Ambition is AMBA’s thought leadership magazine, offering regular insights into the challenges and trends that matter most in global management education
The monthly magazine of the Association of MBAs (AMBA) BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY Ambiti n
Issue 56 SEPTEMBER 2022
Don’t Stop.
Avoiding ‘analysis paralysis’ – what leaders can learn from aviation
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY Claire Leitch, Executive Dean at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) on providing solutions to global concerns
AMBA & BGA RESEARCH Fresh findings on student expectations, personalisation, delivery modes, Business Schools’ role in society, and more
PHYSICAL VS. VIRTUAL CAMPUSES ESSCA School of Management’s Benjamin Morisse on the relevance of physical campuses in the digital age
Issue 56 | SEPTEMBER 2022
STRATEGY
NEWS & INS IGHT
08 | ROUNDUP Business Schools from across AMBA’s global network feature in the latest selection of updates 12 | AMBA & BGA RESEARCH What role must Business Schools play in society? Are Schools meeting students’ expectations? Discover our latest findings
20 | CLICK OR MORTAR? ESSCA School of Management’s Benjamin Morisse on the value of physical campuses in the digital age
26 | DECISION- MAKING LESSONS FROM AVIATION Those suffering from ‘analysis
paralysis’ could learn a lot from the aviation industry, say IMD’s Arnaud Chevallier and Albrecht Enders
Most problems can be solved in five minutes if you know how to handle them
14-15 November 2022 Hosted by ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Spain
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Issue 56 | SEPTEMBER 2022
INTERVIEW 32 | CLAIRE LEITCH, EXECUTIVE DEAN AT LUMS Business Schools are in a prime position to provide solutions to some of society’s biggest problems, argues Claire Leitch, Executive Dean at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS)
REGULARS
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06 | EDITOR’S LETTER Reflections on AMBA & BGA’s latest piece of research 44 | HUB HIGHLIGHTS Achieving sustainable success, emerging technologies to watch for, and more
OPINION 40 |TEACHING
CRITICAL THINKING Equipping young people to be effective problem solvers 46 | FROM THE CEO
OPINION
Transforming trends in BUSINESS EDUCATION
EDITORIAL Content Editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul t.dhoul@associationofmbas.com Art Editor Laura Tallon Insight, Content and PR Manager Ellen Buchan e.buchan@associationofmbas.com CORPORATE Head of Commercial Relations Max Braithwaite m.braithwaite@associationofmbas.com
‘Business School leaders are under pressure to change their value proposition’
he start of September invites many of us to look forward to a new academic year. It is with this in mind that, in this edition of Ambition , we publish an analysis of new AMBA & BGA research on the evolution of business education, carried out in association with Salesforce.org (page 12). The results, drawn from a survey of more than 100 Business Schools around the world earlier this year, make for compelling reading.
Head of Marketing and Communications Leonora Clement
A massive 80% of Business School leaders agreed that they are under pressure to change their value proposition. With the rise of globalisation and a consumer-centric society, and in a bid to remain competitive, 88% of School leaders realise that personalising the learning experience of their students will be ever-more important over the next five years — and 72% believe that their institution already provides a personalised experience for their students. According to 38% of the Business School leaders we surveyed, the provision of online courses and degrees will be the norm in the next five years, and 25% think microcredentials represent the future of business education. The majority are focused on updating their learning management systems, online user experience, and pedagogies, to accommodate the expected wave of students demanding personalised, tailored, bite-size, online, learning — leading to real-time, relevant, stackable qualifications. In the next edition of Ambition , we’ll analyse these findings further in highlights from a follow-up discussion to the report held between a group of Business School decision-makers and experts from Salesforce.org. It’s clear that there is much work to do and this strategic imperative is set against the backdrop of the climate emergency and the sustainability agenda, but in our interview with Claire Leitch, Executive Dean of Lancaster University Management School (page 32), she explains that, ‘Business Schools are in a prime position to provide solutions to some of society’s biggest problems.’ Leonora Clement , Head of Marketing and Communications, AMBA & BGA
Senior Marketing Executive Edward Holmes
Head of IT and Data Management Jack Villanueva
Head of Events Carolyn Armsby
HR and Employer Relations Manager Aarti Bhasin Finance and Commercial Director Catherine Walker
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Main Wilson
Executive Assistant to the CEO Sharon Sidaway s.sidaway@associationofmbas.com ACCREDITATION ENQUIRIES accreditation@associationofmbas.com
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE AMBITION PODCAST
As humans, we are used to hearing terms such as change, learning to fail, agility, volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, but when it comes to the crunch, and change takes its toll on us, it’s easy to let our human flaws allow us to put our heads in the sand. How can we break the cycle and be proactive in the face of change? Steven Goldbach, Principal and Chief Strategy Officer at Deloitte, joined us to discuss ways in which leaders can become more proactive in their approach to business.
Although mental health is now so often placed at the forefront of business literature and conversation, it is still stigmatised and seen as ‘awkward’ to bring up in conversation. Michelle Morgan, author, award-winning entrepreneur, and leading voice on mental health came on The AMBITION Podcast to help us have these awkward but essential conversations about our mental wellbeing. Michelle spoke from personal experience of how damaging avoiding these conversations can be, and offered advice to leaders who want to create a safe environment in which to have discussions on mental health.
www.associationofmbas.com/podcast
Copyright 2022 by Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association ISSN 2631-6382 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, AMBA 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 AMBA. Whenever an article in this publication is placed with the financial support of an advertiser, partner or sponsor, it will be marked as such. AMBA 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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How can Business Schools in Africa and the Middle East implement sustainable practices?
ATTEND A FREE CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FROM AMBA & BGA ON ZOOM 5 October 2022 | 11:00 –13:00 (BST/UTC+01:00)
In Africa and the Middle East, the challenges of sustainability
must often be addressed in the context of population explosions, food and water security, and desertification. Discover how Business Schools in the region have been working to implement sustainable practices and how institutions can play an instrumental role in addressing societal and environmental challenges at AMBA & BGA’s Second African & Middle Eastern Capacity Building Workshop.
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NEWS & INSIGHT
NEWS & RESEARCH
from across AMBA’s Global Network
Improving carbon offsetting’s transparency, big money on offer in a new MBA startup competition, and why research needs more replication studies. All this and more in Ambition ’s latest roundup. By Ellen Buchan and Tim Banerjee Dhoul
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ADDRESSING RESEARCH’S
CREATING MORE TRANSPARENCY IN CARBON OFFSETTING COUNTRY: New Zealand SCHOOL: Graduate School of Management, University of Auckland Business School When shopping for something you know is bad for the environment, for example flights, you can ease your guilt by shopping from websites which promise to offset the carbon emissions with your purchase. But do you ever check if these companies have gone through with their promise? It is hard for the companies themselves to track exactly where the money they are investing is being spent. The suggestion, from University of Auckland Professor of Accounting Charl de Villiers and University of South Australia academics Sanjaya Kuruppu and Dinithi Dissanayake, is that companies should harness blockchain technology and the internet of things to track their offsetting objectives. They make their case in a paper, entitled ‘A (New) Role for Business – Promoting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals Through the Internet of Things and Blockchain Technology.’ In an example of the business opportunities outlined in the paper, internet-connected technologies, such as temperature sensors, can capture, record and transmit data to a blockchain platform which could then report this data back to organisations. For example, an airline might have their carbon offsetting money invested in solar panels, the data from which could be transferred back to the airline so they can track and report on the effectiveness of their carbon offsetting. Using the internet of things (IoT) and blockchain in this manner could create greater accountability and trust in carbon offsetting initiatives. Customers can then, potentially, see exactly where any extra fees accrued for offsetting has been spent. ‘Capturing, managing, and reporting on sustainability information is very problematic for organisations, so one way of addressing this is to give them tools, which will make it easier to record minute data in real time from different parts of their production processes or supply chains through IoT devices,’ said University of South Australia academic, Sanjaya Kuruppu, one of the researchers behind the paper’s conceptual framework. / Ellen Buchan (EB)
REPLICATION CRISIS COUNTRY: Sweden SCHOOL: Lund University School of Economics and Management
Research can be improved by carrying out more replication studies, according to Burak Tunca, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Lund University School of Economics and Management (LUSEM) in one of five recommendations made on LUSEM website. ‘Many people take peer review as a guarantee of good research, but peer reviewers mainly convey theoretical arguments and rarely demand to examine the data behind the study. This surprised me even when I was a doctoral student: who is checking whether my calculations are wrong? The answer turned out to be “no one”. We researchers know that a number of studies do not replicate, but the public seldom hears about that as a “failed” study is not deemed to be newsworthy,’ Tunca said. Tunca and his co-authors tried – and were unable – to replicate the findings of two published consumption studies that received widespread media attention. One showed that women who owned clothes and bags by luxury brands believed these products sent a signal that their partners are devoted to them (covered, for example, in The Atlantic under the headline, ‘Women and Luxury Products: How a New Study Brings Up Old Anxieties’ in 2013). The other showed that people feel the consumption of ‘super-sized’ portions – of hamburgers or coffee, for example – signals high status (covered in Scientific American under the headline, ‘The Perils of Paying for Status’ in 2012. ‘We did not succeed in replicating them and producing the same strong connections,’ said Tunca. This doesn’t mean that the original studies are incorrect, as the LUSEM Lecturer explained: ‘We simply say that more research is needed. That is all.’ The other recommendations to improve research given are: pre-registering hypotheses and methods; showing data; improving the peer-review system; and letting bachelor’s and master’s students get involved in replication studies. ‘Scientific research is the best thing we have to drive our society forward, but we need to become better to be sure that such research is reliable. Openness in research… is an available marketing niche that could give Lund University, or any other university, a competitive advantage,’ Tunca concluded. / Tim Banerjee Dhoul (TBD)
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NEWS & INSIGHT
NEW PARTNERSHIP LEADS
ONE-YEAR PROGRAMME TO LEAD EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
THE WAY TO NET ZERO COUNTRY: UK SCHOOL: Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London
OFFERINGS COUNTRY: France SCHOOL: INSEAD
With the aim of driving creative solutions for the transition to net zero pollution, Imperial College London has partnered with Hitachi and Hitachi Europe to create the Hitachi and Imperial Centre for Decarbonisation and Natural Climate Solutions. ‘The aim of the new Centre… is to be a connection point, not only across Imperial, but also together with Hitachi to find those leverage points where we can really make a difference to this challenge,’ said Dean of Imperial College Business School, Francisco Veloso. The joint venture aims to enable scientists and innovators to come together to create solutions for the climate emergency. This will be done through collaboration on research projects, reports and white papers on technologies. The first projects of the centre are to focus on carbon management, the decarbonisation of energy and transport, the removal of carbon dioxide, and the creation of greater biodiversity. ‘This Centre will bring together different disciplines, from engineering and systems thinking to economics, new business models and policymaking. More than ever, it is clear that we cannot solve climate change in isolation,’ said Mirabelle Muûls, Assistant Professor in Economics at Imperial College Business School and Co-Director of the Centre. ‘We need to think about the implications of energy security and dealing with climate change, in allocation, mitigation and leading to a zero-carbon society. This will have implications for democracy and the wellbeing of the generations after us. It is not a small task,’ Muûls added. The partnership comes as part of Imperial’s Transition to Zero Pollution initiative, which was created to connect research, industry and government. / EB
INSEAD will enrol its first intake on a new 12-month executive education programme at the end of November 2022. ‘The impactful and rigorous 12-month learning journey helps executives to see the world through multiple lenses and drive meaningful impact and relevant results,’ said Charles Galunic, Programme Director and Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the launch of the programme, called INSEAD LEAD (LEAD). While the School’s executive education portfolio has focused on shorter-term and more specialised offerings to date, a key stated aim of LEAD is to help participants look beyond short-term gains, understand the larger context, and create sustainable value and impact. ‘I think that the way that people want to learn has changed over time. More and more, we want to learn in short snippets, over the course of a week say – and from the comfort of our own homes,’ Galunic told BusinessToday , adding that the ‘programme is around 90% asynchronous in the sense that participants learn at their own pace.’ Described as a ‘hybrid blended learning journey’, online and asynchronous delivery is supplemented with synchronous touchpoints, live virtual presentations, and an in-person capstone at INSEAD’s campus in Fontainebleau, France. There are four core modules – including ‘Fostering Innovation in an age of Disruption’ and ‘Mastering Financial Analysis’ – and three electives. Synchronous components for presentations and a decision-making workshop take place in-between the core and electives. The certificate programme is then rounded off with the aforementioned capstone project. The cost, as advertised at the time of writing, is €19,950 EUR. ‘This programme design reflects the two years that we spent closely looking at the changing needs of executives, not only from the point of view of what they learn, but how they learn. The unique learning design is an excellent fit for busy executives,’ said Severine Guilloux, INSEAD’s Chief Marketing Officer at LEAD’s launch. / TBD
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CREATING A FAIRER WORLD
100K ON OFFER TO MBA ENTREPRENEURS COUNTRY: Switzerland SCHOOL: IMD A grant of 100,000 CHF (c. $103k USD) is on offer to MBA entrepreneurs at IMD each year as part of the School’s new startup competition. Having submitted proposals over the summer, the winner of the inaugural IMD MBA Venture Award is set to be announced this month, September 2022. At the time of writing, 11 current MBA candidates (from an enrolled class of 104) had submitted their intent to apply across nine projects. The new annual grant comes courtesy of Thierry Maupilé, a serial entrepreneur and MBA alumnus of IMD’s predecessor institution, IMEDE, who is currently Chief of Business and Product Strategy at Japanese venture company, Rakuten Symphony. ‘The last thing that you want to do as an entrepreneur is to worry about money,’ said Maupilé, who has previously played key roles at US tech startups that include IPWireless and Altiostar as well as at Motorola. In addition to the prize fund on offer in the new MBA Venture Award, the winning candidate(s) will receive mentoring from Maupilé, as well as two IMD professors, Jim Pulcrano and Benoit Leleux, for a period of 12 months. Selecting the final winner, meanwhile, will be a jury of Maupilé, Pulcrano, Omar Toulan – Dean of the IMD MBA programme – and at least one external venture capitalist. ‘IMD provides a lot of tools and skills but more importantly the right mindset. In a startup venture you have to be ready for the roller coaster ride. There will be phases of excitement and of depression. It’s not just a linear trajectory. I’ve really learned and used what I’ve experienced at IMD,’ said Maupilé. For the last 24 years, IMD has run a rather different startup competition, in which Swiss ventures from outside the School are selected to work with either the IMD MBA or one of its EMBA classes as part of their programme learning. Around 40% of the TOP 100 Swiss Startups 2021 were found to have worked with IMD MBAs or EMBAs, according to the School. / TBD
THROUGH GAMIFICATION
COUNTRY: UK SCHOOL: Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
Doing business in a more responsible manner has often been shown to come with the added perk of also being good for business, but so many companies still fall short. In the UK, paying the Living Wage is a case in point. The Living Wage differs from the UK’s National Minimum Wage, which is the legally required amount that workers have to be paid. It is, instead, a voluntary scheme, where companies pay workers based on a figure suggested by the Living Wage Foundation that is designed to allow workers to meet their basic needs. Companies that commit to paying a living wage have been found to gain benefits that include employees taking fewer sick days, higher employee retention and reduced recruitment costs. Employees are more likely to upskill, have upward mobility, be more productive and have higher job satisfaction. It seems like an obvious win-win, so why does the UK still have 1.6 million workers that are not being paid the Living Wage? The University of Glasgow Adam Smith Business School and University of Edinburgh Business School have partnered with EAWOP (European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology) and ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) to raise awareness of the importance of paying a living wage. They have, for example, created a game, called SuperbMarket, in which players follow four characters in experiencing how different conditions at work impacts staff, their workplaces and society. Its aim is to highlight the consequences of companies not paying a living wage. ‘A living wage is one that enables workers to meet their everyday needs and to meaningfully participate in society beyond just “surviving” financially,’ said Rosalind Searle, from the Adam Smith Business School and Director of the EAWOP Impact Incubator. ‘A living wage gives workers choices to allow them to change their lives and move out of poverty, meaning they can develop their capabilities for future employability – from learning to drive a car to undertaking other forms of education and skills development,’ Searle added. / EB
SHARE YOUR NEWS AND RESEARCH UPDATES by emailing AMBA & BGA’s Content Editor, Tim Banerjee Dhoul, at t.dhoul@associationofmbas.com
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NEWS & INSIGHT
The business EVOLU
New AMBA & BGA research, in association with Salesforce.org, looks at how business education is changing, and how it’s set to change further. David Woods-Hale reports
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education of T ION
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B usiness School leaders are, for the most part, confident that they are addressing the needs of students using the new trends that are emerging in higher education. This consensus stems from the AMBA & BGA Transformation and the Emerging Business Model Shift in Business Education report, conducted in association with Salesforce.org earlier this year. Based on a survey of 144 global Business School leaders, the research found that 72% believe their institution provides a personalised experience for their students, and this trend is only set to continue, with 88% agreeing that personalising the learning experience of their students is something that will NEWS & INSIGHT
that offering online courses and degrees will be the norm in the next five years (38%). Exactly a quarter of those surveyed believe that microcredentials represent the future of higher business education. Business Schools are on the precipice of change, and while many have dipped their toes into the water of this transformation and model shift, there is an awareness that things will change to an even greater extent. One of the most enlightening results from the survey is that 80% of Business School leaders believe that their institution is under pressure to change their value proposition and business model. The purpose of the Business School The first section of the research sought to garner Business School leaders’ opinions on the cultures, strategies, and purposes of their institutions. Distilling Business School strategy to the fundamentals, respondents were asked who they believed to be the main customer of a Business School. More than half of survey participants (58%) believe their primary customer to be students and a third (33%) think their main customer is society itself. Other answers included corporations (cited by 7% of respondents) faculty and staff (1%) and the academic community (1%). Considering students as a primary customer of the Business School, the survey moved on to ascertain Business School leaders’ top two priorities for students. Just under two thirds (65%) of Business School leaders that completed the survey deem teaching and learning to be the number one area that should be prioritised for students.
grow in importance over the next five years. More than half (58%) believe their School is meeting their students’ expectations to a great extent, while 40% said their offerings somewhat meet the needs of students. Exactly half of leaders’ Schools have already delved into the world of microcredentialing, while 80% offer online learning in courses. While it seems that these new trends are firmly embedded at many Schools, the survey exposed a degree of pragmatism, so more change could be on the horizon. One example prediction from responding Business School leaders in this regard is
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societies in which they’re based, 16% said it is to produce world-class leaders to innovate in terms of corporate strategy; and 13% believe it is to help solve the world’s greatest problems. User experience of Business Schools When asked to what extent Business School leaders believe their Schools’ offerings are meeting the needs of their students, 58% of respondents said they are meeting students’ needs to a great extent and 40% said their offerings somewhat meet the needs of students. Just under nine out of 10 respondents (88%) said their Schools offer an online learning management system (LMS) so the survey moved on to explore how successfully these systems were performing at these institutions. First, survey participants were asked to rate their LMS against other platforms their students might be used to using, such as social media platforms or e-commerce websites. Just under a quarter of respondents whose Business Schools use an LMS (24%) think that their online platform matches, to a great extent, the user experience of other platforms
Other areas of priority cited by participants included careers support (selected by 35% of respondents) wellbeing (cited by 28%) and digital experience (cited by 21%). At the other end of the scale, just 13% of respondents placed alumni relations among their top two priorities for students, while 10% cited onboarding and readiness in their top two, and 6% cited tutors and academic support. Respondents were then asked whether they believe Business Schools to be under pressure to change their fundamental value proposition and business model. The answer to this question was decisive. Eight out of 10 Business School leaders said ‘yes’ – Schools are under pressure to change their value proposition and business model. Just 13% said ‘no’ and 7% admitted that they are unsure at this stage. In this first section, Business School leaders were also asked to select the role they believe Business Schools must play in society. More than half (54%) of respondents believe Business Schools’ role is to develop and nurture responsible managers; 17% said the role of Business Schools is to support the
80%
of Business School leaders believe Schools are under pressure to change their value proposition and business model
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NEWS & INSIGHT
54% of Business School leaders believe the role of Schools is to develop and nurture responsible managers
their students. A quarter (25%) believe this is not the case, and 3% are unsure. To drill down into these findings, survey participants were asked how their School provides students with a personalised service. More than two in five participants (43%) said the most personalisation was currently provided in teaching and learning, while 21% said the most personalisation was provided in careers support. Less personalisation is currently deemed to be provided in recruitment (cited by 5% of respondents) assessment (cited by 2%) marketing (cited by 1%) and alumni relations (cited by 1%). The vast majority of survey participants (88%) however, agree that personalising students’ learning experience is something that will grow in importance over the next five years. Only 6% thought that this area will not become any more important at their School in terms of strategy and delivery in this timeframe. Why do Business School leaders see personalisation as so important? Among respondents, 88% think personalisation enables students to achieve the most out of their Business School experience; and 20% think it is important in encouraging students to return to some form of learning in the future. Other answers survey participants gave supporting the importance of personalisation include offering a sense of uniqueness in communication of proposals; meeting the current
their students might be using; 56% said that they believe their LMS somewhat matches the user experience of other platforms. In saying that, Business School leaders do not necessarily believe that their LMS needs to compete with mainstream or consumer platforms, in terms of usability. Only 29% thought the user experience of its LMS should match those of commercial websites ‘a great deal’ – 56% said, instead, that it should match mainstream websites’ user experience either ‘just a little’ or ‘a fair amount’. Business School leaders are also on the fence as to whether they think students expect the standards of their LMS platforms to match those of more commercial platforms. Again, only 29% think that students expect learning management systems to meet the standards of commercial platforms to a great extent; 50% think that students expect LMS platforms to somewhat meet the standards of more commercial organisations. Personalisation In the digital age, and with growing consumer expectations, the survey explored perceptions of customer service and personalisation in business education. Bearing in mind that 58% of Business School leaders believe students to be the main ‘customer’ of their Business School, just under three-quarters (72%) of the same respondent pool agree that their institution provides a personalised experience for
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KEY FINDINGS The purpose of the Business School • 58% of Business School decision-makers believe their primary customers are students, while 33% think the main customer is society itself. • 65% of Business School leaders said teaching and learning is their priority for students at their institution. • 80% believe Business Schools are under pressure to change their value proposition and business model. • 54% believe Business Schools’ role is to develop and nurture responsible managers. User experience of Business Schools • 58% of leaders believe their Business School’s offerings meet student expectations to a great extent. • 29% of leaders whose Business Schools use an LMS believe the user experience of their online platform should match, to a great extent, those of commercial websites such as social media platforms or online shopping websites. • 24% of Business School leaders who use an LMS think that their online platform matches the user experience of commercial platforms to a great extent. • 29% think that students expect an LMS to meet the standards of commercial platforms to a great extent, and 50% think students only somewhat expect an LMS to meet the standards of social media platforms or e-commerce websites. Personalisation • 72% of Business School leaders believe their institution provides a personalised experience for their students. A quarter (25%) believe this is not the case, and 3% are unsure. • 43% of Business School leaders said that the most personalisation currently on offer to their students is in the area of teaching and learning, while 21% said, instead, that the most personalisation is in the area of careers support. • 88% agreed that personalising the learning experience of their students is something that will grow in importance over the next five years. • 88% think the most important outcome of personalisation is enabling students to achieve the most from their Business School experience. Online and hybrid learning • 80% of Business School leaders said their institution offers online learning for courses and degrees, while 18% said that they do not currently offer any online learning. • 38% strongly agreed that offering online courses and degrees will be the norm in the next five years. • 86% of leaders’ Schools are offering a combination of in-person instruction and online instruction (some in-person and some online). Microcredentials and professional lifelong learning • 50% of Business School leaders said their School offers microcredentials. • 79% said their School offers microcredentials for standalone modules; 39% offer them for stackable modules which lead to a degree, and 32% offer them for attending events or webinars. • 25% of Business School leaders would go so far as to say microcredentials represent the future of business education, while 6% believe microcredentials are just a passing phase. • 35% see microcredentials provided by companies such as LinkedIn as a threat to how their Business School will operate in the next five years.
(supposed) aspirations of prospective students; allowing students to learn at their own pace; and supporting students to achieve the best version of themselves. These results provide evidence that Business Schools recognise that personalisation is about adding value to the student experience, and is not just about generating metrics – only 3% of survey participants cited the opportunity to gather data on students as being a reason why personalisation is deemed important at their institution. Online and hybrid learning There has been much debate in the business education landscape as to whether the future of learning delivery will be physical, online, blended or hybrid, so the survey moved on to analyse Business Schools’ current delivery of programmes, and participants’ plans for the short to medium term. Eight out of 10 Business School leaders who completed the questionnaire (80%) said their institution offers online learning for courses and degrees, while 18% said they do not currently offer any online learning. When asked whether the online delivery of courses or degrees is something their Business School is planning to invest in over the next five years, 50% of participants said it is, 12% said it is not, and 38% said they were unsure. Participants were then asked to what extent they agreed that offering online courses and degrees will be the norm in the next five years, Here, the results were split: 38% of respondents strongly agreed that online courses and degrees will be the norm, 44% tended to agree; 10% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 7% disagreed. When asked about the options their Business Schools currently offer as modes of learning, 86% of respondents said they are offering a combination of in-person instruction and online instruction (some in-person and some online). While 37% are offering in-person only, 27% are offering primarily
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NEWS & INSIGHT
microcredentials, 13% said it does not plan to, and 41% are unsure. Delving deeper into professional development and lifelong learning, the questionnaire asked participants to outline their thoughts on the function and future of microcredentials within the alumni ecosystem. Among respondents, 41% think microcredentials are relevant to those who are employed and looking for professional development courses; 25% would go so far as to say microcredentials represent the future of business education; and 21% think they are important for postgraduate students. Business School leaders are not confident that microcredentials will provide a new revenue stream for Business Schools – only 7% of participants share this belief. But most also do not agree that microcredentials are merely a passing phase – just 6% of respondents believe this to be the case. While School leaders are undecided about the value microcredentials will bring to their Business School, they are equally divided in their opinions of the threat they present from the wider corporate arena. When asked whether they see microcredentials provided by companies such as LinkedIn as being a threat to how their Business School will operate in the next five years, just under half of those surveyed (47%) said ‘no’, 35% said ‘yes’, and 18% said they are unsure. The survey’s final question was designed to build on the thinking surrounding commercial competition, with a qualitative question asking how Business School leaders plan to respond to the perceived threat of companies, such as LinkedIn or other private institutions that offer professional learning.
online instruction enhanced by some in-person events, and 23% are offering fully online courses with no in-person components. Microcredentials and professional lifelong learning Microcredentials have gained popularity in higher education in recent years. They are designed to certify the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences, for example a short course or training. Microcredentials aim to offer a flexible and targeted way to help learners develop the knowledge, skills and competences they need for their personal and professional development . Survey participants were asked whether their Schools offer microcredentials. Respondents were split down the middle, with 50% saying they do, 44% saying they do not, and 6% admitting that they are not sure. For those who did indicate that their School offers microcredentials, the survey sought to uncover the types on offer. Among respondents, 79% said their School offers microcredentials for standalone modules; 39% said they are on offer for stackable modules which lead to a degree, and 32% said they are on offer to those attending events or webinars. Other reasons suggested by respondents for offering microcredentials include certification for belonging to an industry body, or projects organised for students in collaboration with other universities. Participants who said that their School did not currently offer microcredentialing were asked whether they thought their School would invest in them in the next five years. Slightly less than half (46%) said their School would be investing in
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METHODOLOGY AND PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS Between 4 March and 28 March 2022, AMBA & BGA circulated an online questionnaire, polling its networks of Business School decision-makers on trends in education technology and online learning. A total of 144 Business School decision-makers participated in the quantitative survey. Throughout the report, the terms ‘participants’, ‘survey respondents’, ‘Business School leaders’, and ‘leaders’ are used interchangeably when describing the research sample. Of those surveyed, 39% represented Business Schools based in Europe (excluding the UK); 15% represented Schools in Latin America; 14% Schools in the UK; 8% Schools in India; 7% Schools in Africa; 7% Schools in Asia and the Middle East (excluding China and India); 6% Schools in China (including Hong Kong, China); 3% Schools in North America and the Caribbean; and 2% Schools based in the Oceania region. More than half ( 57%) classify themselves as deans or directors at Business Schools; 6% work in designing or delivering management programmes at Business Schools; 10% are management academics; 6% work with management students and graduates (for example, careers and alumni staff); 13% work in another role within a Business School; and 9% work in another role within the business and management education industry. The majority (93%) of participants’ Schools provide MBA programmes; 74% provide doctorate degrees; 69% provide executive master’s degrees (such as EMBAs); 62% provide customised education programmes; 53% provide open programmes; and 51% provide online programmes. A further 12% said they provide other programmes.
In conclusion, and to summarise the key findings, Business Schools have already shown themselves to be resilient and flexible over the past two years, when faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, and appear well placed to face the growing pressure to transform their business models. Digital credentials, for example, offer short courses on one topic which is up to date. They also allow learners to pick and choose what they need to learn for their professional and personal learning. Will these short courses – which offer participants the knowledge they need, when they need it – take over from the one to four-year degrees that have been so established in our institutions for so long? A quarter (25%) of the Business School leaders who took part in this survey believe that microcredentials represent the future of higher business education, and 35% see microcredentials provided by companies such as LinkedIn as a threat to how their Business School will operate in the next five years. In addition, a staggering 80% of these same Business School leaders believe that their Business School is under pressure to change its value proposition and business model. This suggests that the sector may experience further changes in the short term as Business School models shift to enhance the personalisation of learning offered.
You can read the full report at www.associationofmbas.com/research
of leaders believe their Business School’s offerings meet student expectations to a great extent 58%
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STRATEGY
Click or mortar?
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Business School campuses should be places that facilitate both community and innovation, writes Benjamin D Morisse , Vice Dean at ESSCA School of Management
The relevance of physical campuses in the digital age
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STRATEGY
A
Campuses are vibrant places where positive energy is generated, and ideas exchanged
aspects to explore: first, the role of campuses within the wider community, and second, campuses as places of innovation. Campuses within communities Higher education campuses should be seen as a physical bridge between academia and society. For Business Schools, campuses make the mission of education tangible through brick-and-mortar facilities, where different stakeholders (including students, alumni, companies, faculty, and staff) can meet. Campuses are also places where major events take place. Education needs its rituals and symbolic moments, such as induction weeks, corporate conferences, research colloquia and graduation ceremonies. All of these are tangible elements of the vibrant life that campuses offer to people. Business School experts provide a significant service to society, much of which is rooted in campus life. The participation of Business School representatives (especially faculty) in everything from boards of administration to scientific councils of external bodies are often carried out through events organised at campuses. As such, they facilitate the corporate-academia partnership. Campuses also help identify and address local challenges and problems. Pure online delivery
s far as higher education is concerned, the creation of online programmes brought the assumption that investment in campus facilities was outdated. Other industries have faced similar concerns in the past. If we remember the early 2000s, the development of business on the web brought some self-appointed experts to claim that car dealers would disappear, removing some of the fundamental items from the value chain. That did not come to pass. The Covid-19 outbreak, and its international instability, generated greater use of online learning but eventually revealed the deep need of people (whether students or staff) to go back to meeting ‘in person’. A major driver of this was the isolation felt by so many of the so-called ‘alone-together syndrome’. This is a major drawback of full-time digital learning. In this article, I look at how we can reimagine physical campuses as places at the service of people, local territories, and for generating opportunities for responsible innovation. Examples are drawn from the experience of ESSCA School of Management (ESSCA). As a multi-campus, triple crown Business School founded in 1909, ESSCA now operates in eight cities (six in France, one in China, and one in Hungary) and will soon open two additional European campuses. There are two main
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environments. At ESSCA, for instance, we will have a dedicated station named ESSCA in 2023 as part of the expanded Angers tram network. Through local outreach, campuses can facilitate the dialogue between academia and local ecosystems, fostering a broader interest in research and academic insights. Alumni networks can be great facilitators, bringing external audiences to their alma mater. Since they often benefit from great spaces, campuses are ideal places to host events and build networks. There is the potential for them to be modern version of ‘ agora ’ (the Ancient Greek open spaces that served as meeting places for citizens). Campuses are also places of experimentation. At ESSCA’s Lyon campus, we have invested in a lab that analyses human behaviours. We have an experimentation room comprising 22 stations equipped with tracking tools such as electrodermal and heart sensors to measure skin conductivity. This enables us to research cognitive and emotional responses in different situations. Buildings also reflect the culture of the institution through the prominent display of a Business School’s brand and identity. They act as significant physical reminders of an institution, and what it stands for. Again, can this really be done only online? Not really. Sports, arts, and social events are an intrinsic part of life on campus. Campuses house extracurricular services such as student bodies and associations. Ultimately, they are visited for a strong affectio societatis that goes beyond the initial purpose of students’ registration and participation in a given programme. International mobility is – among other motivations – based on discovering new places and cultures. For students, life on campus during an international module is usually memorable. It is very noticeable that international students often become ambassadors of the city where they have spent a period of time. Social interaction is key to us as human beings, and campuses bring people closer together, strengthening both inclusion and diversity. Campuses as clusters of innovation I strongly believe that campuses are vibrant places where positive energy is generated, and
simply cannot do this. A good example is the presence of ESSCA in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, close to the city of Marseille (home to 1.6 million inhabitants, making it France’s second- largest by population). Here, we have facilitated a partnership with Apprentis d’Auteuil (a foundation which gives educational opportunities to young people from underprivileged backgrounds). The partnership identifies high-potential prospective students in underprivileged districts of Marseille. It then supports them in applying for a bachelor’s in international management. The students attend a preliminary year at the Apprentis d’Auteuil campus, which comprises delivery of the bachelor’s curriculum, plus some additional seminars that introduce them to the cultural environment of higher education, and the working of companies. They meet three to four times with students that are enrolled in the standard bachelor’s degree at ESSCA. At the end of the first year, both cohorts join together at the ESSCA campus until the completion of the degree. This partnership would not have been possible without the close physical proximity of, and regular contact between, both institutions. Such an example shows that campuses are material places that can shelter and develop human capital. Campuses act as visible examples of the sustainable development and corporate social responsibility policies of Business Schools – first, by being active players of decarbonisation. Buildings have to be used in ways that reduce energy consumption and resources, such as water. They also need to promote biodiversity. One benefit of this is that if students get familiar with responsible practices during their studies, they should integrate them as future responsible leaders. For example, ESSCA’s headquarters in Angers has been acknowledged for its focus on biodiversity. This relates to the management of the park (four hectares in an urban environment) surrounding the campus. A vegetable garden, managed by students and staff, produces a harvest that is offered to a food aid programme for deprived communities. The campus has also been acknowledged positively by the French Birds Protection League (LPO). Many campuses are also frequently a central part of green transportation systems in urban
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STRATEGY
Business learning held in innovative learning environments prepares
students well for professional life
work. However, funding buildings is increasingly demanding (it’s not uncommon for the cost of erecting a new campus in big cities to total € 100 million EUR). Subsequently, sustainable finance features progressively in the world of education and equity loans are an emerging tool used by a number of Business Schools. While ‘job placement’ was an historical indicator of success for fresh graduates, students’ interest in entrepreneurship and startups is growing. French President, Emmanuel Macron, stated during his first mandate that for, ‘young generations it would be easier to find a customer than a boss,’ to promote the concept of ‘Startup Nation’. Facilities
ideas exchanged. This is a good, strong basis for innovation. As education centres, Business School campuses should be at the cutting edge of innovation. Our role is to educate future leaders; business learning held in innovative learning environments prepares students well for professional life. Innovation is also important in the design and construction of buildings. For example, the BREEAM sustainability standards are an example of fostering green innovation. There is also the scope of experimenting with new working spaces (flex offices, collaborative work) based on the changing way that we typically study and
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2024 will both be located in Europe. There are a number of reasons for this: 1. The border zone is the same (Schengen) 2. Most destinations can be reached by train 3. The academic metrics for higher education
at campuses have had to evolve. For example, providing spaces dedicated to startup head offices, for business events, and even to accommodate the manufacturing processes of ventures created by students. Another smart combination of facilities and innovation in pedagogy is the integration of online and face-to-face teaching. There is a benefit to carrying out distance project work (digitally) between students of different campuses or institutions, but in the physical environment of a campus. For international cooperation however, the issue of differing levels of internet access always needs to be considered. Ultimately, campuses provide a professional environment for students to prepare for the world of work. For example, they can benefit from dedicated equipment such as recording studios that can help them prepare their job/internships applications. For executive education, blended learning has become a standard, all the more so now that companies have experienced remote working, and expect Business Schools to mirror this flexibility in the formats of their executive education programmes. However, for multi-campus institutions, and especially those with multinational locations, the carbon footprint of student mobility is a concern. This is why many higher education institutions are giving more emphasis to local recruitment, campus by campus. Bringing high-quality education closer to prospective students is a commitment to society that reinforces access to studies. For ESSCA, the two new international campuses that will be open in
BENJAMIN D MORISSE is Vice Dean for Strategy and Institutional Relations at ESSCA School of Management. Prior to his current role, he held several positions at the School, including Vice Dean for Faculty and Vice Dean for Programmes. He holds a PhD in marketing, as an Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR, or postdoctorate degree certifying research supervision) from Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne.
are based on the standards of the European Credit and Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
4. There is access to a great diversity of cultures and business environments while remaining in one part of the world 5. From an economic point of view, the eurozone erases the risk on currency fluctuations. For international students, having a single-entry point to multiple destinations in Europe is a positive asset To conclude, business education has an important role in society, to bring continuity between established knowledge and to stimulate innovation to prepare tomorrow’s world. Campuses are the tangible manifestation of this.
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