutors and students, to reconsider readings for the school’s master’s of commerce degree. The end result was a change to half of the readings originally assigned, with one or two ‘must-read’ pages and an online discussion question set to guide students’ approach and ignite critical thinking. In follow-up surveys, 54 per cent of students reported reading the must-read pages, and Kumar said the accompanying questions helped raise engagement around key topics. In addition, students’ involvement in the process generated useful feedback, as Zeivots summarised: “Students wanted to learn more about fintech, so we introduced more case studies that aligned with our core teaching concepts.” The study was published in Academy of Management Learning and Education . TBD
Rethinking how and why course readings are assigned can address students’ worrying lack of engagement with programme material, according to research from the University of Sydney Business School. “Existing research suggests 70 to 80 per cent of students do not engage with course readings for a host of reasons, from time constraints and language barriers to a lack of understanding of the purpose,” explained Sandris Zeivots, a senior lecturer at the school. Zeivots suggests a change of approach to ensure that all readings are set with usefulness, enjoyment, quantity, access, intent and course integration in mind. These recommendations stem from the results of a new study, co-authored with University of Sydney learning designer Courtney Shalavin. “Anecdotally, lecturers know most students don’t comply with the system, but we act as though the fault is with the students. This research started by flipping that assumption and asking: ‘What are we
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JUNE 2024
NEWS & INSIGHT
NEW PROGRAMME SEEKS TO SUPPORT AND ADVANCE THE BLACK BUSINESS COMMUNITY SCHOOL : The Open University Business School COUNTRY : UK
The Open University (OU) Business School has launched a new programme aimed at supporting the Black business community, entitled the Black Leadership Empowerment Programme (BLEP). Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, BLEP is designed to allow participants to develop skills in leadership, communication, influence and problem-solving, as well as in building and maintaining coalitions for change. “The programme will explore how we can be more effective in calling for and fighting for change. Black employees hold just 1.5 per cent of top management roles in the UK private sector, while the number of Black executives working at the leadership level of the UK’s top 100 companies fell to zero in 2021,” said OU Business School lecturer and programme lead Fidèle Mutwarasibo, citing recent research from Business in the Community and Green Park. “The programme aligns with the OU’s social mission and addresses two of our key success indicators – the under-representation of Black students at the OU and Black students’ degree-awarding gap,” Mutwarasibo continued. The programme also seeks to build on research into the leadership of racialised
minority voluntary sector organisations that has been carried out by OU Business School’s Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL), of which Mutwarasibo is the director. The programme will blend online and in-person learning, with a hub in Manchester providing the venue for its initial two-year pilot. Participants gain access to 150 hours of free learning available on the OU’s OpenLearn platform, including two leadership courses developed exclusively for BLEP. Introducing Black leadership considers the community’s challenges and possibilities in relation to leading and managing others, while Advancing Black leadership looks at ways in which its members can gain traction with people and organisations holding power. The concept and content revolve around meeting a desire within the school’s locality, as Mutwarasibo alluded to: “BLEP emerged from discussions between community partners concerned with racial inequity and the OU.” It has already garnered support from the youth charity Prince’s Trust and cross-industry network Inclusive Companies, as well as businesses that include AutoTrader and Manchester Airport Group (MAG). EB
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CROSS-CONTINENTAL COLLABORATIONS INFUSE CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT ACROSS AFRICA SCHOOL : Aalto University School of Business COUNTRY : Finland
For the past five years or so, Aalto University School of Business assistant professor Patrick Shulist has been helping to develop entrepreneurship education in Africa in conjunction with local partners. “Entrepreneurship exposure during university studies equips students with the critical thinking, innovation and business skills needed to address environmental challenges, promote sustainable development and make the most of their technical skills,” reasoned Shulist. His efforts include the multi-partner projects PBL BioAfrica and Forest21. The former seeks to facilitate the incorporation of problem‑based learning (PBL) methods into bio-entrepreneurship education across agricultural curricula, with climate consciousness and sustainability as guiding principles. It has seen Aalto collaborate with five universities in Kenya and Zambia, as well as with Finland’s Häme University of Applied Sciences. Forest21, meanwhile, has its sights set firmly on integrating climate-smart entrepreneurship into South Africa’s forestry sector. This Erasmus+-funded project has involved universities in Finland, South Africa and Norway.
At Aalto, participation in both projects is run through Aalto Global Impact (AGI), a university arm dedicated to social impact through the promotion of its research and programmes. The AGI covers the projects’ operational aspects, such as the delivery of appropriate training for instructors and travel arrangements for student teams, allowing Shulist to focus on working on curricula with programme heads and lecturers at partner universities. “A big part of curriculum development is working with forestry and agriculture faculty to understand what entrepreneurship is, why it is important, how to teach it and most importantly, how it can easily fit within one’s courses and curricula,” Shulist explained. He then added: “To make sure all our work will persist after the projects end, I also created and filmed a seven-module, 27-part, online video series overview for faculty at partner universities to use in the future.” Shulist has also developed a video lecture series for another Aalto initiative in Africa. Drawing on partnerships in Zambia, Nigeria and Ethiopia, the 5G for Entrepreneurs project aims to teach students the basics of entrepreneurship from which they can develop their own ideas and prototype products. TBD
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NEWS & INSIGHT
STUDY ON TRANSGENDER RIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF RAISING EMPLOYEE AWARENESS
SCHOOL : University of Exeter Business School COUNTRY : UK
Support for transgender employment rights in the US is overstated for reasons of social desirability but is still more widespread than most people believe it to be, according to a new study involving the University of Exeter Business School. In a survey of 1,800 people, two thirds were genuinely comfortable with the idea of having a transgender manager at work and were supportive of non‑discrimination employment legislation protecting transgender people. This proportion was found using a ‘double-list’ technique intended to correct for social desirability bias, in which respondents either exaggerate or downplay support based on what they perceive to be socially acceptable. Using comparisons across the lists, the researchers could estimate the true share of respondents who agreed with key statements. Indeed, when looking at direct results, the level of support for transgender people in the workplace was 8-10 per cent higher. “It is crucial to have a baseline understanding of people’s true attitudes to assess the effectiveness of policies and initiatives aimed at reducing discrimination and promoting inclusion,” said study co-author and University of Exeter Business School lecturer Dario Sansone.
Support for transgender minorities in the labour market was found to be higher among women, sexual minorities and those signifying a political preference for the US Democratic Party, compared with other groups. In addition, the overall level of support was found to be higher than respondents anticipated, with widespread backing for a 2020 US Supreme Court ruling banning discrimination against transgender people at work. This, as Sansone explained, has clear implications for policymakers and educators. “As most respondents underestimated the amount of acceptance of transgender inclusion in the workplace, informing individuals about the real level of support could potentially shift individuals’ views, in line with other studies on gender norms. “However, if these mismatches between beliefs and actual views are not corrected, such misperceptions could lend legitimacy to anti-transgender policies that most people may not support,” explained Sansone. The study, entitled Understanding Labour Market Discrimination Against Transgender People , was published in Management Science . TBD
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ONE-YEAR MBA MOVES TO ‘EVER-EVOLVING CURRICULUM’ TO MEET MARKET TRENDS AND STUDENT REQUIREMENTS SCHOOL : Indian School of Business COUNTRY : India
The Indian School of Business (ISB) has introduced a set of comprehensive changes to its one-year MBA curriculum in a bid to meet the needs of a market that is in flux. The changes are described as ‘three-pronged’ in their focus and revolve around the inclusion of more practical learning methods and elective options, as well as greater flexibility. “The overarching impetus for the changes was the evolving nature of jobs and the reduced shelf life of knowledge,” declared ISB dean Madan Pillutla. In this context, Pillutla believes that “people who have a variety of skills will succeed” and advocates against having a rigid curriculum. “It is simply not going to be enough for them down the line,” he argued. To boost flexibility, the proportion of courses that form part of the core on the school’s Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP, the equivalent of an MBA in India) has dropped from 50 per cent to 40 per cent. In this way, 60 per cent of the programme can now be customised to suit an individual’s needs and ambitions.
Options to personalise the programme are further supported by an increase in electives, among which are new courses on artificial intelligence and machine learning. In addition, the programme structure has been tweaked to encompass four ‘block weeks’ within its six-week terms, allowing for the delivery of some courses that are shorter in length. In terms of practical learning, meanwhile, the school’s Office of Experiential Learning is ramping up its provision of activities outside the classroom, such as field immersions and industry-sponsored projects. Further changes are also in the pipeline, most notably the rolling out of academic advisory services that will seek to help students build a cross‑functional or multi-disciplinary set of elective courses, as an alternative to pursuing a sector specialisation. The programme changes are the result of faculty research into the future of work and related areas, such as technological shifts, according to Pillutla. “We also spoke extensively to the alumni, recruiters and industry at large as part of the process. The result is an ever-evolving curriculum that ensures a real-time response to newer trends and requirements,” he concluded. TBD
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NEWS & INSIGHT
THE SUBTLE ART OF PERSUASION REVEALED IN INTRIGUING RESPONSES TO VEGAN CHALLENGE
SCHOOL : Amsterdam Business School, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam COUNTRY : Netherlands
People are more likely to be moved to change their behaviour if they see someone display a change of behaviour that appears out of character for them, according to new research involving Amsterdam Business School. The results stem from a study of how people reacted to watching a video about a 30-day challenge promoting vegan food. Half of the study’s participants saw a vegetarian taking part in the challenge, while the other half observed a person who normally eats meat. At the end, participants were all offered a voucher for either a vegan hamburger or a meat-based cheeseburger. People who had watched the 30-day challenge featuring the meat‑eating person were more likely to choose the vegan burger than those who saw the video with the vegetarian contestant. The researchers believe that people are more likely to sit up and take note when someone does something unexpected because this decision causes them to look more closely at their own choices and beliefs. “I notice it in myself,” admitted study co-author and assistant professor of marketing
at Amsterdam Business School Carina Thürridl. “If I see someone make a decision that I didn’t expect, that choice triggers something in me. “With the results of this study, we can delve more deeply into what is needed to persuade people,” she continued. “The majority of current marketing strategies focus on individuals who have been role models for quite some time and ignore the minority who unexpectedly make a sustainable decision or might do so in the near future. But it’s exactly this minority who make a big impression on others.” The potential applications of the study’s findings are said to be widespread, with its authors citing the opportunity to impact public health campaigns, such as those trying to persuade the public to quit smoking or wear a helmet when cycling. EB
SHARE YOUR NEWS AND RESEARCH UPDATES by emailing AMBA & BGA’s content editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul at t.dhoul@amba-bga.com
Ambition | JUNE 2024 | 13
words Beyond F inding exciting and thought-provoking ways to teach business topics can be difficult. I teach strategy at the University of Sussex and in my first session I typically introduce the concept itself. Instead of confronting students with textbook definitions of strategy, however, I tell them a story I’ve Stephan Manning from the University of Sussex Business School weaves a compelling tale as he explains how to incorporate the magic of storytelling into management education programmes
not the perfection of planning. This is what Weick’s story is really about and it is where the power of all good stories lies – in conveying fundamental insights through engaging characters and plots with twists and turns. Weick’s story was perhaps my first attempt many years ago to make teaching strategy more interesting. At that time, the typical way of bringing strategy to life was through textbook cases. While certainly educational, most cases were rather sanitised and devoid of the complexities and ambiguities of human interaction. In recent years, there has been a growing appetite for more vivid and memorable teaching methods. For example, business schools increasingly use protagonist-driven case debates, leveraging a flipped classroom approach and students’ own work experiences. But this approach requires new ways of teaching and learning and not every school and professor is equipped to make that transition. Luckily, there are other ways to make teaching more exciting – such as the power of storytelling. Using film to facilitate understanding Motivated to further develop my own storytelling skills, I decided in 2021, after 15 years of teaching at business schools, to enrol on a documentary film-making course to explore film as a new way of expressing myself alongside my academic work. Through filmmaking I have also learned how
borrowed from famous strategy scholar Karl Weick. This story is about a young lieutenant who sends one of his units into the Alps during a military manoeuvre. The unit gets hit by a snowstorm and is unable to return for two days. Feeling lost they almost give up, but luckily one member of the unit comes across a map in his pocket that calms everyone down and eventually enables them to find their way back. After they return, the lieutenant looks at the map and discovers to his astonishment that it is not a map of the Alps after all, but a map of the Pyrenees. This story uses a popular technique – a twist – to get the reader’s attention. But the twist is not just for entertainment. The lieutenant’s surprising discovery is anchored in the realisation that in some situations a map does not need to be super-accurate to be useful. It simply gives orientation and allows people to co-ordinate and act. As Weick notes, maps are a lot like strategic plans: they help companies accomplish goals, but it’s ultimately an organisation’s ability to act and adapt that matters and
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PEDAGOGY
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to make my own teaching and research more exciting. The power of filmmaking is manifold; films can create a strong emotional impact with audiences through the combination of visuals and audio. But there is more: as I discuss in my recent article in the Journal of Management Studies , films combine concrete and abstract layers of storytelling in exciting ways. They use characters to give audiences access to new worlds and they build stories from vivid scenes we remember for a long time. After getting into filmmaking, I started using actual films in my class – instead of conventional case studies – as a way to discuss complex topics. For example, to teach multi-stakeholder processes in the context of corporate misconduct, I use the drama Dark Waters from 2019, starring Mark Ruffalo. The film is inspired by true events and tells the story of corporate defence lawyer Robert Bilott (played by Ruffalo), who is approached by a farmer named Wilbur Tennant from the village where he grew up. Tennant asks for help in finding out what and who is behind the death of his 190 cows. He suspects that the firm DuPont is responsible for polluting local waters with dangerous chemicals. Reluctantly, Bilott agrees to help, even though DuPont is one of the major clients at the law firm where he works. After a long investigation, they find that the local water supply has been poisoned by so-called ‘forever chemicals’, which DuPont has been using to produce Teflon. These chemicals are likely to have not only killed the cows, but also caused numerous cancer cases and birth defects in the local community. Lawsuits follow that eventually lead to a multimillion-dollar settlement. This film is a good example of effective character-driven storytelling. Protagonists like Bilott help audiences understand complex subject matters such as corporate misconduct and the dynamics unfolding around it. I like the film not only because it shows the complexity of multi-stakeholder processes, but because it confronts students with an important ethical dilemma. If you were in Bilott’s shoes, would you take on the case and pursue it against your career interests? Ways to weigh up moral dilemmas To frame the discussion, I use a diagram from Gareth Morgan’s book, Images of Organisation in which he describes decisions as an outcome of partly overlapping, partly conflicting considerations: the nature of the task, career ambitions and external factors such as personal interests and values. There is no easy answer here, but I trust that many students will remember the film whenever they face a morally difficult decision. The film uncovers the subtle mechanisms that make us think that some things are impossible, while it also teaches us that, under certain conditions, we can break out of this mind trap. There is a scene where Bilott tries to convey to Tennant that winning a lawsuit against DuPont is unrealistic. He says: “These companies have all the money – they’ll use it. Trust me, I was one of them.” But Tennant’s response to that catches Bilott off-balance. Tennant replies: “You are still one of them.” This reaction changes Bilott’s entire approach to the case. We all get corrupted by the
BIOGRAPHY
Stephan Manning is a professor of strategy and innovation at the University of Sussex Business School and a producer of films and videos. His research focuses on responses to global societal challenges, social innovation and entrepreneurship, global value chains and films as vehicles for social change. His research has been published widely; for more information visit www.stephanmanning.com
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PEDAGOGY
Saudi Arabia, his negotiations with Chinese government officials and his adventurous rendezvous with various ethnic groups in India and Nepal. It was because of him that I decided to work as a Unicef volunteer in Nepal when I was a student. Now, being an instructor myself, I try to bring in many of my own stories from various countries to make my classes unique and interesting. Some of these stories have turned into case studies and exercises. For example, I talk about how I studied first-hand the challenges of a German automotive supplier trying to recruit qualified engineers for its offshore test centre in Romania. During my field trip, I talked to local university professors and even the current Romanian president Klaus Iohannis – a man of German ancestry – who was mayor of the city where the German company had set up its subsidiary. Based on this story, I designed a multi-stakeholder exercise in which students are divided into groups representing the company, the government and faculty in order to negotiate a solution for the talent recruitment problem. I then compare the students’ strategies with what actually happened. I have received extremely positive feedback from business school cohorts about this combination of storytelling and case study exercise, so I would wholeheartedly recommend it. Storytelling is an essential skill set Finally, I seek to help my students create their own stories. In several sessions during the semester, I try to apply what we learn about strategy to crafting one’s own career and to making important choices in life. One example is how to secure a job with no prior related experience, something that is a common problem for business graduates. Of course, having done internships, being good at school and knowing multiple languages may help, but another important ingredient is effective storytelling. In career research, this skill has been called ‘stretchwork’ – the ability to draw connections between the things you have done and the skill sets required for future jobs. It’s also about making personal experiences relevant: how to overcome major obstacles, how to deal with difficult people, how to solve a complex problem. Good stories help applicants stand out from the crowd. Of course, storytelling also needs to be ethical. Stories about events, companies and oneself can bend the truth a little for the sake of making a point, but they lose all their power if they are entirely invented. I had one case of an alumnus who I invited to class to talk about his career journey after graduating; I later found out through a student’s fact-checking that his story about owning a company was probably made up. I called the guest speaker out on it, but he never responded. I can only hope that he learned his lesson. To sum up, if done right, storytelling is a great tool to make business education more exciting and memorable. Stories can inspire and help us think about the world around us in new ways. They can also be a vehicle for making corporate and civic leaders more successful and thoughtful in an increasingly challenging business environment.
systems we work in, but we need to become fully aware of this in order to make a real difference. Doing the right thing requires more than sympathising with victims of injustice; it may require taking a stance against the system you are part of, at the risk of becoming vulnerable yourself. Finally, I use the film to get students to think about how marginalised stakeholders can gain power. The film illustrates how a single farmer accumulates power against an overwhelming force – the DuPont conglomerate – by standing his ground and getting allies like Bilott emotionally invested in the subject matter to join his quest for justice. In the same vein, I discuss with my students how Bilott could have used alliances with like-minded people in his profession to lower his personal risks, while still being effective in helping Tennant. The film also begs an intriguing question: could we think of cows as stakeholders in their own right? In many ways, they have been the most affected by the polluted waters. And if they are stakeholders, how do they wield power? My students always react to this question with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. Some see the cows merely as Tennant’s property, but others agree with me that there is more to it than that. Cows are sentient beings – they have their own understanding of the situation. They may not be able to voice their pain and fight for their rights, but they express themselves through a deep emotional connection with Tennant. There is a touching scene showing this bond in the film. It is this connection that propels Tennant to fight for more than just compensation – he fights for justice. And this is how even cows can become powerful stakeholders. The enduring impact of personal stories In my view, only a film such as Dark Waters, with its touching visuals and emotional storytelling, has the capacity to expand students’ minds beyond conventional textbook wisdom on themes like corporate misconduct, multi-stakeholder problems and the ethics of decision making. Likewise, as I explore in my latest video essay, this film has inspired policy makers to propose bills to ban the kind of forever chemicals depicted here; moreover, several companies have followed up by pledging to stop using them. It is my hope, therefore, that by using such films in the classroom I can contribute to growing a new generation of more thoughtful decision-makers in business, politics and beyond. Another important application of storytelling lies in how we as instructors tell our own story – about how we have become who we are, how we have dealt with difficult situations and what we have learned from other people whom we have met. University professors can become important role models for students later in life and storytelling is a key part of that. My favourite professor back at Free University Berlin was Dieter Weiss, an expert in international development. The reason he became my favourite was not so much the content of his classes, but the stories he told about the realities of working in the development field. I still remember several of his anecdotes decades later – his encounters with the lifestyle in
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Upwardly mobile
Regional director for Europe at GMAC Nalisha Patel scrutinises the latest admissions trends in graduate management education (GME) and upholds the organisation’s commitment to supporting student mobility, both internationally and across socio-economic backgrounds
“This trend is particularly apparent in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. With burgeoning middle classes, more corporate multinationals and high-quality GME presence in key markets such as India and China, as well as across Africa and Latin America, candidates from around the world have more options and economic opportunities at home than ever before. Further factors, including affordability, safety and proximity to home are also increasingly important differentiators to candidates as they ponder their study destinations.” How can business schools continue to attract high-quality international candidates? “Some things remain timeless, such as the relevance and quality of education, as well as the network. However, the reality is that most good business schools have these, so helping people make the right choice is important. “Being clear on your institution’s unique mix of strengths is one way of making it stand out. Offering tangible insights into any ongoing or future initiatives is another differentiator. In addition, it is essential to meet prospective students where they are, so that you can speak to their needs, in their voice and in the places they seek inspiration and information.”
GMAC’s latest Application Trends Survey showed a decline in total application numbers across the MBA and other forms of graduate management education (GME). Is this indicative of lower demand or does it speak to shifting application trends? “There are shifting trends globally and, as the survey suggested, the declines were not felt evenly and related to applications rather than applicants. For example, programmes that offer more flexibility, such as hybrid, online and evening options, received more applications than in-person, structured formats. US business schools, as another example, experienced a strengthening in domestic application numbers across delivery formats after several challenging years with this pipeline. “Overall, schools continue to expand their portfolios to provide a richer array of choice that enables people to consider graduate
management education at every stage of their career and life. This means that there are strong offerings across geographies that are doing a good job at differentiating themselves and communicating that to candidates.” In the same survey, more responding programmes reported declines in international applications in 2023 than growth. Are prospective students more inclined to look closer to home for business school than they were pre-pandemic? “This is true. Another annual GMAC survey investigates prospective students’ motivations and sheds further light on this shift towards domestic and in-region applications. It has shown that plans to apply locally, regionally or nationally within a candidate’s country of residence has increased since 2019, reaching a high in 2023 that eclipses even the 2021 rebound from the pandemic.
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SPONSORED CONTENT
How does the revamped GMAT test seek to boost accessibility to quality GME and international mobility? “The GMAT exam has been the gold standard in graduate business school assessment since its launch seven decades ago. Revamped last year to assess the most in-demand skills, such as data analytics and problem solving, the new exam was rolled out as the GMAT Focus Edition to great reception by test takers and business schools around the world. “The latest edition follows years of foundational research and in-depth concept testing, with a shorter exam to reduce preparation time and testing anxiety. It also offers increased test security, faster delivery of a diagnostic score report to reveal test takers’ strengths and areas of improvement, all without sacrificing test reliability and accuracy. We believe that the more efficient test-taking experience and flexible new features have better supported and encouraged more candidates on their business school journey and that schools have benefited from it by attracting a more diverse global applicant pool.” What are the aims behind GMAC’s ‘Study in Europe’ campaign and related initiatives? “We constantly look for ways to better serve the industry and lead initiatives that are relevant to current contexts. We heard from schools in Europe that while the level of talent and rising demand for business education across Africa have been of strong interest, finding the right approach has been challenging. Therefore, we launched the GMAC Africa’s Study in Europe initiative last year, connecting European business schools with candidates in Africa through a multi-channel digital campaign and on-campus events. The goal is to provide African candidates with opportunities to connect with, and access, quality education in Europe. In total, 11 schools were involved from France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland and the UK.” How does GMAC work to help preserve international mobility in a climate of political flux and uncertainty? “We strive to grow our industry in the face of political and geopolitical uncertainty, while also
working to further equitable access to quality education in line with the UN sustainable development goals. To that end, we have invested in pipeline organisations for decades, such as the PhD Project and the Forté Foundation, and provided testing fee waivers through schools to encourage candidate applications.” “Our GMAC™ Tours service – through which we organise in-person and online events worldwide – connects schools with niche audiences in underserved markets, while GMAC™ GradSelect boasts the world’s largest global database of qualified GME candidates, allowing for precise recruiting and connections with candidates of unique qualifications and backgrounds. “This is what we do to actively preserve and promote mobility across different socio- economic backgrounds and across borders, in accordance with GMAC’s vision of a world where every talented person can benefit from the best business education for them.” Why are diverse, multicultural cohorts so important in GME and at the MBA level in particular? “GMAC’s latest survey of corporate recruiters informed us that while employers put a premium on the skillsets of the future, such as communication, data analysis and strategy, they also want cross-cultural competence and multilingualism. In fact, some employers are particularly critical of GME graduates’ intercultural skills and this creates tremendous opportunities for business schools to start preparing candidates by building diverse, multicultural cohorts on campus. “A diverse, multicultural campus adds immense value to all, while inclusivity improves educational outcomes and advances our society. Education is an important pathway towards career advancement, especially for marginalised people around the world and it must remain fully accessible. “At GMAC, we strive to help institutions consider and connect with candidates of a wide spectrum of academic, professional and lived experiences. We remain committed to promoting and supporting educational equity for all.”
“Candidates from around the world have more options and economic opportunities at home than ever before”
Nalisha Patel is regional director for Europe at GMAC, where she is responsible for the organisation’s overall strategy in promoting Europe as a business education destination and building diverse pipelines of talent in the region. Patel has more than a decade of experience in graduate management education, including serving as executive director of degree programmes and student experience, as well as a governing body member, at London Business School.
www.gmac.com
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One of the most significant trends to have emerged from the Covid pandemic is the widespread implementation of remote working policies. Neoma’s Serge da Motta Veiga explores how these new arrangements are dramatically impacting the business landscape A flexible approach T he world of work has experienced three ‘earthquakes’ in almost as many years. First, the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by the phenomenon of the ‘Great Resignation’ and then the emergence of generative artificial
your time in the office, is associated with higher workforce productivity. The researchers based their analysis on a field experiment conducted at the headquarters of BRAC, the world’s largest non-governmental organisation, situated in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. They found that granting employees an intermediate level of remote work resulted in a higher number of emails being sent, as well as a higher number of email recipients, more positive sentiments being expressed in email correspondence and increased innovation. All this suggests that it is indeed possible for well-constructed hybrid work policies to offer ‘the best of both worlds’, giving employees greater flexibility while also preserving social bonds between colleagues. However, there is an alternative perspective to consider. Challenges of managing a remote workforce Many bosses remain sceptical about flexible working policies. A report from career site Resume Builder published in 2023 found that 90 per cent of companies planned to implement return-to-office policies by the end of this year. The majority say they will track employees to ensure attendance and 28 per cent
intelligence. In the aftermath of these seismic shifts, businesses face the challenge of restructuring – and in some cases entirely rebuilding – their operation. Remote working was the only means of survival for many companies during pandemic-induced lockdowns and a large number of employees have since come to appreciate the advantages of having more autonomy over their own schedules. This benefit is combined with the lower costs associated with not having to commute to work five days a week. While this is certainly advantageous from an employee’s perspective, we must contemplate if such flexible working arrangements benefit the corporate sector. A working paper from Harvard Business School, entitled Is Hybrid Work the Best of Both Worlds? by Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Christos Makridis and Kyle Schirmann, suggests that yes, they do. The paper reveals that intermediate levels of working from home, spending between 23-40 per cent of
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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & RETENTION
range of digital tools that allow bosses to keep track of what their employees are doing, such as screen surveillance software. However, it’s difficult to implement such strategies without employees feeling they are being spied on. A study by Professor Birgit Schyns at Neoma Business School, published in the Journal of Organisational Behaviour , has found that remote workers feel “physically and intellectually exhausted” if managers keep them under constant supervision. This is especially true if a manager’s behaviour becomes unpredictable, for example, scheduling calls without any advance notice. “Day-to-day monitoring leaves remote workers wondering why their managers are making such frequent demands, which may result in them questioning their own abilities and putting themselves down,” observes Schyns.
say they will sack, or threaten to sack, those who don’t comply with the new rules. One such point of view comes from Brent Cassell, vice-president of advisory in the HR group at consulting firm Gartner. In a recent BBC interview, Cassell explained: “Senior leaders are running out of patience. There’s been a shift among Fortune 500 companies, moving from a flexible hybrid strategy to a much more structured approach of set days that teams are expected to be in the office. If the likes of Starbucks, Disney and Google all say they need their employees back at their desks, it’s likely that smaller companies will see their example and follow suit.” Much of the drive to get employees back in the office is motivated by concerns that it’s harder to manage a remote workforce. Of course, there are a
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In other words, senior leaders need to extend a level of trust to their employees. They should also consider workers’ wants and needs in terms of flexibility and keep channels of communication open – especially when implementing new policies, be they flexible working arrangements or return-to-office mandates. The new pandemic – ‘quiet quitting’ So, what’s at risk if communication channels break down? Beginning in early 2021, economists noted a trend whereby employees started voluntarily resigning from their jobs en masse, which has since been named the Great Resignation. Since then, the media has picked up on the phenomenon of ‘quiet quitting’ – ie people psychologically checking out of their work even though they haven’t handed in an official resignation. It’s become a problem so widespread, perhaps businesses should now be calling it the Silent Resignation. A global workplace report from Gallup published last year revealed that nearly 60 per cent of workers around the world feel detached from their jobs. In France, Gallup reports that just six per cent of employees feel engaged at work, despite the country having the world’s seventh‑largest economy with one of the highest productivity rates in Europe. Unsurprisingly, this lack of engagement comes at a financial cost, which Gallup estimates to be around nine per cent of global GDP – in monetary terms, that’s approximately $8.8 trillion. This isn’t a recent development either; even as early as the turn of the millennium, Gallup discovered that three-quarters of the American employees whom it surveyed were not fully engaged at work. For many people, the Covid-19 pandemic presented an opportunity to bow out of their jobs, but the desire had been with them for some time. Research from MIT Sloan School of Management reveals that toxic corporate culture was the single best predictor of employee turnover during the first six months of the Great Resignation, 10 times more powerful than how employees viewed their compensation. Leading elements that contribute to toxic cultures include failure to promote diversity and inclusion, workers feeling disrespected and unethical behaviour. Other factors that feed into workers’ decisions to jump ship include job insecurity, failure to recognise and reward high performers and – surprisingly – high levels of innovation. The last of these is thought to be because staying at the cutting edge of innovation typically requires employees to put in longer hours, work at a faster pace and endure more stress. The work may be exciting and satisfying, but it’s not a recipe for long‑term sustainability.
What bosses should learn from this is that retaining employees means ensuring the work environment is diverse, inclusive and recognises talent. More broadly, it’s a question of treating workers as people and understanding that, in order for them to feel invested in the firm, management has to demonstrate that it is invested in them. Are flexible working policies the answer? Any steps that a company takes to ensure its employees are comfortable and engaged at work
should be rooted in open communication. There is no single answer that will apply to all businesses. After all, the purpose of communication is so that corporate leaders can design company policies that are best suited to the needs of their specific workforce. However, there are some strategies that may help firms boost employee satisfaction and retention, depending on their unique situation. For instance, flexible working policies have been proven time and again to be beneficial for employees. A report from the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development finds that staff are more
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