AMBITION | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
Editorial Editor and Director of Marketing and Communications David Woods-Hale d.woods@ associationofmbas.com @davidpaulwoods Content Editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul t.dhoul@ associationofmbas.com Art Editor Laura Tallon Insight and Communications Executive Ellen Buchan e.buchan@ associationofmbas.com
Confidence despite adversity
In putting together my editor's letter this month, I took a glance at the introduction I wrote back in January 2020 for the edition of AMBITION we published exactly a year ago. At the time, we were preparing for the annual AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards – as we are this year – but I was looking forward to seeing many of you in a glitzy venue in London, as opposed to the (equally glitzy) virtual event we'll be hosting on 29 January 2021. We were also planning for our Global Conference in Budapest, while this year the AMBA & BGA team is working with film crews, studios and digital networking
the surface disruption and crises afflict the management education community... I wasn't 100% off the mark at the start of a year defined by disruption but, although many of us are living through another period of lockdown across the world, there is much to be grateful for as we move into the Chinese Year of the Metal Ox, on 12 February. Those born in the Year of the Ox are thought to be strong, reliable, fair and conscientious, inspiring confidence in others. They are also calm, patient, methodical and can be trusted. Although they say little, they can be very opinionated. They believe in themselves, but are
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Corporate Head of Commercial Relations Max Braithwaite m.braithwaite@associationofmbas.com Commercial Partnerships Manager Emily Wall e.wall@associationofmbas.com HR and Employer Relations Manager Aarti Bhasin Conference Producer Paul Thurston Marketing and Communications Executive Edward Holmes Membership Manager Tariro Masukume Head of IT and Data Management Jack Villanueva Finance and Commercial Director Catherine Walker Chief Executive Officer Andrew Main Wilson Executive Assistant to the CEO Amy Youngs a.youngs@associationofmbas.com Accreditation enquiries accreditation@associationofmbas.com
'The AMBA network rose to the challenges put in front of them'
organisations to give delegates an immersive and valuable online experience during the three days of this year's Global Conference (for more about the event, see page 38). I don't think these virtual experiences are worth any less than physical events – they are simply different and this is the definition of
also stubborn and hate to fail. Now I'm seeing similarities between oxen and business educators. When the pandemic hit, I hoped that, within a year, we would look back on our achievements in the face of adversity, with pride. And – as you'll find out shortly, when we announce the winners of this year's AMBA & BGA Excellence
our 'new normal'. But what struck me, when reading the editor's letter from my pre-Covid-19 self, was how little we knew about what was about to land; and – importantly – how quickly we rallied and worked to innovate. In my February 2020 editor's letter, I wrote: 'According to the Chinese zodiac, 2020 is the Year of the Metal Rat. Those born in this year are believed to be positive and confident on the surface, but deep down they can be troubled by worries – often of their own making.' I came up with a tenuous link between metal rats and Business Schools. While Schools operate with a high degree of confidence in their shared mission of developing the game-changing leadership of today and tomorrow, under
Awards – the AMBA network rose to the challenges put in front of them with determination. The March edition of AMBITION will have details of all the winners and finalists. However, in this edition (on page 20), we outline findings of research into lifelong learning and MBA graduate perceptions, carried out in 2020. Graduates were polled on the difference their MBA has made to them and the top answer (cited by 68%) was ‘I was more confident about myself’, followed by ‘I was better at resolving problems by finding new solutions’ (62%). What more proof do Schools need that they are succeeding at inspiring confidence in a generation of future leaders? David Woods-Hale, Editor, AMBITION
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