Business Impact covers the big challenges facing global management education as the world asks more of its future business leaders.
ISSUE 3 2026 VOLUME 31
THE MAGAZINE OF THE BUSINESS GRADUATES ASSOCIATION (BGA)
LEADERS NEVER STOP LEARNING
complexity career MAPPING
Redesigning programmes & services to match changing realities
• THE SHIFTING SANDS OF LEADERSHIP: TRANSFORMING PEDAGOGY • FINDING YOUR VOICE: MOVING BEYOND STUDENT SURVEY METRICS • FAIR EXCHANGE: WHEN INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY IS LED BY SOCIAL IMPACT
INSIDE
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Contents ISSUE 3 • 2026 • VOLUME 31
05 EDITOR’S LETTER Why business schools must focus on innovating internally while overhauling their offerings to meet modern-day demands 06 BUSINESS BRIEFING A round-up of news and research from institutions across BGA’s global network 10 COVER STORY OFF THE BEATEN PATH Career structures are changing and so must schools’ programmes and services, says Hult’s Henrik Totterman
28 MOVING THE NEEDLE ON GLOBAL MOBILITY An international summer exchange focused on community impact 32 AIMING FOR ACTIVE ALLYSHIP Supporting inclusion by embedding allyship into everyday practice 36 GUEST COLUMN Leadership growth through travel, meditation & emotional honesty 38 DIRECTOR’S DESPATCH Challenging our notions of success
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16 DATA POINTS New AMBA & BGA research points to development opportunities when it comes to student communications 22 When metrics designed to monitor learning begin to shape it; the problem with student survey scores 24 PUTTING DOWN ROOTS IN SEARCH OF SATISFACTION The Social Class Project at Mannheim Business School and its support of an urban tree-planting initiative
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18 LICENCE TO RESKILL ITESO’s Fernando Ortiz Cueva and Carlos Reynoso Núñez consider why we need to reskill leadership development practices to match the modern context of continuous learning,
AI expansion, diversity and interconnectedness
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AMBA & BGA ASIA PACIFIC CONFERENCE 2026
22-25 NOVEMBER 2026 | SINGAPORE
The AMBA & BGA Asia Pacific Conference for Deans and Directors 2026 will bring together business school leaders and higher education experts from across the region and beyond.
Through thought leadership sessions, strategic discussions and networking opportunities, delegates will explore the trends shaping management education. These include innovation, emerging technologies, lifelong learning, leadership development, industry collaboration and sustainability.
WWW.AMBA-BGA.COM/EVENTS/APAC-2026
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
THE COMPLEXITY CONUNDRUM
C omplexity has seeped into almost every aspect of organisational culture and practice, as evidenced by a recent message from a colleague detailing the mechanics of our organisation’s sweepstake for this month’s FIFA World Cup, consisting of two draws, a bonus league and rankings, alongside various rules and permutations for the categories on offer. In many ways, this is down to the coming tournament’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams, but it is also a nod to the need to retain interest in the face of evolving audience interests and preferences. In higher education, the picture is comparably convoluted, with demands that span expectations for modernisation and innovation in the face of contracting resources, alongside a desire for measurable, positive impact on economies, government policies, individuals and society. So far, so simple. Yet, while conversations around complexity naturally abound in the current climate, they don’t always translate into action. This issue of Business Impact , therefore, leads with a practical look at precisely how business schools can meet the ever‑increasing intricacies of modern careers and leadership. Our cover story focuses on the changes taking place to career structures, with Hult International Business School professor Henrik Totterman highlighting how learners are increasingly likely to follow non-linear paths to leadership through multi-role or portfolio progression and lifelong reinvention. Acknowledging the industry’s
As career paths and structures evolve, higher education must equip students for the new world of work while undergoing its own modernisation
Sub-editor Heather Ford
current limitations, Totterman pinpoints how existing offerings can be overhauled in favour of “a more durable model that connects degree education, alumni engagement, executive education and career support within a coherent system”. We then turn to managing complexity in our feature from Fernando Ortiz Cueva and Carlos Reynoso Núñez at ITESO; they emphasise how approaches to leadership development can be redesigned to meet current demands. This article highlights the importance of helping students develop “cultural intelligence, emotional awareness and a willingness to learn from perspectives that challenge existing assumptions” in the context of a business environment where far‑flung, diverse and intergenerational teams are increasingly the norm. Reflecting on his own leadership journey, INSEAD and HBS alumnus Johan Depraetere also testifies to the importance of these qualities in his guest column. “In a world of increasing complexity and noise, presence and honesty might just be the most important leadership traits of all,” he writes, citing lived experience through travel, meditation and the practice of emotional honesty as his recipe for becoming a more grounded leader. To navigate today’s global business challenges, these ideas and approaches can help us to embrace complexity rather than to become overwhelmed or exhausted by its pervasiveness.
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 Membership administrator 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
GENERAL ENQUIRIES bga-membership@amba-bga.com
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.
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BRIEFING Fostering future-proof AI proficiency in students, boosting academic engagement using psychological capital and how childhood anxiety can spur a quest for status all feature in this round-up of news and research from BGA schools. Ellen Buchan , Tim Banerjee Dhoul and Colette Doyle report THE LATEST NEWS FROM ACROSS BGA’S NETWORK Business
FUTURE-FOCUSED AI COMPETENCY MODEL INTEGRATED INTO DEGREE PROGRAMMES
faster than people can be retrained,” commented Kamal Bhattacharya, vice‑president for research and transfer at IU. “There are often only months between new generations of powerful AI models, while university curricula develop over years. This creates a growing gap between technological development and human competence – we want to close this gap.” According to IU, the need for action is clear: in its latest Future of Jobs Report , the World Economic Forum identified skills gaps as the biggest barrier to corporate transformation (cited by 63 per cent of employers worldwide). At the same time, it predicted that 39 per cent of all core competencies will need to be newly acquired by
2030. Meanwhile, the future skills most frequently referenced by respondents to an IU poll of professionals and recruiters are creative thinking (57 per cent), analytical thinking (54 per cent) and empathy & active listening (47 per cent). Another IU survey suggests that its students and alumni are already better equipped with AI skills than those of other universities in Germany, with the school attributing this to its use of AI‑powered learning companion Syntea. A total of 83 per cent of IU students and graduates agreed that they have learned how to use AI tools effectively, compared to 70 per cent of those at other private universities and 67 per cent of those at public institutions in the country. CD
SCHOOL IU International University Germany
U International University has integrated an AI competency model into its curriculum in a
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bid to prepare students for the future world of work. The model is based on its Job Readiness Framework, which structures the development of students’ ability to deploy AI at work in five measurable stages. Following an initial pilot phase, the framework will now be added systematically to existing content across all disciplines and degree programmes at IU. “Technology is developing
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NEWS DIGEST
studying online. “While we expected differences between modalities, we did not anticipate that metacognition would have such a decisive role in online environments,” Juyumaya conceded, noting how students must maintain motivation and manage their own learning process in remote settings. In view of the results, the FEN UNAB researcher recommends that institutions adopt “a more comprehensive approach to learning, one that not only transmits content, but also develops psychological resources and self-regulation skills.” Indeed, Juyumaya firmly believes that deliberate pedagogical design can help students develop psychological capital. Self-efficacy, he elaborated, can be developed through the incorporation of “activities with progressive achievements, frequent feedback and clear objectives”, while “resilience can be fostered by incorporating spaces where mistakes are part of the learning process”. Optimism and hope, meanwhile, can be fuelled “by working with clear goals and a sense of purpose in the subjects”. However, Juyumaya highlighted that these practices need to be accompanied by a focus on metacognitive skills, through training on how to plan study tasks and monitor progress: “This transforms psychological resources into effective learning,” he added. TBD “Institutions should adopt an approach to learning that develops psychological resources and self‑regulation skills”
HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL CAN FUEL STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
to have a positive impact on academic engagement in an analysis of 1,641 students at a higher education institution in Paraguay. The sample encompassed students from face-to-face and online formats across both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. “The most relevant finding is that this effect is not only direct, but occurs largely through metacognition, that is, the ability of students to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning,” reasoned FEN UNAB’s Jesús Juyumaya, co-author of the study. Psychological capital’s biggest boost on engagement was found among those
SCHOOL Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile
esilience, self-efficacy, hope and optimism boost students’ level of academic engagement
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by enhancing their cognitive and metacognitive processes, according to research involving the Facultad de Economía y Negocios (FEN), Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB). These attributes, collectively referred to as “psychological capital”, were found
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SPOTLIGHT ON UDLAP PAPER AT REGIONAL CONFERENCE
SCHOOL Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP), Mexico
DLAP’s Jorge Luis Alcaraz Vargas has been recognised for research exploring how the presence and
U
perception of corruption in different countries impacts Latin American multinationals’ decision-making with regards to regional expansion. Alcaraz, academic director of UDLAP’s Department of International Business Administration, received a Best Paper Award at the recent Academy of International Business Latin America & the Caribbean Conference in Lima, Peru. In the research, Alcaraz found that companies can either view corruption as implying extra investment or as something that can facilitate processes without so much paperwork or capital. The suggestion is that a company’s level of experience often guides whether it believes it can operate in a corrupt environment without much investment, or whether it will eschew a country due to the number of bureaucratic processes involved. The study also demonstrates the significance of political affinity, with good relationships between two countries fostering greater flows of investment and making levels of internal corruption less of a concern. “Companies may interpret the political alignment of countries as providing a sense of stability, even when corruption is high. Conversely, when there is no political alignment, companies will choose to go to countries where the risk and corruption are lower,” commented Alcaraz. CD
AI ASSESSMENT TRAINING INITIATIVE FOR FACULTY RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
and knowledge to promote the responsible and ethical use of AI among their students. The course forms part of a wider NWU initiative to support faculty through technological change and ensure they don’t feel alone in getting to grips with new ways of teaching. Around a third of all staff have already undergone training across resources that include in-person workshops, microcredential badges and “lunch and learn” sessions, in addition to the online course. Reflecting on her work’s recognition by the Digital Education Council, van den Berg said that early results of the initiative indicate a shift towards more meaningful and skills‑based evaluations across university faculties. “Crucially, this work does not frame AI as a threat, but as an opportunity. The focus is on using AI to enhance learning and support thinking, not replace it,” the NWU professor added. EB
SCHOOL North-West University Business School, South Africa
tudent assessment in the age of AI is the subject of an online course recently
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featured in the Digital Education Council Best Practices Collection. Developed for faculty by North- West University (NWU) professor Liandi van den Berg, Winning the Assessment Game is designed to guide academics through the process of redesigning their assessments. It takes a challenge- based learning approach to demonstrate how AI can be used effectively in both preparation and teaching, while offering an AI assessment scale to measure the extent of the technology’s integration. The course also aims to equip faculty with the skills
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NEWS DIGEST
INDIAN INDUSTRY CO-DESIGNS NEW PROGRAMME
SCHOOL Birla School of Management, Birla Global University, India
B irla School of Management has launched a new two-year MBA in business analytics in partnership with KPMG India. The school’s dean, Parameswar Nayak, described the programme as “a launchpad to master data, turn insights into strategy and lead the future with the foresight that defines tomorrow’s business leaders”. In addition to equipping students with the skills needed to manage and lead with effective data-driven decision-making, the programme offers numerous areas of specialisation. These include business analytics in new-age enterprises, applied generative AI, tech consulting and business model innovation. The teaching format, meanwhile, emphasises giving students practical experience, using hands-on projects, case studies and simulated real‑word assignments. Having co-designed the programme, experts at KPMG India will also co-deliver it, with guest lecturers and real-world projects, as well as a job preparation bootcamp. The goal, according to KPMG India partner and national leader for the education sector Narayanan Ramaswamy, is to create a pipeline of “industry-ready” students. “This initiative is a great example
THE POTENTIAL LINK BETWEEN EARLY CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT & THE PURSUIT OF STATUS
When someone grows up in a loving and attentive environment, they tend to develop a secure attachment style, according to the psychological theory. However, if they grow up in an environment where parents are unpredictable or absent, an insecure attachment style can be formed – distinguished by the study as being one of either avoidance or anxiety. The latter, manifesting as a fear of being rejected or abandoned by loved ones, is said to push people towards the pursuit of status. “Such anxiety stems from a fundamental relational insecurity. The question we asked ourselves was whether this insecurity can lead people to seek status as a form of compensation,” Otterbring explained. experiments in which attachment anxiety was induced in participants. Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , the study involved around 4,000 participants from five countries. EB The study’s findings were supported by the results of
SCHOOL School of Business and Law University of Agder, Norway
n underlying fear of abandonment formed in early childhood can drive some people to chase status more than others, according to a new study. The study, co-authored by the University of Agder School of Business and Law’s Tobias Otterbring, traced this form of anxiety back to a person’s attachment style, derived from their earliest environment and the bonds formed with parents. It then explored how anxiety might develop into the pursuit of status, finding that competition with others of the same sex is at least as important as materialism, or the desire for nice things. “We find that it is the urge to compare oneself with and outdo same-sex rivals that drives the pursuit of status,” noted Otterbring. A
of genuine collaboration between academia and industry,” he added.
Birla School of Management forms part of Birla Global University, a BGA-validated institution based in Bhubaneswar, the capital of India’s state of Odisha. TBD
SHARE YOUR NEWS AND RESEARCH UPDATES by emailing Business Impact editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul at t.dhoul@amba-bga.com
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Off beaten path: the Preparing students for career complexity
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The singular track to success is increasingly giving way to portfolio work, multi-role progression and lifelong reinvention, changing what students need from business school. That means redesigning the model around which programmes and services have been built for one that better connects degree education, alumni engagement, executive education and career support, writes Henrik Totterman W hile business schools are right to invest serious energy in AI, analytics, digital transformation and entrepreneurship, another shift is advancing more quietly and may prove to be just as important to business education’s long-term relevance. That shift relates to careers and the fact that a growing number of current
and future leaders will not advance through the traditional one-employer path around which many programmes are still designed. For decades, the implicit template behind much business education has been familiar. A student studies, secures a role, progresses within an organisation, broadens responsibility and later, perhaps, becomes a manager, founder, board member or investor. Although this model still fits many careers and should not be dismissed, it no longer adequately describes the market. This is because a growing proportion of professionals now build careers across multiple roles, institutions and income streams. In my work as an executive advisor, professor and columnist on the topic, I see a growing number of executives move between operating, teaching, consulting and governance responsibilities. Meanwhile, some take on interim or fractional leadership assignments. Others build careers through a sequence of projects, ventures and cross-sector engagements rather than embarking on a single climb within a single institution. Still others return to formal learning mid‑career, seeking guidance on how to build a career across multiple roles, even though business schools still offer only limited structures to support that reality. A life less linear This is not a fringe phenomenon, nor is it simply another way of describing gig work. It reflects
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a broader shift towards more plural, non-linear professional lives. The implications are significant for individuals who must make sense of identity, income stability, personal brand, time allocation, wellbeing and long-term career coherence across multiple roles. They are equally significant for organisations, many of which are still not designed to engage such talent effectively. Legal structures, HR policies, reporting lines, compensation systems, conflict‑of‑interest rules and assumptions about loyalty and hierarchy are still largely built for full‑time, single-employer careers. In practice, that can mean something as simple as repeating almost identical compliance and workplace-conduct training separately for multiple organisations every year. More fundamentally, it can also mean that individual roles taken sit awkwardly across systems built for only one employer at a time. Business schools, therefore, face an uncomfortable question: if a growing share of talent no longer fits the career model around which our programmes, services and assumptions are built, what exactly are we preparing people for? Put differently, how can we better support individuals facing rising career complexity while also helping organisations that remain poorly equipped to engage and manage this kind of talent? As AI accelerates change in the job market, this issue is unlikely to fade. More likely, it will intensify. The shifting landscape Alongside ethics and sustainability, AI has become one of the defining lenses through which many business schools now think about relevance. That makes sense in today’s climate and leaders need to understand how emerging technologies reshape workflows, decision-making, organisational design, service models and strategy. Curriculum designers and professors who ignore these crucial threads of AI will clearly be missing something important. The risk for others, however, is twofold. Firstly, some schools are treating AI too narrowly, as an assistant tool or a technology topic, rather than as a catalyst for broader redesign. Secondly, while many are modernising programme content, they are leaving a deeper structural assumption untouched: that leadership development is still mainly about preparing people to enter, rise within, or run relatively stable organisations. Yet, this ignores the fact that AI is not only changing work itself but also
indirectly encouraging more fragmented, flexible and portfolio-like career structures. That matters because career structures shape what learners need from education. Many aspiring students still imagine a relatively linear path and a singular kind of preparation would make sense if that remained the dominant reality. Increasingly, however, careers after graduation do not unfold so neatly. Even before AI, professionals were being pushed across organisations, projects, sectors and role types by restructuring, flexibility, shifting ambitions and a less stable employment landscape. AI is now adding fresh momentum to that trend. As firms rethink workflows, unbundle tasks, automate parts of roles and reassess which capabilities truly need to sit in full-time positions, more leadership and specialist work is likely to be configured in partial, project-based, advisory, or fractional ways. In this way, AI is becoming a powerful enabler of new forms of collaboration that play out between individuals and multiple organisations. That demands a different kind of preparation: not only competence but also career architecture; not only promotion but also sequencing; not only leadership within one
“Career structures shape what learners need from education”
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INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Act on a handful of priorities: While learners must leave business school with the knowledge and technical abilities needed to secure a suitable role, they should also understand how they can design a professional life. This entails expanding leadership education beyond the traditional one-employer model, so that students learn how to lead across boundaries and create value across temporary mandates, multiple accountabilities and environments where trust must be built quickly without relying on formal authority. Build more iterative learning into the educational model: As careers become less linear, education cannot remain concentrated around a single degree moment. Learners need shorter, sharper, better-timed interventions across their working lives, whether through modular learning, transition- focused programmes, alumni refreshers or executive education tied to specific turning points. The real opportunity is to become an institution that stays relevant at both entry and re-entry. Address wellbeing: Business schools often celebrate adaptability, reinvention and ambition. While this is fine, non‑linear careers can also create ambiguity, overload and identity strain. To prepare learners adequately, schools need to address boundaries, sustainability and the emotional realities of professional reinvention, as well as opportunity and agility. In that sense, this is an issue relating to careers, leadership development and, increasingly, wellbeing.
HOW TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR MORE PLURAL, ITERATIVE & COMPLEX CAREERS
Organisations face their own version of this same problem, with many poorly equipped to engage and support multi- role talent effectively because their systems remain built for full-time, single-employer careers. In this sense, business schools can not only better support individuals but also help organisations think more clearly about what these new career realities require. Develop a more integrated value proposition: Rather than simply adding a workshop on portfolio careers or fractional leadership to an already busy calendar of events, schools should consider offering a more coherent model of support. That model should not just focus on helping students and alumni prepare for entry into the workforce, but also for re‑entry, repositioning and reinvention throughout a longer professional life. This means treating degree education, alumni engagement, career services and executive education not as separate silos but as connected parts of one evolving relationship.
Get institutional & programme-level clarity: Before redesigning services or adding offerings, schools may need a more explicit view of the career realities they are preparing learners for. For many institutions, that means looking beyond graduate employment, structured progression and entrepreneurship to ask whether their model is specific yet broad enough for futures shaped by multiple roles, repeated transitions and ongoing reinvention. In a tougher market where every student counts, schools may also need to ask whose needs they are not currently set up to serve well enough. Redefine the problem: An increasing number of today’s learners do not simply need help securing a first role; they need support in making sense of more complex professional lives. As well as employability, therefore, schools must focus on career architecture. That is, students’ ability to combine roles, sequence moves, build credibility, manage risk, navigate identity and make sound decisions across transitions.
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hierarchy but also influence across settings where authority is temporary, partial or shared. Just as importantly, this emerging landscape requires people who can help organisations adapt by rethinking their structures, policies and leadership models. While many schools are actively updating their curricula to remain relevant, I see very few that are seriously rethinking their core functions or proposing new educational models that recognise, support and create value for the new types of career realities taking shape around them. An overlooked opportunity Corporate relations and career services teams are often among the hardest-working professionals at any business school. They play a critical role in building bridges between institutions, learners and employers. Yet beneath this important effort, many schools still operate with a surprisingly traditional career template. Indeed, most degree programmes remain anchored around three expected destinations: graduate employment, upward progression within an organisation, or entrepreneurship. Career services are, therefore, built mainly for entry, placement and movement from one employer to the next, rather than for transitions, repositioning or careers that may span multiple roles or even multiple employers at once. In the best of cases, alumni engagement remains valuable well beyond graduation and many graduates rightly praise their schools for helping them make later-career moves. However, most services are still not designed for the more complex reality of simultaneous, multi-employer careers. Executive education also plays an important role here, yet it is often treated as separate from the school’s core model. This means it doesn’t end up forming part of a broader lifelong learning journey through which participants can make sense of increasingly complex, multi-employer realities. What matters here is not simply that career paths are changing, but whether business schools are set up to support learners through that change. At a time when many schools are seeking differentiation through sector-specific offerings in areas such as sports, healthcare or analytics, they may be overlooking an opportunity in the opposite direction. That is, to serve a cross-sector population of learners with increasingly similar needs around career
complexity, multi-role progression and lifelong reinvention. From an enrolment standpoint, this may be a more expandable opportunity than many schools currently realise. The trend towards lifelong learning Business schools deserve real credit for the stronger emphasis they now place on lifelong learning. Across the sector, this is visible in updated curricula, richer alumni programming and more ambitious executive education portfolios. Moreover, AMBA & BGA explicitly frames lifelong learning as a core commitment of their member schools, while also highlighting changing learner expectations, workforce readiness and alumni engagement as strategic priorities. In addition, many schools have invested meaningfully in infrastructure to support career development and one of my personal favourite practices is welcoming alumni back into the classroom through complimentary elective access. The gap, then, is less one of effort than of fit. As business educators, we remain better equipped to support movement from one role or employer to the next than to help professionals build, co-ordinate and sustain careers across several simultaneous roles or organisations. I was recently reminded of this in conversations with two former students who had both left large
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INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
they serve. Instead, schools must ask themselves harder questions: Are learners better equipped to navigate transitions and not just secure an initial role? Are alumni returning at meaningful points for renewal, reinvention and capability development, rather than for networking alone? Are graduates more prepared for careers that may span multiple roles, organisations and phases of change? And are employers finding that your business school is producing talent that is suited to a more fluid world of work? These questions point to something larger than curriculum adjustment. They point to the need for a more integrated model. Career services, faculty, programme leadership, alumni relations, executive education and learner-support teams cannot continue to operate from assumptions about what a successful career looks like. If they do, learners will experience fragmentation where coherence is needed. This is why the real challenge is not simply to modernise content. It is about rethinking how value is created across the full relationship between a school and its stakeholders. The institutions that respond well will do more than refresh programmes. They will build a more durable model that connects degree education, alumni engagement, executive education and career support into a coherent system for a world in which leadership careers are becoming more plural, iterative and complex. This opportunity is larger than pedagogy alone. The population that many schools are only beginning to recognise may also represent one of the most underappreciated growth prospects in business education.
organisations at roughly the same time, though for very different reasons. A few years later, both had become independent portfolio professionals. From the outside, their situations looked similar: multiple roles, more flexibility, more autonomy. But the realities were very different. One had built a strong flow of meaningful roles across organisations, supported by a broad network and an ability to manage visibility, relationships and timing. The other was working just as hard, but with far more friction: spending significant time searching for the next opportunity, relying on a narrower network and feeling the strain whenever work slowed down. The contrast was revealing. Success in a multi-role career is not simply about having more work. It is also about how that work is structured, how relationships are built and how well a person has been prepared to navigate a more complex professional model. These are exactly the kinds of professionals who often return to executive education. They do so not because they need a traditional credential reset, but because they are trying to make sense of a more demanding career reality for which most formal business education still offers only partial guidance. In my work at Harvard, Hult and Hanken alike, I have seen that learners increasingly imagine futures that may combine operating, advisory, teaching, governance, entrepreneurial and ecosystem roles over time. Meanwhile, my assessment work for AMBA & BGA across MBA programmes, master’s in management degrees and BGA accreditations has brought me into contact with real progress in innovation, internationalisation and curriculum development. Yet one pattern remains striking: schools are often updating content faster than the career assumptions around which their value proposition still rests. Indeed, one reason why assessment teams pay close attention to programme- level missions is because this is where a school should make clear its aspirations, audience and the future it seeks to prepare learners for. A more integrated model If priorities change, measures of success must change with them. Too often, business schools find it easier to track activity than value across employer contacts, alumni touchpoints, events held or courses launched, for example. While those indicators matter, they say little about whether schools are becoming more relevant in the lives and careers of the people
Henrik Totterman is professor of entrepreneurial management at Hult International Business School and a member of the teaching faculty at Harvard University. He previously served as dean and executive director at Hult and as director of the executive MBA at Hanken School of Economics, Finland. Totterman is also CEO of the executive advisory firm, Leadx3m
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Data points There’s clear room for improvement in schools’ ability to align messaging with the digital communication preferences of today’s students, as part of efforts to contact and connect with them effectively. Tim Banerjee Dhoul dives into forthcoming research from AMBA & BGA
A total of 40 per cent cited social media here, far ahead of messaging apps (18 per cent) and email (14 per cent). The picture is different when leaders are asked which channel fosters the greatest level of student engagement. Here, messaging apps (cited by 27 per cent), social media (20 per cent), email (18 per cent) and learning management systems (14 per cent) all have their proponents. It is, therefore, no surprise that schools use a variety of different channels in their student communications. Among respondents, the most popular channels are email (cited by 95 per cent), learning management systems (68 per cent), in‑person communication (67 per cent) and social media (60 per cent). Intriguingly, however, only 35 per cent indicated that their school makes use of messaging apps, despite leaders’ views on their effectiveness and high rate of engagement. Conversely, 20 per cent of leaders said their school uses a bespoke university mobile app but these do not rate highly for effectiveness or engagement among leaders polled.
M ore than a quarter (28 per cent) of business school leaders believe their institution’s communications are “mostly aligned” with students’ habits. A further 27 per cent say they are “slightly aligned”, while just one per cent believe they are “fully aligned”. In addition, seven per cent report that they are “not aligned” at all with the digital consumption habits of current students, according to new research from AMBA & BGA in association with Ready Education. The results cited stem from a comprehensive report into methods of contact and connection between schools and their students. In surveying the views of close to 100 leaders from across AMBA & BGA’s global network, the research reveals how schools could enhance their communications to keep pace with shifting student trends and expectations. For example, 77 per cent of leaders think students primarily use phones to access information about their university, while only 15 per cent suggest that they mostly use a desktop or laptop. Yet, 29 per cent of those polled say their school’s digital
information, such as portals, handbooks and schedules remains “mostly desktop- focused, with some mobile compatibility”. Currently, 16 per cent report that this information is “mostly mobile-optimised, with desktop still well supported”, with 12 per cent indicating that it is “fully optimised for mobile-first use, with seamless desktop experience”. MULTI-CHANNEL MERITS Results elsewhere indicate the value of adopting a multi-channel approach to student communications based on the nature of content delivered. For instance, WhatsApp, WeChat and other messaging apps are deemed most effective for communicating urgent or time-sensitive notifications, such as deadline alerts or schedule changes. These apps were the top choice for 31 per cent of respondents, placing them ahead of email (28 per cent). Only three per cent thought social media was best for urgent communications, but these platforms were a clear favourite for building a sense of community and promoting non‑academic activities.
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AMBA & BGA RESEARCH
Using multiple channels also necessitates a coherent strategy that prioritises quality over quantity. When asked whether it was fair to say that students experience information overload from university communications, 33 per cent of AMBA & BGA’s sample agreed and a further When student communications are not reaching their intended audience or securing the desired engagement, it represents a missed opportunity at best and at worst, weakens the student experience and outcomes. Could, for example, more effective communications lower the number of students who fail to meet critical programme checkpoints? Only 33 per cent of leaders told us that students never miss deadlines or forget about upcoming exams. Instead, 66 per cent reported that this happens to some students at least once or twice a semester. 20 per cent strongly agreed. STUDENT SUPPORT Much has been written about AI’s potential to help here, by monitoring students’ progress and identifying gaps and areas where they can be better supported. Right now, however, the use of real-time student engagement data is still low. Among respondents, 44 per cent said that their school is not currently collecting or using real-time digital engagement data to identify at‑risk students before their academic performance is affected. A further 19 per cent reported that while they do collect data, this is not used to identify student risk, while just 11 per cent indicated that they are using engagement data to proactively identify and support at-risk students. • Shouting into the void – communication between business schools and their students is out soon
OF SCHOOL LEADERS AGREE THAT STUDENTS EXPERIENCE INFORMATION OVERLOAD FROM UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS 53 %
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18 Business Impact • ISSUE 3 • 2026
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
As the demands of leadership continue to evolve, ITESO’s Fernando Ortiz Cueva and Carlos Reynoso Núñez make the case for reskilling management development to match the modern context of continuous learning, hybrid workplaces, diversity and AI proliferation T raditionally, leadership development was perceived as the gradual accumulation of experience. In contrast, contemporary leadership requires the capacity to reassess prior learning, critically examine inherited assumptions and adapt to realities that change more rapidly than conventional management models. This entails ‘reskilling’ – in other words, acquiring knowledge from new paradigms while simultaneously enhancing existing talent within individuals and teams. Moreover, such paradigms must prioritise the development of capabilities aligned with evolving roles, contexts and organisational challenges.
leading efficiently in stable conditions to leading responsibly in environments marked by complexity, interdependence and ongoing transformation. This imperative is t only driven by technological advancements but also by the convergence of structural forces that are changing organisational life across the world. Three of these forces are particularly influential in shaping leadership practice: The expansion of digital work; interculturality as a permanent condition of organisational reality; and AI’s integration into business processes and decision-making. Each of these dimensions challenges established assumptions regarding authority, communication and collaboration. Collectively, they compel leaders to reconsider both their actions and their understanding of the roles they occupy within organisations. The shifting organisational context The expansion of digital and distributed work has transformed the meaning of presence. In previous generations, leadership was associated with physical proximity – being in the same office, meeting room and organisational space. Now that influence often occurs across timezones, platforms and cultures, however, leaders must learn to build trust without constant visibility. They must also sustain cohesion without permanent physical contact and foster alignment among people who might never share the same workspace. This transition has substantial implications for organisational culture, including the assumption that culture can be maintained exclusively through virtual meetings or that collaboration will naturally occur via digital platforms. In addition, evidence indicates that culture cannot be reduced to communication tools alone. It develops through shared meaning, mutual recognition and a sense of belonging, all of which necessitate deliberate leadership in distributed environments. Even so, there are ongoing challenges facing the culture of distributed teams. Differences in timezones, language barriers and unequal access to information can result in subtle forms of exclusion. Meetings scheduled for the convenience of one region may disadvantage another and conversations that proceed smoothly in one language may restrict participation for others. If these dynamics are not acknowledged, digital collaboration can inadvertently perpetuate inequalities rather than mitigate them.
After all, today’s business environment is defined by continuous transformation, global competition and accelerated change, pressing home the need for leadership to extend beyond mere direction or control. Instead, managers must navigate uncertainty, integrate diverse perspectives and make decisions in contexts characterised by incomplete information and unpredictable outcomes. Re-evaluating leadership The context for modern leaders has shifted significantly: work is now largely conducted in hybrid and virtual environments; teams are more diverse in terms of culture and generation; and artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into essential productivity processes. These factors underline the importance of reskilling, positioning it as a central component of leadership development and a structural necessity, rather than an optional enhancement. Yet, reskilling’s growing currency necessitates a fundamental re-evaluation of leadership, with stronger emphasis placed on ethical foundations and a departure from traditional models of authority. It also means shifting the central question away from
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Paradoxically, therefore, environments designed to foster connection may unintentionally generate distance. This further highlights the need to reskill to meet the challenges of modern leadership. More than co-ordinating tasks across locations, such leadership involves critically examining how organisational culture is co‑constructed across differences and how individuals can experience belonging in remote work settings. AI adds a further dimension, with the technology increasingly
facilitating decision-making, automating processes and generating information at speeds that surpass human capacity. In this context, the leader’s role transitions from controlling
information to interpreting it, from providing answers to formulating pertinent questions and from supervising execution to guiding judgement. As has been well-documented, digital transformation also presents significant ethical challenges. To deploy data, algorithms and automation, leaders must balance efficiency with responsibility, innovation with respect for human dignity and technological capability with social awareness. In short, leadership in the digital era cannot depend solely on technical competence; it also demands ethical clarity and the ability to evaluate the broader consequences of decisions. Leading across cultures & generations A third force reshaping leadership is interculturality. Contemporary organisations unite individuals who hold a wide range of values, professional traditions, languages and expectations regarding authority. In this context, leadership must be grounded in dialogue, respect and the capacity to integrate differences without eliminating them. Contemporary leadership, then, must effectively manage both diversity and complexity, as Carlos Villace Fernández argued in a 2023 paper published by Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. Achieving this requires more than just communication skills; it demands cultural intelligence, emotional awareness and a willingness to learn from perspectives
that challenge existing assumptions. Leaders should foster environments where differences serve as opportunities for learning rather than sources of conflict. The VUCA environment in which leaders operate is now increasingly being termed VUCA+I for the additional inclusion of ‘interconnection’, a workplace reality redefining the concept of influence. Today, a valuable idea holds equal significance whether articulated in an office in Mexico City or posted in a virtual discussion forum in Tokyo. Authority, therefore, increasingly depends on credibility, coherence and the ability to generate trust across diverse contexts, rather than on a formal position. Recent Deloitte reports into the future of work indicate that leaders should transition from moderating meetings to curating asynchronous collaboration. This transition involves documenting decisions, recording processes and facilitating participation across flexible timeframes. Without such changes, centralised cultures risk forfeiting the benefits of global talent and restricting contributions from individuals who are unable to participate in real time. In this sense, leadership is defined less by the number of direct reports an individual holds across countries and more by their capacity to connect diverse realities and construct shared meaning among them.
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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
encompass opportunities for reflection, dialogue and critical thinking, enabling leaders to examine their assumptions and reconsider their practices. Some institutions already emphasise the integration of professional competence with ethical awareness and social commitment. Such approaches acknowledge that leadership concerns not only performance but also the broader impact of organisations on individuals and society. In this discourse, the need to reskill is more than a transient trend and signifies a redefinition of leadership for the contemporary context, revolving around: • Leading beyond physical presence, while sustaining human presence in digital work • Leading from ethical principles, while engaging with difference • Leading with technology, without losing judgement, responsibility or social awareness In the digital era, leadership is, of course, evaluated by outcomes. However, it must also be measured by the ability to foster environments that enable collaboration across distances, intergenerational learning and responsible action amid complexity. For a leader to reskill, they must embrace continuous learning and recognise that the capacity to learn anew might just be the most critical leadership competency today.
Intergenerational collaboration represents another dimension of leadership reskilling. Historically, organisational culture presumed that experienced leaders imparted knowledge to younger employees in a unidirectional manner. However, learning is now reciprocal. Digital transformation, social change and evolving work expectations have resulted in scenarios where younger professionals possess skills that senior leaders are yet to acquire, while experienced leaders continue to be a vital source of strategic perspective and institutional knowledge. Reverse mentoring exemplifies this shift. When organisations facilitate intergenerational dialogue, they integrate the political capital and long-term vision typically linked to Baby Boomers and Generation X with the digital fluency, adaptability and transparency valued by Millennials and Generation Z. Such exchanges enhance organisational culture and mitigate tensions that may arise when change is perceived as a threat rather than an opportunity. According to 2025 research from the World Economic Forum, organisations with higher talent retention rates typically conceptualise leadership as a systemic practice rather than an individual attribute. In such organisations, leadership is enacted through projects, collaboration and the integration of diverse capabilities. Success relies less on individual authority and more on the effective co-ordination of knowledge, personnel and resources. In this context, reskilling leadership also entails developing people who can build bridges between disciplines, cultures and approaches to work. Intercultural competence, organisational learning and talent retention are now interconnected aspects of a unified leadership responsibility. The ongoing nature of learning The imperative for reskilling leadership is closely
Fernando Ortiz Cueva is a professor and co‑ordinator of the Game-Based Learning Unit in the Department of Economics, Administration and Marketing (DEAM) at ITESO Business School, Mexico. He holds a PhD from Universidad Marista de Guadalajara Carlos Reynoso Núñez is a professor and co-ordinator of the Basic Academic Unit in Organisational Behaviour and People Management at DEAM, ITESO Business School. He holds a PhD from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla
linked to lifelong learning and professional development can no longer be confined to a
single stage of life. Instead, leaders must engage in continuous learning throughout their careers, both to acquire new knowledge and to reinterpret existing knowledge in response to emerging realities. Already, this perspective is becoming increasingly apparent in higher education and executive development, with learning regarded as an ongoing process rather than a singular achievement. From this standpoint, leadership development must focus on much more than technical training. It must
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