INTERVIEW
What do you think are the most pressing challenges facing international business schools? If one looks at the changing nature of work, society and the myriad problems currently facing the world, we need to make some significant changes to ensure we continue to add value and make a positive impact. To address the complex and systematic problems, we need to help develop leaders who are able to work comfortably across different fields of expertise, and as institutions adapt our offers. To do this, as business schools we need to change. Externally, there are several changes taking place and schools need to adapt to these. From a student perspective, there are two trends in particular. The first is the ever-increasing need for digital skills. The second involves student concerns about global sustainability and efforts to fight climate change. In the context of these trends and challenges, there is a global need for skilled, flexible and adaptable people; people who understand and can harness the power of technology, make a difference environmentally and innovate to develop services and products right for a planet with ever-diminishing resources. Is the business education sector responding quickly enough to this ongoing disruption and what advice would you offer to other deans? It is surprising to note that business schools very quickly adopted distance learning at the start of the health crisis in 2020. On the other hand, beyond
the adoption of Learning Management Systems (LMS) platforms, business schools seem hesitant in the face of the challenges of transformation linked to the management of their faculty (adoption of new metrics) or the ecological footprint of certain technological solutions (more particularly, blockchains linked to the Metaverse). I think that schools must set up teams dedicated to these innovations, even if it means restricting their field of intervention in the short term. It is important to be ready when the energy cost of the Metaverse has dropped significantly (transition of blockchains from PoW to PoS). Finally, not relying on new technologies also means taking the risk of not meeting the growing demand for blended learning in order to be able to reconcile studies and professional experience. Commentators have argued that business education provided by universities and the academic community is coming under threat from corporate providers. What are your thoughts on this, and where does this leave ‘traditional’ business education? You can’t argue with the reality of the rise of alternative providers. However, discernment should be exercised. Education, like health or justice, is generally part of the sovereign missions of a state – and the latter grant more or less freedom for new players to find their place. Historically, traditional academic operators consider that the institutional
and regulatory framework constitutes a strategic barrier. The question lies, above all, in the capacity of the states to pursue this sovereign mission when many of them are facing significant budget deficits. So the offer of corporate providers can be considered as a form of outsourcing solution. Moreover, the economic power of certain platforms is such that their ability to influence the regulatory framework is not neutral and can lead to legal developments, allowing them to invest more in the educational field. Finally, traditional players could quite simply find themselves out of the game because they leave the field open to these new players by not investing in the future links of the educational value chain. The belief of some of them that all learners seek only a face-to-face educational experience is misleading (especially after the Covid-19 lockdowns over the past two years). When you joined ESSCA four years ago, your objective was to consolidate the development of the school, which is unique in that it is the only triple-accredited French school that operates in eight physical locations. How have you put this strategy in place? The multi-campus strategy of ESSCA was initiated in 1993 with two new campuses, one in Paris and another one in Budapest, Hungary. A fourth one was set up in 2007. ESSCA undertook a major change of scale in 2016. After more than a decade of relative organisational
18 |
Ambition | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online