Business school leaders convened at GBSN Beyond and engaged in rich dialogues around Building More Inclusive Societies, The Future of Experiential Learning, Entrepreneurship Ecosystems and Business Schools. Outcomes from these dialogues were developed into reports, and published during the GBSN Beyond Virtual Conference.
As a whole, business schools have made considerable progress increasing their presence in the space of entrepreneurship. Now leaders are looking ahead to the next stage of development, especially as it relates to the school’s role within the broader institution and community. What more can business schools do to increase their impact as catalysts for new business creation and innovation? How do they work with, support and lead other organizations in the ecosystem? Are new opportunities emerging in the context of COVID-19?
This report summarizes discussions and serves as a vehicle for sharing the insights and opportunities that emerged. It is not intended as a comprehensive research study or meant to be authoritative.
What role do business schools have in improving the terms of participation in society, particularly for people who are most disadvantaged? The factors contributing to unequal participation in economic, social, political and cultural life are complex and multidimensional, and are present to some degree in nearly all countries. Age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, migration status, socioeconomic status, place of residence, and sexual orientation and gender identity have all been grounds for social exclusion somewhere over time. And there is growing concern that progress towards more inclusive societies has been slowed or, worse, undone in recent years. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionately larger impact on some communities than others. Meanwhile, racial and ethnic injustices are again coming to the forefront, leading to social unrest in various communities around the globe.
This report summarizes discussions and serves as a vehicle to share insights and opportunities that emerged. It is not intended as a comprehensive research study or meant to be authoritative.
Experiential learning has been a central and expanding part of what business schools do. Students and companies count on the experiences and have been willing to pay premium for them. Unfortunately, travel and social distancing restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have prevented the vast major of experiential programs from being delivered in 2020. Nobody knows how long the restrictions will last, and that has created an “innovation imperative” for the people who lead experiential learning programs. How can business schools continue to provide the kind of transformative learning experiences that have become an essential part of the value proposition of business schools?
This report summarizes discussions and serves as a vehicle for sharing the insights and opportunities that emerged. It is not intended as a comprehensive research study or meant to be authoritative.
From the Chairman & CEO
Gender Bias and the Power of Business Schools to Transform People and Organizations
“Your responses suggested a strong automatic association for male with leader and female with supporter.” That was the message displayed immediately after I completed the Implicit Association Test on Gender and Leadership (IAT). That was many years ago and the message is still etched in my mind. To say I was exasperated by the results… Read more >
A Whakatauki for the World
“Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi” is a Māori proverb, or whakatauki. It translates into “with your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive” and carries my humble holiday message to the GBSN community. To be sure, I’m not an expert on Māori, People of the Land… Read more >
An Invitation to Go Beyond with GBSN
“Motivated to address the most pressing needs of society and enabled by digital innovation, business schools have been redefining the boundaries of their work.” I wrote that in a 2020 blog to introduce our first GBSN Beyond, a new version of our flagship annual conference reimagined for a virtual format. In addition to pushing us… Read more >