EDITOR’S LETTER
EDITORIAL
Content editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul t.dhoul@amba-bga.com Head of editorial Colette Doyle c.doyle@amba-bga.com Art editor Sam Price
HEADING IN A NEW DIRECTION
A new year so often provides the chance to pursue fresh ideas and projects, so in our first issue of 2026, we showcase a number of innovative approaches being taken at schools within the BGA network. We also look at innovation from a curricular perspective, by examining how institutions can encourage creative thinking and entrepreneurial confidence. Our cover story, from Católica Porto Business School dean João Pinto, looks at how a collaborative hub has sought to forge a new way of thinking about sustainability transitions. The aim is to change the dominant narrative on ESG reporting from one of mere compliance and box-ticking to one where business performance is inseparable from environmental integrity and societal wellbeing. “This seemingly simple ambition requires a profound shift in mindset, language and practice,” Pinto shares. We then hear how the AI for Business Accelerator at Kent Business School has emerged in response to the way the very nature of knowledge is changing, as Thomas Hirschmann reveals. “The real impact of AI is the transition to what has been termed the ‘endogenous innovation economy’; a new landscape where ideas give rise to further ideas with sufficient velocity to trigger exponential, rather than just additive, growth.” Using interlinked modules, the school is seeking to develop the leadership and innovation mindsets required by careers in an AI-driven economy,
How schools are pursuing novel strategies to change mindsets, impact business and prepare students for the future world of work
Sub-editor Heather Ford
facilitating the student journey to effective co-creation with the use of technology. Elsewhere, we get an insight into the preservation of creative thinking itself from BI Norwegian Business School lecturer Barbara Salopek. She explores why the notion that higher education suppresses creativity has been so hard to dislodge, but goes on to identify what the industry gets wrong about innovation: “The problem is not that students learn too much, but that they often learn how to use knowledge in only one way.” Innovation literacy, or “the ability to recognise when established knowledge needs to be applied, adapted or deliberately challenged” is the answer and business schools are uniquely positioned to strengthen it, Salopek argues. Lastly, Alliance Manchester Business School senior lecturer Robert Phillips asks how institutions can curb the growing number of would-be entrepreneurs who cite fear of failure as the reason for not starting a business. From providing good entrepreneurial ecosystems with incubators, mentorship, access to funding and influential networks to covering the psychology behind fear and failure in curricula, Phillips highlights how higher education can give you “a clear idea of what you are letting yourself in for” and “the skills to make it more likely that you will succeed, as well as the self-efficacy to believe in yourself.”
Insight, content & PR manager Ellen Buchan e.buchan@amba-bga.com CORPORATE
Director of business school engagement Debbie Kemp d.kemp@amba-bga.com Head of business development – BGA Richard Turner r.turner@amba-bga.com Senior marketing executive – digital lead Shareen Pennington s.pennington@amba-bga.com Commercial assistant Georgia Herbert g.herbert@amba-bga.com Commercial relations director Max Braithwaite m.braithwaite@amba-bga.com Head of marketing & communications Leonora Clement l.clement@amba-bga.com Finance & commercial director Catherine Walke r Director of accreditation & director of BGA services Mark Stoddard Chief executive officer Andrew Main Wilson
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Tim Banerjee Dhoul Editor , Business Impact
Copyright 2026 by The Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association . 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, BGA 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 BGA. Whenever an article in this publication is placed with the financial support of an advertiser, partner or sponsor, it will be marked as such. BGA 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.
Business Impact • ISSUE 1 • 2026
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