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 52 APRIL 2022
Plotting the
COURSE Trends, issues, challenges, and opportunities, which will set the agenda for business education strategy and action
EDUCATION ECOSYSTEMS The Business School role in reskilling and upskilling leaders for the future of work
LEADING THROUGH A CLIMATE CRISIS How can leaders realise a purpose, and be the change we want to see in the world?
A MORE INCLUSIVE FUTURE Business Schools must prioritise inclusivity or face being left behind
AMBA & BGA GLOBAL CONFERENCE 2022 Lisbon, Portugal 15-18 May 2022
AMBA & BGA has chosen the magnificent Portuguese capital Lisbon as the venue for the AMBA & BGA Global Conference for Deans and Directors 2022. Our conference programme will include some of the world’s leading Deans and CEOs who will present on the issues most prevalent to Business School strategy. The programme will be complemented with fine dining and world-class networking in some of Lisbon’s most iconic and awe-inspiring venues.
Save the date and for more information, visit www.associationofmbas.com/school- events/amba-bga-global-conference-2022/
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Issue 52 | APRIL 2022
STRATEGY
NEWS & INS IGHT
08 | ROUNDUP Empowering female farmers in South Africa, visualising data for the greater good, alumni investors’ penchant for emerging tech, and more
18 | PLOTTING THE COURSE Discussing trends that which will set the agenda for business education strategy and action
12 | UPSKILLING LEADERS At a time of transition, Business Schools must engage education partners in developing innovative education ecosystem, write Jordi Diaz, Dean, EADA Business School, and Daphne Halkias, Professor and Distinguished Research Fellow École des Ponts Business School
Business Schools must embrace a new era where we see ourselves as part of a wider ecosystem
Take advantage of AMBA & BGA’s free webinar series for Business School leaders
AMBA & BGA is working with Business Schools and business education leaders to develop a raft of fresh online content in the form of live interactive webinars, especially tailored for Business School leaders, decision makers, and professionals. In addition to our growing virtual and hybrid conference programme, our one-hour webinars (all of which can supplied as recordings to all registered delegates), offer perfectly bite sized insights from industry experts.
Topics include: Education technology Business School innovation Lifelong learning Career development Leadership skills Building partnerships Regional updates And much more.
For more information visit www.associationofmbas.com/business-schools/events/ Make the most of your coffee breaks and keep up to speed with the trends in the business education arena.
Issue 52 | APRIL 2022
REGULARS
It makes sense that leaders step up, and contribute to serve a larger purpose
42 | EVENTS With AMBA & BGA’s Global Conference due to take place from 15-18 May 2022, we find out what you can look forward to during four days of networking, thought leadership and in-depth insight 44 | AMBITION HUB Why sustainable investing is smart investing; why you shouldn’t be afraid of constructive tension at work; how to keep yourself and everyone else going when things go wrong; how to form the perfect collaborative
strategy, and much more 44
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OPINION 40 | PURPOSE It’s time to be the change we want to see 46 | FROM THE CEO Looking ahead to our Lisbon conference
OPINION
Corporate views on BUSINESS SCHOOLS
EDITORIAL Editor and Director of Marketing and Communications David Woods-Hale d.woods@associationofmbas.com @davidpaulwoods Art Editor Laura Tallon Content Editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul t.dhoul@associationofmbas.com Insight and Communications Executive Ellen Buchan e.buchan@associationofmbas.com CORPORATE Head of Commercial Relations Max Braithwaite m.braithwaite@associationofmbas.com Commercial Partnerships Manager Emily Wall e.wall@associationofmbas.com
‘Finding out what really matters to employers’
B ack in January, AMBA & BGA hosted its Business School Leaders Summit, bringing together Business School decision-makers in a virtual setting to discuss trends, issues, challenges and opportunities which set the agenda for business education strategy, and action for the short to medium term. The event brought together corporate trailblazers, industry thought leaders and business education heavyweights who shared their insight at our first ever conference looking solely at business education from a corporate and industry perspective. We’ve included several highlights for you, from page 18. The Summit allowed us to find out what really matters to employers and industry leaders when they’re collaborating with Business Schools, and examined the trends they’re experiencing that will have more of an impact on higher education over the coming months. Here are some key lessons I took away. First, educational Institutions – like businesses – have had to adapt to comply with pandemic estrictions to be able to maintain a quality service. Although this has been challenging, the pandemic created opportunities for digital innovations within Business Schools and wider education. Second, the success of Business Schools is aligned to leadership efforts to become inclusive. Schools have an opportunity to take note of the work that is being done to create, incorporate and develop culture, diversity, and inclusion practices, while campaigning for fair working environments across the world. Third, knowledge can be acquired and skill sets developed anywhere in everyday life, but lifelong learning requires a positive attitude towards learning, both for personal and professional development. And finally, leaders of today are in a privileged position, as technology – and their global reach – gives them more power to create social value than ever before. A movement for a green-based recovery that will deliver superior returns over traditional fiscal stimuli has gathered real momentum, but the transition to this green recovery provides challenges and opportunities for Business Schools. David Woods-Hale , Editor, Ambition
Conference Producer Paul Thurston
Marketing and Communications Executive Edward Holmes
Marketing Executive Edward Jacques Membership Manager Tariro Masukume
Head of IT and Data Management Jack Villanueva HR and Employer Relations Manager Aarti Bhasin Finance and Commercial Director Catherine Walker
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE AMBITION PODCAST
Are you happy or not?’ is a question we get asked as consumers constantly. For example, have you ever gone through airport security and been asked to rate the service through a series of different buttons, ranging from happy to sad? In this episode of The AMBITION Podcast, we spoke to Miika Mäkitalo, CEO of HappyOrNot. Mäkitalo explained the ways in which HappyOrNot has implemented initiatives to keep employees up to date on the latest skills and
The definition of happiness is unique to everyone The things that make us happy in our jobs can vary from work-life balance, work security, to taking satisfaction from ‘a job well done’. But sometimes, when the world is so turbulent, it’s hard to be happy. To gain a more scientific view of happiness, we invited Tia Graham, an ‘inspirationist’, and Founder of Arrive At Happy, to The AMBITION Podcast. Graham talked about her new book Be a happy leader and explained how happiness can create transformation in organisations, driving growth and employee retention.
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Main Wilson
Executive Assistant to the CEO Amy Youngs a.youngs@associationofmbas.com ACCREDITATION ENQUIRIES accreditation@associationofmbas.com
nurture a culture of lifelong learning. 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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Ambition | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
The monthly magazine of the Association of MBAs (AMBA) BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY Ambiti n
Issue 43 MAY 2021
AMBA’s Ambition magazine
offers thought leadership, insight, advice and analysis of key trends in business, and is tailored exclusively for Business School leaders.
Cutting through the noise...
IMD on preparing managers for a future of continuous anticipation and adjustment
LEARNING FROM LITERATURE: ‘Good leaders read a lot.’ The importance UPF Barcelona School of Management places in culture and the humanities
REIMAGINING THE ALUMNI CLUB: Mannheim Business School emphasises the value of continuity in clubs that have been going from strength to strength
RISK-TAKING TO ENGAGE STUDENTS: The value of humour and how TBS Education’s David Stolin struck up a partnership with a renowned comedian
SUBSCRIBE TODAY to Ambition magazine in print and remain ahead of the curve: www.associationofmbas.com/product/ambition-magazine-subscription/
NEWS & INSIGHT
NEWS & RESEARCH
from across AMBA’s Global Network
Empowering female farmers in South Africa, visualising data for the greater good, alumni investors’ penchant for emerging tech, and more. It’s the latest selection of updates from the world of AMBA- accredited Business Schools. By Ellen Buchan and Tim Banerjee Dhoul
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THE GENDER GAP IN SE EUROPE COUNTRY: Croatia SCHOOL: COTRUGLI Business School
FLEXIBLE FIVE-YEAR
MASTER’S COUNTRY: Brazil
SCHOOL: FGV EAESP, Fundação Getulio Vargas
The Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP) has launched a new flexible pathway to a master’s degree. By engaging in a mix of short certificate courses followed by an applied project, participants can complete the degree in five years. First, they must earn 22 credits in certificates within three and half years. They then have 18 months to undertake and complete an applied project with the assistance of a professor. The certificates cover the broad skills areas of retail, supply chain, people management and finance. Each of these areas have several different certificates within them that students could take, each of which are worth between two to six credits. The initiative is a recognition of current t rends in higher education. One of these being ‘unbundling’ – the breaking down of long programmes into smaller courses. The other is the increasing awareness of the need for lifelong learning – i.e., that in a volatile and technology driven world that changes at a fast pace, professionals must refresh their knowledge constantly to keep up to date with the latest trends. ‘With these convertible certificates, experienced professionals who don’t feel confident about committing to do a master’s in around two years can opt for this certification path, taking much longer and allowing them to show their evolution to the market, until they complete their master’s. In addition, professionals who would like to access state-of-the-art applied academic content without doing a master’s thesis now have an alternative,’ said Gilberto Sarfati, Co-ordinator of the Professional Master’s in Management for Competitiveness at FGV EAESP. To be eligible for the programme, prospective students are required to have a bachelor’s degree and at least five years of experience in the subject area they wish to study. / Ellen Buchan (EB)
It is still possible to find precisely zero female c-suite leaders in a European country’s biggest companies, according to research from COTRUGLI Business School (COTRUGLI). Three countries – Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – yielded female leadership proportions of 0% at the c-suite level, in a study of the 15 largest publicly listed companies in each of the eight southeast European nations. C-suite leadership is where the gender gap in business remains particularly acute throughout Europe. Among EU countries, the average proportion is currently estimated at 19% by the European Women on Boards’ Gender Diversity Index. While one country in the COTRUGLI study – Serbia – exceeded this level comfortably with a 25% proportion, other countries fell beneath the average with 15% and 7% levels found in Croatia and Montenegro, respectively, for example. Female representation on company boards – for which the current EU average currently stands at 35% – underlines how much work there is to do in southeast Europe to address gender inequality. In the COTRUGLI research, only North Macedonia (34%) comes close to the EU average. Results of 18.5% in Slovenia, 17% in Bulgaria and 16.5% in Croatia highlight the current deficit. The question of quotas as one potential solution to the gender gap is raised in the write-up of the study’s results. It makes reference to the European Commission (EC) proposal of enacting a minimum percentage of women in non-executive management positions, of between 33% and 40%, depending on the size and structure of the company. It also points to the power of postgraduate management education, arguing that companies must provide women with opportunities and education to lead confidently and that funding in support of women’s professional education can empower women to reach leadership positions. / Tim Banerjee Dhoul (TBD)
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NEWS & INSIGHT
REPRESENTING DISTANCE LEARNERS COUNTRY: UK SCHOOL: The Open University Business School, The Open University An area in education where it can be hard to see representation of different communities is in distance learning. Who are the people sat behind their laptops and computers for their entire degree? Distance learning may be a practical way for many to access qualifications but if those of minority backgrounds don’t know it’s an option for them, or it is not a choice commonly made in their communities, then this opportunity can easily be overlooked. The Open University wanted to demonstrate what its distance learners of minority origin look like. It partnered with Alamy, a stock imagery bank, to take pictures of four distance learners working in their homes. The four students featured include Candace from Cardiff (pictured below), who is studying for an online degree in business management and marketing. She has been working part-time as a customer service representative for Transport for Wales as well as undertaking an internship with a digital magazine, alongside her studies. ‘I’m of Caribbean heritage,’ she says. ‘In our community, we’re very focused on getting a job, especially in this climate where a job is not very certain, even with a degree. I think this campaign will help people realise you can do both… You can achieve your dream of higher education and your career ambitions.’ The photographs were taken by Inzajeano Latif, who believes that the campaign ‘showcases students from diverse backgrounds, in their own study spaces’ and is ‘a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of flexible learning for all’. ‘We feel that the stock images available to portray Black and Asian students are not authentic or relatable and don’t reflect the reality of their lives or of distance learning, and we want to change that,’ said Melissa Thermidor, Programme Director at The Open University. / EB
DOING GOOD WITH DATA COUNTRY: France SCHOOL: EDHEC Business School
The annual European Student Data Viz Challenge is now open for entries, offering students an opportunity to raise awareness of social or environmental issues by harnessing the power of data visualisation. Organised by EDHEC Business School (EDHEC), together with Tableau, Mazars and UNICEF, the challenge – launched in 2020 – runs on the belief that Business Schools are an important source of talent in the field of data analytics. Its aim is to encourage students to become more involved and skilled in the art of visualising data for the greater good. All entries must choose a topic linked to UNICEF missions and use the international NGO’s data to highlight and raise awareness of global issues. Previous entries have, for example, focused on the gender gap in education, tobacco use in children under 15, and inequality. The winning student will have the opportunity to interview for a data visualisation internship with UNICEF. ‘Data visualisation combines some of the most in-demand skills on the job market today such as critical thinking, creativity and communication,’ said Jessica Wheaton, Learning and Culture Manager at Mazars. ‘ The Data Viz Challenge provides a platform for students to develop these competencies, network, pitch and grow their employability. ‘As data literacy increases in importance, learning analytics and understanding how to best visualise data will help students stand out professionally, driving faster insights and informed decisions in their work and study,’ added Ashley Koen, Academic Programme Marketing Manager at Tableau. EDHEC’s Paris campus will host the challenge’s final in June, at which 10 finalists will pitch their entries to a judging panel. The closing date for receipt of initial entries is 1 May – for more information, visit the Student Data Viz Challenge website at www.edhec.edu/en/student-dataviz-challenge-2022. Students can now pre-register online. Every month, new content will be published on the web page, including a recorded webinar for students on ‘Getting started with data visualisation and the 2022 Student Data Viz Challenge’. In this webinar, a panel of experts from UNICEF, Mazars, Tableau, and EDHEC talk about the essentials of data visualisations and introduce the challenge. / TBD
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EMPOWERING FEMALE FARMERS
ALUMNI INVESTORS TURN TO TECH COUNTRY: Spain SCHOOL: Esade Business School An alumni network of private investors pledged €4.1 million EUR to 27 new projects in 2021, taking the network’s overall total to in the region of €40 million in investments over 16 years. The Esade alumni business angels’ network (Esade BAN) was founded in 2006 and consists of 230 private investors, many of whom work in family businesses or as venture capital representatives. Not only does the network provide a platform for entrepreneurs seeking funding, it also seeks to provide its members with the best investment opportunities. During the year, 400 projects were submitted to Esade BAN, of which 97 were retained and presented across 18 investment forums. Most popular with the investors this year were startup projects in the ‘deep tech’ sector, or those that revolve around the use of new technologies, such as big data, AI and augmented reality. Indeed, 61% of the startups receiving funding were classified in this sector. ‘After two years of struggling with the effects of the pandemic, we have seen an upward trend in projects related to value-added technology or deep tech,’ said Esade BAN Director, Fernando Zallo. One example is Unblur, a startup founded by a BBA graduate of Esade that has received €180,000 EUR from 13 Esade BAN investors. Unblur uses AI to provide real-time information designed to improve the response of emergency services. Receiving more than €1 million in investment, meanwhile, was Dinbeat, an initiative offering both veterinary telemedicine services and in-home care for people. A startup which uses GPS collars to monitor livestock, iXorigué, received €95,000 from the alumni investor group. Esade BAN enjoys strong links to the Esade Business School’s Entrepreneurship Institute and its business project creation and acceleration programme, eWorks. / TBD
COUNTRY: South Africa SCHOOL: Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria
An entrepreneurial programme designed to support female farmers in South Africa is to be delivered by Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA) at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), in partnership with the Embassy of France in South Africa. While all farmers in South Africa face challenges such as a lack of economic support, a lack of access to training, social barriers and a lack of infrastructure, the Women Agripreneurs Programme was established in recognition of the fact that these challenges are often more pronounced for female farmers. Female farmers in the country can also face the added difficulties of a lack of networks, as well as enhanced cultural and social barriers due to gender norms. The programme will recruit 35 women and run for three months, with course content covering three main areas: leadership development, entrepreneurial skills, and managerial competencies. Each participant in the programme will also be given access to coaching sessions that focus on helping them to apply the academic concepts they are taught to their own journeys and personal development. The programme will be delivered in an online blended format, with sessions running both asynchronously and synchronously, to accommodate participants who living in rural areas, as well as those juggling multiple jobs and responsibilities. The overriding aim of the programme is to contribute to the farming community and the agricultural sector in South Africa as a whole, through the economic empowerment of women. To apply to the programme, participants must be at least 21 years old, hold a minimum of two years of experience in agribusiness, and employ at least one person. They also need to have basic computer literacy, as well as access to a device for online learning. / 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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STRATEGY
The Business School role in reskilling and upskilling leaders for the future of work
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At a time of transition, Business Schools must engage education partners in developing innovative education ecosystems, write Jordi Diaz , Dean, EADA Business School, and Daphne Halkias , Professor and Distinguished Research Fellow, École des Ponts Business School
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E STRATEGY
own in-house executive education ecosystems to meet the pressing demand of a skilled workforce for today’s market demands. Given the speed of change and far-reaching impacts on the future of business, Business School leaders are challenged today to an unparalleled point, not just to educate tomorrow’s leaders but to ensure their own survival. Disruptive innovation theory In our upcoming book The Innovative Management Education Ecosystem: Reskilling and Upskilling the Future Workforce (Taylor & Francis, 2022), we tackle Business Schools’ most pressing issue: how to proceed successfully at a time of great transition, not only for the workplace but for wider society. Leadership today is not what it will be in five years. For the most part, research focusing on Business Schools’ roles in reskilling and upskilling the workforce is broad and scant, with little attention given to the state of executive education ecosystems in reskilling and upskilling 4IR business leaders. The purpose of our work has been to formulate suggestions for an innovative executive education ecosystem model that reskills and upskills 4IR leaders to manage the changing workforce successfully. Our research focused on the three issues: The innovative Business School ecosystem. Digital technology integration in learning systems. Reskilling/upskilling the workforce for the 4IR. Inspired by Clayton Christensen’s disruptive innovation theory, which defines disruptive innovation concepts either as ‘new-to-the-world products’ or ‘business model innovations’ and not just technical innovations, we analysed the current knowledge available to make our specific recommendations. Applying a disruptive innovation framework, in terms of education, involves extending knowledge to allow academics to be the driver in creating improved access to high-quality education, designing personalised education, and circumnavigating the politics of education while deciding what needs to be taught and how.
merging executive education ecosystem models can be the drivers for Business Schools to develop the agility and readiness to reskill and upskill leaders in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), equipping them to manage the future changing workforce. The reskilling (learning new skills to do a different job) and upskilling (teaching and learning additional skills for one’s present job) of business professionals requires effective partnerships between education providers and industry. Combining traditional academic providers (such as Business Schools) with experts in online delivery, and industry partners will be complex, requiring flexibility from both parties. Schools will need to assume a role in which they genuinely co-create executive education alternatives that fit the need in real-time with businesses. The changing nature of work The modern world of work is characterised by international mobility, a renewed focus on organisational wellbeing and work-life balance, and uncertain retirement ages. Motivating and leading individuals in this challenging reality will inevitably require new managerial skills. Business Schools must design innovative education ecosystems committed to experimentation, innovation, and industry partnerships. Schools’ fundamental problem remains whether they can develop responsible leaders capable of navigating the increasingly complex economy, and a market society driven by the 4IR and post-Covid-19 work conditions. For the most part, Business Schools still function through a 20 th -century ecosystem in terms of what and how they teach, how they are governed, and how they engage their faculty and other key stakeholders. Employers note a lack of readiness for Business School graduates to prepare the workforce fully for disruptive events such as the pandemic, the disrupted job architecture across industries, and the skills employees need to survive, given changing requirements. This can be seen in how large and small corporations have taken it upon themselves to develop their
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The sustaining innovation path The Business School has traditionally followed a path of ‘sustaining innovation’, offering the right (and improved) products to existing customers. Prestige and accreditation have proved the main barriers to innovation for Schools, since both processes control operational strategies, attract customers, and offer long periods of stability. Within this context, legacy institutions have been immune to disruption. Adopting technology has created an opportunity for low-end disruptive innovation and new-market disruptive innovation to flourish in business education. Following this pattern – now accelerated by the exponential enhancement of technology – this value proposition (focused on affordability and simplicity at scale) has been able to attract the low-end segment of the market, and is starting to reach the segment traditionally served by established Schools. The pandemic has accelerated trends such as working and studying from home, offering perfect conditions for both low-end and new-market disruptive innovation and transformation from an industry of two main educational events (Bachelor’s degree and Master/MBA) to a lifelong learning scenario with multiple and constant events to prepare us for the 4IR. The imperative evolution The key challenges that Schools face as they attempt to respond to the growing need for flexible, real-time, personalised, and scalable education paths include the disintermediation of professor to company , slow time to
Society is asking not simply for business leaders and managers who can ‘run the world’ but for insightful, connected, and empowering agents who create positive social change
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STRATEGY
The positive impact of Business Schools A multi-stakeholder roadmap for global sustainable development must be included in business education curricula; for example, multidisciplinary core values and responsible management education competencies. Business Schools play a critical role in advancing UN SDGs through higher education worldwide. Our macro-level conceptualisation of innovative executive education ecosystems is presented through the findings of our study to answer essential questions around how Business Schools must be more relevant in global economics and sustainability ,and emerge as important social actors in transforming and updating executive education. Executives and senior professionals can work together to develop intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies related to sustainable management as part of their reskilling learning path. Technological skills development is critical for professionals’ reskilling, but executives should also be developed to contribute to global solutions to grand challenges, such as those identified by the SDGs. Business Schools are relevant game-changers responsible for shaping this economic and social change. Specifically, in executive education programmes, the development of an ethical business attitude and mindset is significant since business professionals are responsible for making decisions that will affect their companies’ stakeholders and wider society. Our call for innovative business education ecosystems To excel in the fast-changing 21 st century workplace, business professionals must adapt to a wide range of circumstances, including different organisations and markets, varied positions and teams, and changing management strategies and cultures. The move towards lifelong learning will give Business Schools’ executive education programmes a chance to appeal to groups of consumers they have not yet served: junior managers looking to extend their skill sets, and managers with potential who are looking to be better positioned for the future. For Business Schools, digital talent development is crucial in order to prepare skilled graduates for the digitally dominated business environments, and to strengthen regional economic development. The importance of collaboration between businesses, schools and industry to create a digital talent ecosystem cannot be overstated when addressing the global digital talent gap. Partnerships between Business Schools and industry provide opportunities to assist students, researchers, managers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers for sustainable talent development by giving them a chance to discover and support potential digital talents across regional economies. The development of both global and local strategies, through co-operation between Schools and regional industries, can deliver a future-focused workforce. However, five elements require consideration. To thrive in a digital-first future will require new capabilities. Technological awareness has become a critical skill in today’s technology-driven business world. Professionals must be technology and data-literate, while also possessing
By co-creating and co-building academic offerings with industry partners, companies and universities can combine their strengths and develop impactful leaders
market for learning production, a high student-faculty ratio, high-priced standardised programmes, and permanent academic teams. There is a misalignment between the pressing need to educate businesspeople and Business Schools as the clear answer to this need. Business School leaders must therefore reflect on the actual purpose and value of their executive education programmes if they are to ensure their relevance. Delivering reskilling and upskilling educational programmes presents many challenges for Business Schools. The rise of specialised and technical skills in the professional workforce requires constant upskilling and reskilling to keep pace with innovation within industry sectors. In the post-Covid-19 era, many industry leaders and scholars label Business Schools as irrelevant executive education providers for today’s labour market. For business education providers, recapturing the ‘skills’ provider’ role from in-house corporate programmes will take something more than simply adjusting to automation, remote working, and AI. Today’s Business School will have to strategically engage others in innovative education ecosystems by committing to experimentation, innovation, and industry partnerships. Meeting potential skills obsolescence will become a global challenge, requiring a structural solution that involves cross-functional partnerships between different actors within the business education ecosystem. A partnership approach will move from a silo model to a network approach where universities and other key players such as corporate universities, consulting firms, educational platforms, professional bodies, and professional certifications become part of the solution.
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A final reflection The combination of 4IR and the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the way we live and work – and how business leaders are educated. For academics and practitioners, the question remains: Where do Business Schools’ executive education programmes find themselves today, and how can Business School leaders proceed successfully at a time of great transition – not only in the workplace but in wider society? While workforce reskilling and upskilling – including the development of technological skills – can be accomplished, today’s business leaders will need to find global solutions to today’s grand challenges. Society is asking not simply for business leaders and managers who can ‘run the world’ but for insightful, connected, and empowering agents who create positive social change in a volatile, ever-evolving world. Academia needs to be prepared to surrender its monopoly on having all the answers about education. Today, in a world in which people expect a constant change of jobs, there is a mismatch between employees’ skills and those employers seek. This gap between work and skills can be bridged by generating an amplified new ecosystem of educational options, including degrees, credits, certificates, boot camps, skill-building programmes, internal training, and external partnerships. Tomorrow’s Business Schools will have to engage others strategically in innovative education ecosystems by committing to experimentation, innovation, and partnerships. Business Schools must embrace a new era as part of a wider ecosystem. We have a tremendous opportunity, which is the urgent need for reskilling. According to the World Economic Forum, 50% of the world’s workforce should be reskilled or upskilled by 2025. Business Schools, as standalone institutions, will not be able to cope with this challenge. Now is the time for us to accelerate the pace of innovation in reskilling and upskilling executive boardrooms to map a new road—one that points the way to new measures of progress and is consistent with the values of the new generation that is preparing to lead. Designing innovative executive education ecosystems will give Schools a secure footing in global economics and sustainability, enabling them to emerge as an important social actor in addressing the skilling/upskilling needs for tomorrow.
human-centric capabilities such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and systems thinking. Executive development programmes should aspire to equip future leaders with these skills, finding the right balance between digital and human skills. Work-based learning will help to shape business capabilities in real time. Automation, in tandem with the recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, is creating a ‘double disruption’ scenario for workers. Integrating academic lessons with contextualised experiential learning projects as part of everyday work shapes learning skills in real-time, for immediate use. In future-ready programmes, participants are required to demonstrate the application of academic concepts in their projects as a required component of each course. Co-creating education with industry partners will be critical. The future of work is changing rapidly, and agility is essential to serve corporate allies’ talent needs. The foundation for building a digital-first, diverse workforce can only be built if academic institutions and industry work together. By co-creating and co-building academic offerings with industry partners, companies and universities can combine strengths and develop impactful leaders. Co-creating education with alternative educational providers will accelerate the process. To respond effectively and quickly to the massive need for upskilling and reskilling , there will need to be to co-ordination between different learning providers. Business Schools will need to involve new corporate learning players in order to offer complex programmes that incorporate hard skills, soft skills, and digital skills in real time and at scale. The ‘new normal’ will be as much about content as the delivery model in executive education. Reskilling will need to revolve around social responsibility for business leaders and educators. Companies need to invest in improved human and social capital metrics by adopting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics in line with renewed human capital accounting measures. Many business leaders and managers understand that reskilling employees, particularly in industry coalitions and public-private and academic collaborations, is cost-effective and has significant mid-to-long-term dividends – not only for business but for society.
JORDI DIAZ is a distinguished academic and business consultant, and a recognised innovator in Business School management. Since August 2020, he has been Dean of EADA Business School. Diaz holds an Executive DBA from École des Ponts Business School and a master’s in HR management from EADA Business School. He graduated from Harvard Business School in authentic leadership development and disruptive strategy.
DAPHNE HALKIAS
is Professor and Distinguished Research Fellow at École des Ponts Business School; Fellow at Institute of Coaching, McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School; Faculty at IBS Paris; Research Affiliate at the Institute for Social Sciences, Cornell University; and Research Associate at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego. She is CEO of Executive Coaching Consultants and Editor of several journals. She is an award-winning researcher and author of 13 academic books and 100 peer-reviewed papers.
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STRATEGY
Plotting the COURSE for BUSINESS EDUCATION strategy
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I n January 2022, the AMBA & BGA Business School Leaders Summit 2022 brought together Business School decision-makers to discuss trends, issues, challenges, and opportunities, which will set the agenda for business education strategy and action for the short to medium term. Corporate trailblazers, industry thought leaders and business education heavyweights shared their insight on issues including diversity, sustainability, impact, innovation, collaboration, and lifelong learning. Over the following pages, David Woods-Hale and Ellen Buchan report on some of the highlights from the Summit’s discussions and debates.
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STRATEGY
Innovating for SUCCESS in business education How should Business Schools harness learnings from the Covid-19 pandemic and position themselves in a digital landscape?
If you’re afraid to embrace your failure, you’re more inclined to hide it, and this leads to a snowball effect
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AMBITION | Be in Brilliant Company
T he world of business education looks very different to the way it looked at the beginning of the pandemic, with remote learning becoming a new normal. Just like businesses, educational institutions have had to adapt in order to comply with lockdown restrictions, while maintaining a quality service. Although this has been challenging, Covid-19 has created opportunities for digital innovations within Business Schools and wider education. Digital technology has played a vital role for faculty and students alike. Platforms such as Zoom and Teams have replaced the traditional classroom, and the tech industry has been quick to come up with solutions. From startups to multi-nationals, these companies are working to improve the world of online learning, developing education technology at a rapid pace. This gives Business Schools an opportunity to reflect on how innovations will affect the day-to-day delivery of teaching going into the future. It falls on Schools to continue to be flexible and to adapt to the post-Covid-19 world, taking the valuable skills and lessons learned and developing them further. Adapting to the digital landscape In this session at the AMBA & BGA Business School Leaders Summit, a panel of experts pondered the future of Business Schools in the digital landscape, and discussed how leading Schools should position themselves in a changing environment. Kicking off the conversation, Simone Hammer, Head of Marketing, Learning Experiences, Barco, commented that although ‘lots of organisations tried to “run faster” during the pandemic’ others took the opportunity ‘to step back and analyse, without getting exhausted. In saying that, innovation and creativity come out of urgency’, she pointed out. Tiffany Monaco, Global Business Development and Innovation Leader, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group) highlighted the move to partnership working. ‘The world changed very quickly last year, but if we want to change the way we work by 2030, we need to take action now,’ she said. ‘This pandemic has also sparked a lot of collaboration. Boredom
CHAIR Simone Hammer , Head of Marketing, Learning Experiences, Barco
demands creativity, so in the past two years, I’ve had more collaboration and more creativity with my colleagues.’ Meanwhile, Miika Makitalo CEO, HappyOrNot, explained that, in his opinion, the pandemic has revolutionised the behaviours of consumers. He added: ‘The pandemic gave us the opportunity to stop asking “what is the winning strategy?” We’ve been building a clear focus on what we’ve been doing and asking how we can add more value. ‘By combining data and partnering with other organisations, we’ve explored things we’ve never experienced before. We had more time to think, more time to focus and more time to collaborate. In the marketplace, the ones that are innovating are winning.’ But he stressed that ‘there is great value in failure. Success is a terrible teacher. We have always had an upward trajectory of profit, which started to plateau, so we began to shift our way of thinking and boost innovation. I would say there’s always room for improvement in terms of how organisations approach failure, but having psychological safety and empowering people to be humble is really key. That mitigates risk. ‘If you’re afraid to embrace your failure, you’re more inclined to hide it and this leads to a snowball effect. ‘Instead leaders can create a culture of accountability; embracing failure; and moving on.’ Hammer advocates asking for help and nurturing a culture of trust. ‘Looking out for collaboration – next to failure – is really important’, she said. Maria Luciana Axente, Responsible AI & AI for Good Lead, PwC ,concluded: ‘Finally something has happened that we’ve been predicting for a long time. ‘For years, we’ve been preaching to our clients that they will have to digitise. Before the pandemic organisations could cover their lack of digitisation with people skills, but now there is a huge opportunity to develop digital infrastructure. ‘In the uncertainty that will follow the pandemic we have an opportunity to optimise our processes. Digitisation can replace repetition and empower innovation. No innovation can be realised without infrastructure, and this allows us to make a sustained and profound impact.’
PANELLISTS Maria Luciana Axente , Responsible AI & AI for Good Lead, PwC Tiffany Monaco , Global Business Development and Innovation Leader, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group)
Miika Makitalo CEO, HappyOrNot
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ADVERTISING FEATURE
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THE POWER OF HYBRID CLASSROOMS: HOW TO ENABLE HIGH ENGAGEMENT The future of learning is hybrid. It is powered by pedagogical goals and enabled by technology so Business Schools can provide highly engaging, human-centered hybrid learning regardless of location
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With so many developments in education in the past few years, hybrid learning has become an umbrella term, encompassing a variable mix of onsite and online, live, and asynchronous methods. A particular method involves learning sessions with some students and the instructor present in the classroom, and some students connected remotely, at the same time. It is made possible by powerful software, a stable internet connection,
and AV equipment such as cameras, screens, and microphones. This is what we call a hybrid classroom. The benefits of hybrid classrooms Hybrid classrooms allow for flexible learning experiences. Flexibility is becoming a paramount feature of learning. On the one hand, there are more adult learners upskilling and reskilling (requiring flexibility due to full-time jobs or families, for example). On the other hand, digital
natives´ demands are different to their predecessors´ and have changed further during the pandemic. They discovered that learning can be delivered effectively also outside a standard classroom. These shifts have been noted. More than 60% of Business School leaders stated in 2021 that they will keep aspects of faculty teaching online with students not coming to campus; 67% consider ‘flexibility in learning’ a priority for investment in the next two years.
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Hybrid classrooms can be used as the main method for teaching or as part of a blended programme, with all students coming at times to the physical classroom or joining remotely. That is why hybrid classrooms are the perfect enabler of flexibility. Students join, at the same time, either onsite or online. Expanding the model to allow learners to choose whether they come to class or tune in online is called the hyflex (highly flexible) model. Furthermore, hybrid classrooms provide participants with the best of both worlds. Alternating their remote presence with the onsite one, they benefit from an interesting and varied learning path that will keep them motivated and engaged. Students will be able to gather from all over the world and get to know their professors in person, enjoy the campus experience and meet their colleagues. Last, it is a future-ready method that will prepare students to perform and lead in a hybrid working environment with both local and remote teams, and colleagues coming to the office or working from home according to personal preferences. Since the hybrid classroom is a new model, there are still challenges to overcome, such as disengaged remote learners, a lack of connection between remote and in-class participants, the feeling of a two-level experience, and instructors having to switch between the two audiences. Overcoming these challenges will make hybrid learning sessions effective, inclusive and equitable, making sure all students participate on equal terms in the learning experience. So how can you overcome these issues and ensure bright learning outcomes? The three must-haves of successful experiences in a hybrid classroom 1. The right setup Setting up the physical classroom is the first step in ensuring that all participants have a seamless, unified learning experience, regardless of being in class or joining virtually.
The first possible setup is an auditorium-style. It starts from a wall of screens displaying remote participants at the back of the class and physical students sitting at the front. The professor can see and address everyone directly. Another screen with the remote students is placed at the front so online and onsite students can see each other. This setup is perfect for lecture-style classes and will not make the lecturer switch between audiences. A second potential setup is the hybrid collaborative classroom. Small clusters of students gather in pods and have one screen for remote participants in each dedicated space. This style allows for a high degree of interaction and is perfect for in-depth discussions and practical exercises. In addition to the room configuration and screens, a proficient installation will also include cameras, microphones, and speakers - essential elements for remote students. 2. Effective communication Ensuring communication and a ´can-do´ attitude at all stages is crucial to achieving successful results. During the adoption process, take a multidisciplinary approach and bring all stakeholders together: faculty and programme directors, instructional designers, AV and IT specialists. Reflect on the learning objectives and demands of your learners, then adapt pedagogical methods to fit the hybrid classroom. Shift the mindset from either online or remote classes and focus on creating a shared, unified experience. Plan for activities that will convey this kind of feeling: breakout rooms, polls and quizzes or discussions. Since the hybrid classroom is likely to be a new experience, show students how they can join, share best practices and instructions to ensure smooth running sessions. 3. A reliable technology partner Selecting the right technology partner when adopting a hybrid classroom
is essential to success. Choose a solution with features that will create the engaging and collaborative environment students need, including multiple content streams for remote participants, polls, quizzes, online and in-class whiteboards. These will elicit enhanced attention levels and guarantee in-depth collaboration. Alongside the technology product, having a reliable team behind it is fundamental. Ensure the team listens to you, offers bespoke support throughout the entire journey, and adjusts the offering according to feedback. Hybrid-classroom enabled learning is an innovative method, powered by education technology, which will support learning goals, meet student demands and pedagogical methods. It leverages the strengths of both live and remote learning, providing a brand-new, innovative, and human experience that will support your institution expand its reach. With our Barco weConnect hybrid classroom solution, we can help your Business School enable bright learning outcomes. Our software will support you to deliver seamless, unified sessions, meaningful interactions and high engagement, thanks to features such as multiple content streams and cameras or polls and quizzes. Instructors teach as they´re used to teaching, because weConnect is a hassle-free, intuitive solution that enhances their natural facilitation skills and involves a reliable, knowledgeable team that accompanies you every step of the journey.
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www.barco.com/hybridclassroom
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