GEN Z & THE 2030 MBA
The advantages of working in partnership “Our programme has collaboration in its DNA,” notes Amich, “as two competing business schools based in Portugal – Católica Lisbon and Nova School of Business and Economics – came together to create a unique MBA offer, in partnership with MIT Sloan School of Management. This is something that could only be done by overcoming a competitive approach, enabling them to broaden their capabilities for a greater common good.” Given the increasingly global nature of business, it’s vital that Gen Z students have an international outlook, comments Amich. “We’re a small country, but we believe that future leaders need to think big.” Accordingly, the Lisbon MBA partners with leading MBA providers to offer an exchange programme in schools such as Esade in Spain, St Gallen in Switzerland and Singapore, Fundaçao Dom Cabral in Brazil and the University of San Diego in the US. Students can also undertake international consulting projects, such as those with recent partners Insper São Paulo (Brazil) and Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business in Atlanta (US), on behalf of companies based in Portugal that have a global reach. A rather more unusual collaboration offers MBA students the chance to participate in the Portuguese Marines’ leadership training scheme. “It’s something very recent,” explains Amich, “resulting from a partnership with the Marines who send their top talent to enrol in our courses. We have between four and five fuzileiros doing the MBA with us and they bring enormous value to the programme”. For Amich, in order to meet Generation Z’s expectations, MBA programmes should offer personalised, customisable learning experiences, integrating cutting-edge technology. Moreover, to provide real value for the next generation of leaders, they themselves must also prioritise purpose-driven learning and the importance of a global perspective.
While technology is essential for the younger generation, Amich highlights how they also “prize personal contact and an in-person learning experience”. Candidates routinely express a preference for face-to-face contact, rather than online or hybrid delivery. The Lisbon MBA provides online resources such as lecture recordings to support student learning as required. There has also been significant investment in the latest technology because Gen Zers “want access to all the tools that are available”. However, it is intended that the programme will continue as an on-campus MBA to enhance relationships among peers, as well as networking opportunities with corporate executives who deliver regular talks. The importance of embracing generative AI For Amich, “digital capability is becoming a transversal need in the curriculum” to prepare students for the future business landscape. The MBA cohort must therefore “embrace the challenges that new technology like generative AI poses to our ways of teaching”. She elaborates: “One of our courses is Disciplined Entrepreneurship, delivered by our MIT Sloan partners in Boston. Until now, students were taught how to create a business plan. However, with generative AI, you can produce a business plan in seconds.” Amich questions why students should be made to go through that process “if a machine can do it for you – and much better”. She continues: “Instead, we allow our students to use approved generative AI tools, but instruct them to use the time saved to do more customer research, validate assumptions and work on product/service prototyping and financials,” so they can deliver the right pitch to investors. “We cover the same ground, but generative AI has enabled us to shorten one part of the course and allow more time for students to concentrate on adding value”. Amich says “students think it’s going to be easier”, but insists that in fact it’s actually a more challenging learning experience. “They really have to bring the solutions and work on them,” she adds, a way of learning that develops those capabilities sought by recruiters such as critical thinking, creativity, an entrepreneurial mindset and executional skills for high performance teamwork. Deciding how to define purpose According to Amich, “Gen Zers talk a lot about purpose and everything has to have a meaning… having a mission and values is at the top of their agenda”. However, they can struggle to define their own purpose or clearly articulate their values. In response, the Lisbon MBA has partnered with corporate executives from companies such as Unilever, a pioneer in ‘purpose at work’, to deliver a two-day workshop during which MBA students “learn to reflect, define and activate their purpose”. From then on, students apply their purpose statement to other elements of their leadership development journey, aligning it with their career plan. Moreover, it’s not enough for Gen Zers to just ‘talk the talk’ about making a positive impact on business and society. For Amich, they also want MBAs to ‘walk the walk’ and include topics in the curriculum such as climate change, sustainability, ESG, diversity and inclusion.
BIOGRAPHY Maria José Amich is executive director of the Lisbon MBA at the University of Católica Nova. She is also founder of WomenWinWin, a non-profit association aiming to foster women’s entrepreneurship and co-founder of PWN Lisbon, as well as serving as a board member of the Strategic Council of OVIA, a municipality investment agency. Amich has more than 30 years’ executive experience across sectors that include advertising, FMCG, media/publishing, fashion retail and consulting, having worked in companies such as Ogilvy, P&G and Summa Branding. She graduated from the Université de Genève in Economics and has an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona
Ambition | OCTOBER 2024 | 33
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