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leadership, academic supervision, faculty and financial management, stakeholder relations and collaboration with other entities, as well as acting like a role model. Moreover, he reminded delegates that a business school dean is also a storyteller and urged them to make their institution memorable and “take control of the story in ways only the dean can”. Schools need to ask themselves, “do we have a plan?” when it comes to responsive crisis communications, counselled Symonds, elaborating that this must encompass the macro, eg geopolitical events, the global health crisis and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market, along with the micro. The latter involves a range of issues that can include unhappy students, outspoken faculty, questionable staff expenses, donations from dubious sources and data breaches. Consistent brand messaging is key, claimed the BlueSky CEO, noting that to gain media coverage, schools need to tell their stories of ESG policies, entrepreneurship spaces and DE&I initiatives. Other avenues include alumni engagement and success stories, faculty excellence and the impact of their research. Student experiences with business simulation Cesim Business Simulations has developed an AI assistant that aims to support instructors by providing not just accurate and rapid data retrieval, but lesson and coaching plans based on chatbot prompts. At the AMBA & BGA global conference, CEO Veijo Kyosti outlined his reaction to the breakthrough of ChatGPT in 2023 and his motivation surrounding the use of this tool to support business simulation. Kyosti highlighted some basic prompts that the assistant might respond to with indicative answers. Joining him on stage was Dr Matt Offord, a senior leadership lecturer at Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, who went on to explain his experience with business simulation and to outline some initial research into the effectiveness of the AI assistant. After 30 prompts, Offord confirmed that the AI tools provided 100-per-cent-accurate responses and noted they would save on preparation time for simulation instructors. The data also indicated good results with basic conversational prompts, but more carefully crafted prompts delivered better responses. Both speakers emphasised that the AI assistant is a collaborator with educators – and not a replacement.
he concept of value in a changing world was the theme of the AMBA & BGA global conference’s first presentation, given by Bocconi School of Management dean Stefano Caselli. He described the business school as a “dialogue lab”, where management means responsibility; it is a community in which – thanks to the interaction of its various components, ie faculty, students and alumni – “we build knowledge and best practice over the years”. It is also a place where students are provided with the skills to lead both human and organisational resources; “we challenge them to go beyond the comfort zone of preconceived knowledge and the silos of technical competences”, as Caselli put it. The Bocconi dean urged schools to be “forward thinking” in their approach, highlighting the concept of ESG (environmental, social and governance) finance. He described this as having evolved from “a luxury goods approach (invest-with-a-discount) to a commodity (invest-with-a-premium)” and he cautioned that the cost of failing to recognise this is “increasing for all stakeholders”. In addition, he noted that some 16 per cent of the global bond market is ESG-compliant, along with almost 7,500 funds worldwide and added that by 2035 two-thirds of all investors will be from the Gen Z demographic. Continuous education is “a value generator”, noted Caselli. Only such a mindset can cope with the challenges that leaders in a global organisation must face. In terms of the qualities that they should possess, these include being sustainable, digital, inclusive and dialogue-focused – as well as “being next”. Schools need to develop and implement a lifelong learning-centric strategy, maintained the Bocconi dean, substantiating this statement with a quote from the European Commission: “Preparation for life in tomorrow’s world cannot be satisfied by a once-and-for-all acquisition of knowledge. All measures must, therefore, necessarily be based on the concept of developing, generalising and systemising lifelong learning and continuous training.” How to handle organisational reputation School rankings offer a “route to money and power, as well as value creation”, noted BlueSky Education co-founder and CEO Matt Symonds during his highly engaging talk on essential reputation management strategies for business schools. Symonds considered the role of the dean, pointing out that they must be prepared to shoulder a number of responsibilities, including strategic
18 | Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2024
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