We held our annual Members Meeting last Thursday, 3 December, with more than 50 participants from 30 countries. As with anything that GBSN does, the meeting was designed to be interactive and thought provoking. The agenda included a pre-meeting for Asian members, two networking breakout groups, an insightful presentation on “Skill, Reskill and Upskill –… Read more >
Franz Heukamp is Dean of IESE Business School at the University of Navarra. In conversation with Soumitra Dutta and Dan LeClair of GBSN, he discusses important global trends that the pandemic is accelerating, as well as the increased responsibility of business and business institutions to society. The interview took place 12 weeks after COVID-19 was… Read more >
Boundaries are everywhere in business education. They inform business scholars about which journals they are supposed to publish in for tenure and promotion. Boundaries help us to neatly organize degree programs into categories, such as MBAs and specialized masters, based on objective criteria. Boundaries can be physical; it is not uncommon for university-based business schools to be physically separated from the main campus.But the environment has changed. Our traditional boundaries have become less helpful. They supported a focus on quality improvement, but are hindering efforts for impact leadership. Quality is about rules and rubrics. Impact is about creativity and collaboration.
The Covid crisis has forced colleges and universities to move to fully online instruction over the last months. Some may yet continue in a fully online mode for parts of the next academic year. However, looking ahead beyond the pandemic, it is very likely that education will not revert back to the “way it was before the pandemic”. Education will evolve to become hybrid in nature integrating the best what in-person instruction can offer and the unique aspects of what online education can provide. Some of these changes, such as flipped classrooms were already starting to appear before the Covid pandemic but these trends will accelerate now. While a small minority of faculty were doing flipped classes before, the vast majority of faculty will integrate such approaches and shift to a different mode of learning and class discussion.
July was a big month for the Global Business School Network (GBSN). With leadership from the Board of Directors and network, and the hard work of the team, we achieved five milestones in our transformation to a “purpose-driven network organization” and efforts to significantly scale our impact. Transitioned to a new website Quietly, we switched… Read more >
Dr. Enase Okonedo is the Dean of Lagos Business School (LBS), Nigeria. In conversation with Soumitra Dutta and Dan LeClair of GBSN, Enase Okonedo discusses the changing equation of businesses and governments with respect to society across the globe, and particularly in Africa.
It is vitally important for business schools to lead the way forward during these uncertain times. GBSN has focused efforts around encouraging network members to think beyond their own institutions and work together to develop innovative solutions and more robust and resilient systems. We must explore the longer-term implications of the coronavirus outbreak for business… Read more >
Marking a seminal moment in the history of the organization, the Global Business School Network (GBSN) is excited to welcome Togo-based Ecobank Academy as its first corporate member.
We are excited to announce that Ecobank Academy has joined the Global Business School Network (GBSN) to pursue our shared vision for Africa to have the talent it needs to generate prosperity. Our aim is to work together over the long term to build a stronger connection between business and business schools—to develop the talent to achieve the Africa we want.
Operating in all sub-Saharan Africa regions, Ecobank Academy is one of the largest corporate universities in Africa. Each year Ecobank Academy trains more than 14,000 in 40 countries (36 in Africa and 4 out of Africa).
While it has state of the art campuses across the continent, Ecobank Academy has been an early adopter of digital and virtual learning, and it offers its programs using virtual instructor-led, eLearning and instructor-led.
Founded in 2012 and became operational in 2014, Ecobank Academy is the first truly pan-African corporate university and is the epicenter of structured, innovative, and sustainable learning.
