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
LIVING UP TO THE CHALLENGE
To address pervasive global issues in business and society, management education must acknowledge and start fulfilling its responsibility to be a catalyst for positive change
Sub-editor Heather Ford
T he world is demanding more of its organisations Survey and the Purpose Pulse 2024 report have demonstrated that Millennials and Gen Z are looking for far greater awareness and action towards social equality than their predecessors. This has important ramifications for those charged with developing the next generation of business leaders. “Organisations that are not aligned with Millennial and Gen Z values risk losing favour with this large and increasingly and institutions, as consumer consciousness continues to rise. Polls such as the Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial influential cohort. Business leaders can and should help drive meaningful change on the issues that matter most to these groups, like racial justice, inequality and climate change,” declared Deloitte’s US sustainability leader, Michele Parmelee, in an article for Forbes . It’s a point that is not lost on the authors of our cover feature. “Business schools around the world have a responsibility to educate future leaders who can drive social change. This imperative warrants a rethink of curricula and assessment,” write the University of Bath School of Management’s Soheil Davari and Colin Higgins at Deakin Business School. Davari and Higgins then detail how programmes can be reformulated around the promotion of social good and how schools can engender a shift in internal structures, faculty development
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and external partnerships. The ultimate goal is to give graduates the tools to create positive impact in business and society and become effective leaders for the future. Elsewhere, we hear of innovative uses of technology in developing interpersonal skills in our interview with HEC Lausanne dean Marianne Schmid Mast. In one, students learn to cope with public speaking anxieties by going in at the deep end, via a virtual reality headset that allows them to give their presentation from a plank situated high above a precipice. Schmid Mast also tells us about her ambition to help more faculty members receive educational support before taking on university leadership roles. “Many say they would have loved to undergo some sort of training before taking these positions,” she advises. There’s also a look at how a broader definition of what constitutes academic inquiry at Acsenda School of Management (ASM) enables it to promote a culture where scholarship infuses teaching and learning on a daily basis. “You do not need to choose between being career-oriented and being academic,” argues ASM’s Mohsen Rezazadeh. “Our experience shows that professional relevance and scholarly depth can coexist and strengthen one another.”
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Tim Banerjee Dhoul Editor , Business Impact
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Copyright 2025 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 6 • 2025 5
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