NEWS & INSIGHT
TV SHOW FUELS PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION COUNTRY: Italy SCHOOL: MIP Politecnico di Milano
HIGH HOPES FOR HUB FOLLOWING NEW SIGNING COUNTRY: Egypt SCHOOL: American University in Cairo (AUC) School of Business Africa’s most successful soccer (football) club and the American University in Cairo (AUC) School of Business are teaming up to create a sports management hub for Egypt and the surrounding region. The memorandum of understanding signed between Al Ahly Sporting Club (Al Ahly) and AUC School of Business aims to address a current shortfall in the market and a growing need for management skills not just in Egypt, but also across Africa. Although Al Ahly is world-renowned for its football team, programmes will be generalist and designed to suit any sport, role and function in the field of sports management – from finance, branding and event management to sports psychology, ethics and law. In addition, access to Al Ahly’s facilities will allow programmes to offer firsthand experiential insights into the operations of a successful club – a sporting giant in the region with a record of 42 national league titles in Egypt and a record nine CAF (Confederation of African Football) Champions League titles. ‘Our partnership with Al Ahly Sporting Club will ensure the development and delivery of a sports management programme of the highest calibre, as well as secure the maximum exposure for the programme,’ said Mohamed Abdelsalam, Executive Director of the AUC School of Business Executive Education. Football is currently the most popular sport across the whole of Africa, but others are looking to make inroads into the continent’s growing and lucrative market. Notable among these is basketball, with the announcement of the launch of the Basketball African League (BAL) in 2019 by the US’s National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, has described the BAL as being ‘committed to using basketball as an economic engine to create new opportunities in sports, media and technology across Africa’, according to a 2020 article for the Africa Report . The collaboration between AUC School of Business and Al Ahly, meanwhile, is set to kick off with a virtual programme in September 2021. / TBD
Drugs, sex appeal, deception, international spies, fashion, alcoholism and scandal are not words that usually associated with chess. Not until Netflix released its popular series, The Queen’s Gambit . The influence of the show is hard to dispute. The Guardian recently reported that sales of chess sets and accessories on eBay has risen by 215% in the US since the release of the hit series. In addition, online chess playing site, Chess.com, saw its number of new members in the US soar from 6,000 a day to 30,000 a day in the space of just one month following the series’ release. However, it isn’t just how we spend our spare time which is set to be influenced by the show, education is also jumping on this masterful trend. MIP Politecnico di Milano has announced a new short course entitled, ‘Chess and Corporate Strategy’. The course, which is due to start in June 2021, will be taught over four modules, online and in English. The programme is on offer from the MIP Management Academy, which aims to provide short relevant courses to experienced managers who either want to upskill in a specific area or who want to keep up to date with the latest business trends. The academy welcomes mangers from all fields and industries and emphasises flexibility in offering multiple ways to engage in programmes. The ‘Chess and Corporate Strategy’ programme will draw parallels from the game of chess to teach problem solving, strategic thinking and decision- making, while also incorporating AI and game theory. It’s aim is to teach managers to think through complex situations strategically, using an in-depth analysis of different scenarios – just as a chess player might weigh up different moves – helping them forecast potential outcomes and assess the psychology of other stakeholders. With the new course, MIP Politecnico di Milano is making moves in exploring innovative teaching methods. Perhaps the business leaders of tomorrow will be casting their eyes to the ceiling, mapping out their next move and calling checkmate as they strategise for success. / EB
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