Business Forward, the knowledge portal of AUC School of Business, is starting off 2022 running a very exciting digital campaign that calls for the participation of the business community.
In recent years, and even more accelerated by COVID-19, there is a movement emphasizing the purpose and role of business in society to create values, ensure sustainable development, diversity, and stakeholder interests. However, in Egypt and this part of the world, literature about responsible business or corporate responsibility and documentation of its practice is very limited. It is often mistakenly associated with charity, philanthropy and public relations.
In this edition of “This is How I Moved my #BusinessForward”, in partnership with The Coca Cola Company and the Commercial International Bank (CIB), the objective is to build the narrative and awareness about corporate responsibility, highlighting positive examples that demonstrate responsible business conduct embedded in the vision and day-to-day operations of the business, rather than a one-off act.
Join to showcase how your business or company helped promote corporate responsibility over the past year. The call for participation is open until February 28, 2022. The campaign ends with the audience voting on the most inspiring stories and an awards ceremony in March 2022.
We are proud to announce the second annual Africa Business Concept Challenge (ABCC) in partnership with Peaqs. This virtual business concept competition for African undergraduate and graduate students will challenge teams to design a viable business concept that addresses a locally-relevant challenge or problem related to Agenda 2063, and inclusive and sustainable development.
As part of this experience, teams will compete on the Peaqs platform in a virtual stock market on the Peaqs platform. We are recruiting investors to participate in this crucial portion of the competition. You will be asked to invest on one or both competition games to determine which team has the best developed idea in each phase. The following are the times for investing:
Phase 1: March 25th
Phase 2: March 30th through April 4th
Phases 3, 4, & 5: April 10th through 17th
This interactive part of the competition is fun and engaging and we welcome any professionals, researchers, teaching assistants, and more to participate as investors. Â If you are interested, you can complete a form of expression found below and share with your network.
The more Investors and Investor Experts in the market game, the more realistic an experience the teams can have.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email Maddie Handler at mhandler@gbsn.org.  We look forward to welcoming new investors this year and are very excited to see the ideas that are developed by students!
Business Forward, the knowledge portal of AUC School of Business, is starting off 2022 running a very exciting digital campaign that calls for the participation of the business community. In recent years, and even more accelerated by COVID-19, there is a movement emphasizing that the purpose and role of business in society is to create values, sustainable development, diversity, and stakeholder interests.
However, in Egypt and this part of the world, literature about responsible business or corporate responsibility and documentation of its practice is very limited. It is often mistakenly associated with charity, philanthropy and public relations.
In this edition of “This is how I moved my #BusinessForward”, in partnership with The Coca Cola Company and the Commercial International Bank (CIB), the objective is to build the narrative and awareness about corporate responsibility, highlighting positive examples that demonstrate responsible business conduct embedded in the vision and day-to-day operations of the business, rather than a one-off act. Join now to showcase how your institution, business or company helped promote corporate responsibility over the past year.
The call for participation is open until February 15, 2022. The campaign ends with the audience voting on the most inspiring stories and an awards ceremony in March 2022.
Learn more about the campaign and how to participate in this video.
Miami University is excited to partner with the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi to contribute to the development of internationalization leaders at Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the creation of university partnerships and collaborations between India and the United States. We are seeking participants from Indian HEIs for a professional development training program in 2022. A cohort of 10 participants and 2 alternates will be selected to participate in the training course, which will require ~10 hours per month commitment from February through November 2022 (combination of synchronous virtual interactions and independent work).
Participants in the program will:
Become familiar with the existing scholarly literature and currently accepted best practices for internationalization and collaboration in U.S. institutions by working through an online course and engaging virtually with U.S. Senior International Officers (SIOs) and administrators in the United States
Participate in a virtual Association of International Education Administrator’s event in Spring 2022
Attend the annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators Annual Conference May 31 to June 3, 2022 in Denver, Colorado
Develop campus internationalization strategic plans for their own institutions
Help develop a model of campus internationalization specifically for the Indian context
Interested higher education leaders in India are asked to complete this interest survey by January 15, 2022.
In response to South Africaâs ongoing power woes, Wits Business School (WBS) has introduced a new stream in its existing Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Management in the field of Energy Leadership which offers a specialisation in electricity.
Further good news is that the school, through its partnership with the South African-German Energy Programme and Capacitates for the Energy Transition (SAGEN- CET), a programme implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂźr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is offering a limited number of bursaries for students who choose the electricity stream courses as part of their PGDip at WBS. The bursaries will cover 100% of the academic fees for the seven electricity orientated courses.
The programme also comprises four core (compulsory) modules which encompass an overview of energy value chains, issues of environmental sustainability, leadership fundamentals and financial modelling.
âWe are excited to be able to offer these bursaries for our PGDip students for the year 2022, thanks to our partnership with GIZ. It is critical that we ensure a pipeline of skilled leaders who have an in-depth understanding of the electricity supply and distribution industries to take African energy into the sustainable future,â says Professor Rod Crompton, Adjunct Professor at the African Energy Leadership Centre (AELC) at WBS.
Candidates wishing to complete the electricity electives for non-degree purposes are also eligible to apply for the bursary.
WBS is urging anyone interested in applying for the bursary to do so as soon as possible. The programme commences in early 2022.
If you encounter any technical or administrative challenges when attempting to register or to apply for a bursary, please contact Mandi Moyo at mandiraira.moyo@wits.ac.za.
The 4th Industrial Revolution and the pandemic have changed the way we work and live and has brought on a new normal in Africa and across the globe. Education is an essential tool to equip us to mitigate the challenges we will face.
In its effort to promote the continual improvement in quality learning and research across business schools in Africa, GBSN and INSEAD
are joining forces to offer a GBSN-INSEAD Africa Faculty Fellowship designed for educators who are committed to advancing the quality of their learning and teaching. The Fellowship is designed to support African faculty members from GBSN member schools to further develop their teaching practice. During the Fellowship, the Fellow will work with an INSEAD Faculty member(s) to develop a teaching resource or tool that can be brought back to their home institution and used in the classroom.
Through the Fellowshipâs experience, activates and deliverables, they will help advance the quality of business and management education in their respective country. This fellowship is open to one faculty member from an African business school that is a member of GBSN and will take place in the academic year 2022.
Terms of the Fellowship
Beyond pursuing their own projects, the Fellows will be expected to attend research seminars and workshops, to sit in on class sessions at the invitation of faculty, to interact with faculty, administrative staff, and students, and to serve as a guest speaker in class if requested. This experience should be seen as an opportunity for both personal and institutional development. Upon returning home, the Fellow will be expected to share their learnings, strategies, and teaching tools with their home institution, and to maintain a relationship with the INSEAD Africa Initiative. Finally, the Fellow will be asked to write a follow-up report about their experience with the GBSN-INSEAD Fellowship, highlighting key learnings and activities. The report will be published on the GBSN website, and possibly on relevant INSEAD websites.
Time and work will be spread across 12 months
Majority of the Fellowship work will be conducted virtually
Potential for on-campus visit with sponsoring Faculty on INSEADâs campus (Fontainebleau or Singapore). Travel is subject to COVID-19 restrictions and availability.
Other ancillary expenses such as food and local transportation may be covered by INSEAD, under specific mutual agreement between INSEAD and the Fellow.
Executive Director, INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute, Gender Initiative & Africa Initiative; Director, Hoffman Global Institute for Business & Society, Asia; Adjunct Professor, Singapore Management University Singapore
Professor of Economics; The Stone Chaired Professor in Wealth Inequality; Academic Director, The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre for the Study of Wealth Inequality Hoffmann; Global Institute for Business & Society Deputy Academic Director INSEAD France
Executive Director, INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute, Gender Initiative & Africa Initiative; Director, Hoffman Global Institute for Business & Society, Asia; Adjunct Professor, Singapore Management University Singapore
Affiliate Professor of Technology and Operations Management INSEAD France
The Application Process
Applicants must be active faculty with the potential for – or actual duties of â academic leadership at a GBSN member school on the African continent. Professors of all academic fields of business and economics are welcome to apply.
Candidates for the Fellowships should submit the following documents in support of their application:
An expression of interest and proposal of personal objectives, activities, and desired project deliverables (e.g., research working paper, teaching tools, course syllabus, simulations, etc.) during the visit to INSEAD
the completed application form and a current curriculum vitae
a letter of support from the Dean or Director of their institution. The letter should explain the suitability of the candidate for the Fellowship and how the institution expects to benefit from the Fellowâs engagement with INSEAD.
A selection committee of INSEAD faculty members, put together by the INSEAD Africa Initiative, will review each submitted application package and shortlisted candidates will move onto the Interview Phase.
Virtual Interviews
Virtual interviews will be scheduled with the selected top applicants. The interviews are designed as a way for the INSEAD Africa Initiative Selection Committee to learn more about the applicantâs background, research, experience, desired learnings and objectives during the Fellowship as well as scheduling, timeline and availability. A major part of the selection will consider how the applicant plans to bring back value and implement the Fellowship deliverables across its home institution.
The goal is to begin Fellowships within the academic year. Timelines are part of the discussion during virtual interviews. Other key dates and deadlines are outlined below.
2022
MARCH 31
Application DEADLINE
APRIL 4 – 8
Virtual Interviews Conducted with Top Applicants
APRIL 8 – 29
INSEAD Selection Committee Application Review Period
The GBSN-EPIC Fellows Program is a partnership between the Global Business School Network and the Social Ventures Foundation. GBSN-EPIC Fellows are business school faculty members, retired faculty members and entrepreneurs in residence providing volunteer mentorship to undergraduate students participating in the inaugural year of the EPIC Teams Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program.
The program begins this February of 2022, in Costa Rica and then expands to other Central American nations in September 2022. The EPIC Teams Program engages student teams to ideate, incubate and pitch their social venture solutions to local poverty challenges.
GBSN-EPIC Fellows will virtually mentor a student team of up 5 students to facilitate their entrepreneurial development of a social venture. They will then mentor their Team’s preparation for their EPIC national competition. to help them win prize money that will enable their Team to conduct a commercial proof of concept. The GBSN-EPIC Fellow will commit to spend up to 5 hours a month for up to four months mentoring their assigned EPIC Team.
The inaugural year of the GBSN-EPIC Fellows Program has only 25 mentor positions available and is seeking those with extensive entrepreneurial experience and a passion for using their experience to make a social impact.
Date
FEBRUARY 2022 – DECEMBER 2022
About EPIC
EPIC engages the next generation of entrepreneurs in developing social ventures that provide solutions to poverty reduction challenges. Apply to EPIC to participate in a world class competition, with winners receiving help to scale their social ventures. The top 10 social venture ideas will be selected to compete in the final round Live on Zoom January 20th, 2022 for monetary prizes.
Apply to Be a GBSN-EPIC Fellow
To apply for this opportunity, please complete the online form found on the EPIC website.
These are the first of their kind on the continent of Africa. The first ever Postgraduate Diploma in the field of Philanthropy and Resource Mobilisation was launched in June 2021 and the first Master’s programme kicks off in January 2022.
Course Description
The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at Wits Business School aims to build the skills of future leaders in philanthropy and related fields. This programme is designed for students or professionals seeking specialisation.
Course Basics
Duration: One year, modular format
Qualifications: Postgraduate
Programme structure: 1 year
Study mode: Online
Academic category: Specialist degree
Elective course streams: Philanthropy and Fundraising in African Educational Institutions, Philanthropic Foundations, Innovations in Philanthropy, Philanthropy and Public Policy
Entry Requirements
A Bachelorâs degree (NQF 7). Non-degreed individuals with working experience will be considered in exceptional cases.
Working experience an advantage but not a requirement.
A level of competence in Maths and English equivalent to the SA NSC level.
Candidates may be required to undergo the WBS admission test.
Application Process
Only online applications are accepted. Click on top right-hand corner on the Wits website: Online Applications.
Please ensure that all information is correct and that you have uploaded everything on the checklist (refer to brochure).
Should your application be successful an amount of R15 000 will be payable on acceptance. This amount is non-refundable and will be offset against the registration fee payable in your first year.
With the support of the Case Centre and our category sponsors, the case writing competition encourages innovative and impactful case writing and teaching. Take part in this yearly case writing competition, organized since 1988.
Join a learning community
You get a chance to be assessed by an international judging panel, who reviews more than 400 cases every year; have an impact on teaching management development and join a community of outstanding innovators.
Impact on management development
Through seventeen categories representing critical managerial areas, you can contribute to management development and some of its future challenges.
Evaluation criteria
Content: The ability to create a strong and interesting learning experience
Form: A good balance between a well-told story and sufficient data
The teaching notes: Accompanying each submission to enhance the learnerâs experience
Innovation: Ideas should improve teaching and student engagement
CASE WRITING AWARDS BENEFIT
SHOWCASEBe published by the Case Centre and gain wide visibility across the EFMD network
AWARDGet a chance to be awarded with âŹ2000, applicable to all the winning cases
INSPIREImpact students of management institutions across the globe and practitioners seeking innovations
SHAREEngage with incumbent organisations in discussing strategic business solutions
IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE 2021 EDITION
June 2021: Submission Open 31 October: Deadline for Case Submission April 2022: Winners Announcement
Cases on an African company or a multinational company operating on the African continent in any of the business disciplines, including strategy, entrepreneurship, marketing, OB&HR, supply chain, finance, etc. It must deal with critical challenges, issues, or decisions that students can analyze using theories, frameworks, and analytical methods and tools.
2
Bringing Technology to Market
This category welcomes cases featuring current and future challenges of industrial companies in global B2B markets and their strategies to remain competitive. Cases can focus on industrial companies
introducing digital-based solutions
going global
implementing innovative business models
sustaining a quality leadership position
fighting low-cost competition
3
Continuous Improvement: The Journey to Excellence
Continuous Improvement emphasizes the need to create a culture of progress among companies, permanent change in search of competitiveness, and excellence to improve the business over time. Cases should focus on specific projects leading toward greater efficiency, productivity and the creation of value for clients, which eventually become part of the companyâs philosophy.
4
Corporate Social Responsibility
Cases addressing innovative ways companies manage the demands for socially and environmentally circular business practices. Circular context introduces complexity but permits to identify practices in relation to important challenges to promote responsible business. Cases can come from any disciplinary perspective (operations, strategy, finance, etc.).
5
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial processes are present in large organizations as well as in public and social sectors. Cases which address entrepreneurship within these broad sectors are invited.
6
Family Business
This category welcomes case studies featuring inter-disciplinary coverage of family business entrepreneurship related issues. Scholars and other research practitioners are invited to submit case studies addressing various themes: strategy development of a new start-up; family business serial entrepreneurship and many more.
6
Finance and Banking
Cases submitted for this category should have a clear link to business situations occurring in the sector of Finance and Banking.
7
Hidden Champions
“Hidden champions” are large medium-sized companies which hold a leading international market position but arenât well known to the general public. Cases focus on the challenges of hidden champions to support them in even better mastering their jobs. Topics include international growth strategies, innovation, digital transformation, marketing and sales management, leadership, and corporate culture.
8
Inclusive Business Models
Cases embracing inclusive business models, i.e. commercially viable models that include the poor on the demand side as clients and customers, and on the supply side as employees, producers and business owners at various points in the value chain. These firm-level case studies will provide insights into the effects inclusive business models have on communities, environment and profitability.
9
Latin American Business Cases
Cases describing business development in Latin America, which can feature all types of disciplines of the Business Administration (Strategy, Foresight, Innovation, Marketing, Internationalization, Human Resources, etc.) and cover challenges related to internalization of the regional companies and many more.
10
MENA Business Cases
The MENA Business Cases category focuses on the MENA region, which is experiencing fast development, and whose prospects are promising. Contribute to business cases in the MENA region and stimulate the development of teaching materials related to the main issues characterizing the region.
11
Responsible Business
This mainly include cases that address corporate governance, financial reporting and auditing, integrated reporting, anti-corruption, business ethics, social marketing, gender equality, corporate sustainability, and responsible business education and practices.
This track is believed to add knowledge to different stakeholders about the area of responsible business highlighting its extreme importance.
12
Responsible Leadership
Responsible leaders demonstrate through example their commitment to leading with integrity and to values-driven decision making that considers interests of shareholders, employees, clients, the environment, and the community. Cases are welcome which address the challenges leaders face engaging diverse stakeholders in the creation of economic and social value.
13
Women in Business
Case studies featuring women protagonists in the business environment and focusing on the challenges and issues faced by women in business; how women either overcame these to find growth and success, or lessons drawn from having been inhibited by them. The cases can address a variety of topics and situations, such as women as leaders and entrepreneurs, gender equality, changing workplace dynamics and how to tap into visible or invisible opportunities.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs arenât working for a surprising reason.
In collaboration with EPC Learning Labs, GBSN is pleased to offer a FOSTERing Belonging⢠a customizable program to member institutions. This custom program is designed to help business school administrators be better leaders and educators.
Research, out of the Wharton School of Business (1), shows that despite the almost $8 billion invested in DEI programs each year, this training falls short of changing behaviors and has a negligible positive effect on organizations.
A newly published study offers a clue about what is missing: belonging.
Belonging is different fromâand perhaps more important thanâinclusion. When employees feel they donât belong, they experience inauthenticity, sadness, and anger. Research suggests efforts to improve organizational DEI will inevitably fail if employees donât come to the table, or leave from it, with a sense of belonging. Other research supports this conclusion, too, reporting that when organizations do foster a culture of belonging, every aspect of organization performance skyrockets (see graphic).
Whatâs more, those employees who harbored a genuine sense of belonging reaped even greater individual accomplishments: doubling the rate of raises and breaking through promotion ceilings far more easily. Belonging is not only the nucleus of true organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion; it is also a cornerstone of individual and organizational success and advancement for everyone.
Fostering belonging matters in the classroom as well as the conference room.
So, whatâs the difference between Inclusion and Belonging?
The Society for Human Resources Management defines inclusion as âthe achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organizationâs success.â Letâs face it: inclusion is an administrative policy enacted by organizational leaders, and itâs also only part of the answer to a complex organizationalâand humanâchallenge.
Belonging is completely different.
The desire to belong stems from our innate human need for self-esteem and acceptance as part of a supportive group. Even with the most inclusive set of organizational policies in place, employees may not feel like they truly belong. As a result, performance flounders, employees suffer negative health consequences, and turnover soars, especially among underrepresented groups.
Workplace belonging originates in the way people are treatedâday in and day outâespecially in meetings, where employees typically spend more than half their time. But few leaders and colleagues understand how to generate consistent feelings of belonging during these meetings. All too often, people unwittingly trigger the exact opposite sentimentâalienation and lonelinessâespecially for those from underrepresented groups. When team cohesion fragments, organizational performance suffers. This is where EPC Learning Labs comes in.
Why does the failure of typical DEI programs matter to business schools?
1
business schools themselves need to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive if they are to lead in this area.
2
business schools want to generate a bigger impact from the DEI programs they offer to students and organizations.
That is why GBSN is partnering with EPC Learning Labs to offer this transformative program for business schools worldwide.
How can you create feelings of belongingâŚacross your institution?
FOSTERing Belonging⢠is a unique program that helps participants, especially leaders, spark feelings of belonging for everyone. The content comprises two parts and is delivered in an unparalleled learning process (see below).
The first draws on brain science to introduce a framework describing three modes of thinking. This framework provides surprising insights about when and how individuals experience âthreatâ responses. These responses trigger sets of biases, decisions, and behaviors that lead to alienation and loneliness.
Building on these modes of thinking, the second part of the program introduces FOSTER, a set of five strategic principles that, if followed, can generate genuine feelings of belonging and inclusion in meetings. These principles gain traction with specific processes and facilitation techniques and methods designed to transform every meeting into a high-performance, culture-building opportunity. Mastery of this content ensures that all meeting participants feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.
LEARN
2-Hour Virtual Training Sessions
PRACTICE
Fortnightly EPC sessions to develop microlearning communities
MASTER
Final meeting to assess mastery and celebrate meaningful change
Gather Colleagues and Bring a FOSTERing Belonging⢠program to your Institution.
EPC Learning Labs’ program approach delivers a key ingredient missing in most DEI initiatives. It also transforms individual and team performance while helping to create the organizational culture that most leaders, managers, and employees are desperate to establish.
This program is designed to be customized and delivered to one institution at a time.
It is not an open enrollment program.
Cohorts
For optimal results, program cohorts must be between 15 and 30 participants.
Virtual Format
All programs are delivered in a virtual format and specially structured and delivered to avoid âZoomâ fatigue.
Meet the Expert
Jackson Nickerson
Executive Vice President and Chief Social Scientist, EPC Learning Labs
Jackson Nickerson has a long and distinguished career teaching, researching, consulting, administering, and entrepreneuring (see Wikipedia here). Starting out as an assistant professor in 1996, he became the Frahm Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at Olin Business School, Washington University.  Jackson was a co-creator of Critical Thinking@Olin, which won the inaugural MBA Innovatorâs Award from the MBA Roundtable. With AACSB he created Leading in the Academic Enterprise, a series of leadership development seminars for administrators from assistant deans to provosts.
As the Associate Dean and Director of Brookings Executive Education from 2009 to 2017, he led many innovations including one of the first Executive Master of Science in Leadership degrees in the nation, doubled executive enrollment, and increased revenue by 75%. He was the first ever senior fellow at the Grameen Foundation. Â He is a Visiting Professor of Corporate Governance at Insper in Sao Paulo and a frequent collaborator with Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Post Graduate School. His research spans organization and strategy topics best described as strategic leadership. A consultant for scores of companies and government agencies, he advises on strategy development, inclusion and diversity, and processes to ensure that leaders solve the right problem the first time. Jackson is the chief social scientist for EPC Learning Labs LLC.
Jackson holds a Ph.D. in Business and Public Policy, an M.B.A., and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, all from University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Before entering academia, he was a control systems engineer with NASAâs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Interested in bringing the FOSTERing Belonging⢠Program to Your Institution?
Connect with us to learn more about how you can help your institution master FOSTERing Belongingâ˘.
