BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
and Entrepreneurship Officer, UC Berkeley, and former Dean of Berkeley’s Haas School (Twitter: @richlyons, LinkedIn: in/rich- lyons-30332b1). Look at how they approach social media. Learn from them – and others. A narrow view: where Business Schools are going wrong So, why are so many Business Schools – and their leaders – so slow to adapt? Firstly, let’s look at Schools’ offerings for students. Then we’ll move on to School leaders. I know that many Business Schools now offer digital modules – and even social media modules – but as far as I can tell, most of these courses have names like ‘Social Media Marketing’. Have I mentioned marketing at any point in this article? No. The biggest mistake that so many people make is equating social media with being just another marketing channel. Yes, it can be – but if you ever read Mark Ritson, a brand consultant and a former marketing professor at Melbourne Business School and London Business School, you’ll know how sceptical he is about that. I share that scepticism. The fact is that social media is not simply a marketing channel. It’s so much more than that. The clue is in the name. Social media is about being social. It’s about interaction. It’s about engaging with people. It’s not about trying to sell them something. This appears to be where most Business Schools are getting it wrong. The people putting together the curricula don’t appear to understand what social media is really about. Let me rephrase that – they only seem to have a narrow view of what social media is about. By missing out the personal side of social media engagement they are, I would argue, actually doing a huge disservice to their students. A number of contributors to The Social CEO book have been to Business School, and they all agree that Schools could and should be doing a lot more to teach social media properly to aspiring (and existing) leaders. I understand that Business Schools are trying to make themselves more relevant in the digital age – but they need to understand the social age as well.
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‘Students need the tools and training to compete with startup CEOs and solo entrepreneurs who understand social media and use it effectively’
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