Indeed, the last month of coronavirus living has helped me to understand and appreciate GBSN as blended organization, one in which our essential work on the ground and face-to-face is complemented and supported by our work online. But it also helped to realize that we haven’t talked enough about our digital work. So here is a short guide to GBSN online, with some notes about how each has been useful in the current crisis.
Reflections on GBSN in the First Months of 2020
Twenty-twenty already has been a very active year for staff team supporting the Global Business School Network (GBSN). In Nigeria we co-hosted a workshop with Lagos Business School and the African Academy of Management (AFAM) on the role of business schools in Africa’s sustainable development. Then we went from the Yabacon Valley to Silicon Valley, where we contributed to the fifth annual African Diaspora Investment Symposium, and onward to Cairo for roundtables convened by the AUC School of Business to look ahead on occasion of its 10th Anniversary. We also participated in AACSB and EFMD annual deans conferences in music city and the fashion capital of the world, Nashville and Milan, respectively.
What Makes Your Business School Truly Distinctive?
Over the next two weeks business school leaders will gather for two big events, the AACSB Deans Conference in Nashville and EFMD Deans and Directors Conference in Milan. Nearly one thousand deans will attend either meeting or both, giving the gatherings enormous potential to shape the future of the industry. The conferences will inspire participants and enable them to share experiences and ideas amongst peers, since both meetings are restricted only to the top executives of business schools. The deans will renew friendships and start new ones. They will come from all corners of the world, yet marvel at how … Read More
GBSN’s Strategic Direction
Dan LeClair articulates the strategic direction of GBSN following its Annual Members’ Meeting on 6 November 2019. Read more
The Work of Business Schools: How It Is Changing and Why That Matters
How would you describe the work of business schools? Most people go straight to the teaching. Business schools teach business and management through a wide range of degree programs and executive education, helping learners to build and navigate careers as managers. Those more familiar with the industry add that business schools conduct objective and rigorous research to inform practicing managers and policy makers, as well as support teaching. In short, business schools develop skills, insights, and opportunities for organizations and the people who manage them.
Purpose, Potential, and People: Reflections on My First Six Months as CEO of the Global Business School Network
Six months ago I joined the Global Business School Network (GBSN) for what I call the three P’s—the purpose, the potential, and the people. So you might ask, have I found what was looking for? Is the purpose everything I thought it was? What is GBSN’s potential? Have I connected with new and interesting people? It seems like a good time to reflect on my experience and share thoughts about the journey.
Prioritizing Local Relevance in the Global Business School Network
What if we took a group of high performing managers from Canadian paper mills and placed them in the Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia. Would they succeed? Regardless of whether you answered yes, no, or maybe, your responses to questions like this one can reveal a lot about the work we’re doing at the Global Business School Network (GBSN). Since we were created by the World Bank 17 years ago, our vision has been for the developing world to have the management talent it needs to generate prosperity. We want to achieve that vision by “improving access to quality, locally relevant management and entrepreneurship education for the developing world.” As my experience grows with GBSN, so does my respect for the local relevance part of our mission. Here are three ways that we are prioritizing local relevance in our work.
CEO’s Message: Creating Locally-Relevant Content and Experiences
Dear GBSN Member Teams, Thank you for such a warm welcome to the Global Business School Network (GBSN). It has been a little more than a month since I started as CEO. During that time I met many of you and have been energized by the work we are doing together. Your commitment to improving access to quality, locally relevant management and entrepreneurship education for the developing world is palpable. And that makes GBSN truly distinctive and vital to the future not only of management education, but also of business and society. As you read this letter, the GBSN Experiential … Read More
The Future of Management Education is Experiential
For me this brief interaction pointed to three interesting developments in management education. First, it provided an example of the blurring boundaries between what companies and business schools do. Second, it revealed some of the key advantages of ‘learning by doing” to develop managers and leaders. Third, it demonstrated the importance of context in creating meaningful and effective learning experiences.
Media Rankings and the Challenge of Change in Management Education
If you could change anything — anything at all — about your business school, what would it be? In one form or another, that basic question is placed before every business school leader. Whereas “nothing — nothing at all” might once have sufficed for the sake of continuity and tradition, it’s no longer viewed as an acceptable response. Business school leaders, like the rest of us, live and lead in an economy described by terms and phrases such as disruptive, exponential growth, Fourth Industrial Revolution, automated, and VUCA. The time to think that business schools can continue teaching what they have, the same way, to the same people, in the same places, and with the same faculty is over. This article is about how business schools are stepping up to the challenge of change and what rankings can and can’t do to support them.