The 2020 calendar year has brought many novel experiences in teaching for most faculty. Our campuses have been closed for months and we have been forced to move our classes online. Teaching online has brought into stark reality the complexities of delivering high quality learning experiences remotely. Not only did we have to adjust to… Read more >
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 >
Objective of the Conference As CEO Dan LeClair previously noted, the Global Business School Network planned its 2020 Annual Conference, GBSN Beyond, with three main objectives in mind: Inclusivity: We wanted to be more inclusive by engaging business students and faculty in addition to business school leaders. By reimagining the conference, we were also able… Read more >
Erika James is Dean of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In conversation with Soumitra Dutta and Dan LeClair of GBSN, she discusses the importance of engagement and outreach when dealing with global crises, as well as the positive developments she has seen during the pandemic. The interview took place 12 weeks after… Read more >
Next week’s GBSN Beyond Virtual Conference includes a series of panel discussions on the Leadership Roundtables that took place in October. What can you expect if you join us? It all started this past summer when we identified the three topics that GBSN leaders most wanted to talk about. We then invited experienced educators to… Read more >
This current year certainly has been a very special year – one which I am confident no one anticipated. The global economy is trying to cope with a unique pandemic and educational institutions are at the heart of the challenge. Business school leaders have to deal with the complexities of a multi-faceted crisis – affecting the health of our communities, the core operations of learning and the finances of our institutions. With a possible vaccine in sight over the next six months, some are hopeful in seeing a small beam of light at the end of the tunnel. However, much uncertainty reigns as the second wave of the pandemic has recently triggered a series of second lockdowns in multiple countries.
On September 30, the Aspen Institute announced the winners of its 2020 Ideas Worth Teaching Awards, an initiative that draws attention to new ideas on the role of business in creating a sustainable and inclusive society. The awards recognize faculty who are redefining business education through the exceptional courses they teach. Among this year’s winners,… 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.
