GBSN Impact

Building Better Supply Chains for Development

Posted on by Jennifer Deschain

At the Qatar Economic Forum last May, Owusu Akoto told the audience about a West African farmer who “loses 60 percent of everything he grows because he doesn’t have the right storage” and “sells the remaining 40 percent at a discount because of its quality.” The son and grandson of farmers in Ghana, Akoto knows all too well what these losses mean, not only for one family, but for the wider economy. As a boy, he remembers stepping on the “floor” of rotting produce and feeling his country’s fortune sink with every spoiled harvest.

Today, Akoto is doing something about it. As CEO of FreezeLink, he leads a company using cold-chain technology to build “the most comprehensive distribution network for food and medicine for The Next Billion—in Africa and beyond.” Its vision is to “be the best third-party cold chain logistics company in Africa, thereby catalyzing food security, food diversity, and broadening the availability of medicine on the Continent.”

Akoto’s story captures the transformative power of supply chains in low- and middle-income countries. Better, more effective, and efficient logistics reduce costs, expand trade, and increase access to essential goods and services. We can expand jobs in small and medium enterprises by smoothing customs processes and stabilizing inputs. We can improve health when medicines reach rural clinics before they spoil. We can slow climate change when post-harvest losses decline, since decomposing food emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Fixing supply chains isn’t only about moving goods and increasing or stabilizing incomes; it is also about improving lives and protecting the planet.

Supply chains can easily be taken for granted. Many of us suddenly became more aware of their importance during the pandemic. The COVID-19 disruption, semiconductor shortages, and trade tensions revealed just how fragile these systems can be. Since then, diversification, digitalization, and regional integration have become strategic priorities. Frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will only succeed if local logistics systems work effectively.

While I’m not convinced it is enough (or ideally focused), investments to improve supply chains are happening across sectors. Governments are upgrading transportation and digital infrastructure to connect producers with markets. Private sector companies, like FreezeLink, are expanding logistics networks and local sourcing. Development agencies and NGOs are promoting transparency, inclusion, and resilience in food and health supply chains.

But how are business schools contributing to this effort? And how can they amplify their impact through collaboration?

Developing Talent

Nations need more than roads and warehouses for development. They need people who can manage complexity, design sustainable solutions, and lead across sectors. Business schools are developing that talent.

Many GBSN member schools have been pioneers in combining technical knowledge, teamwork skills, and ethical reasoning to prepare supply chain leaders. Location often shapes their strengths. Vienna, long a vital trading hub, is home to WU, whose supply chain programs are globally ranked. In Suzhou, China, Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University draws from its position within one of the world’s most advanced logistics ecosystems. In Kenya, Strathmore Business School partners with local firms to train managers in digital operations and sustainable procurement. And in the Philippines, the Asian Institute of Management focuses on AI and its strength in analytics to offer a supply chain program to executives.

These examples show how education, when rooted in context, can address local challenges while preparing graduates for global leadership.

Generating Insights

Business schools also strengthen supply chains through research. Specialized institutions like Kühne Logistics University contribute valuable insights about logistics and sustainability. Research powerhouses with strong supply chain departments, like the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University contribute to our knowledge base. 

Yet focusing only on global models can overlook realities such as informal markets, fragmented data, and rural infrastructure. Contextually-focused research fills these gaps. Through its African Initiative, INSEAD has produced influential studies on regional health supply chains and social logistics, helping shape public–private partnerships in Africa. Such research not only informs policy but also identifies scalable innovations that can drive development.

Convening Stakeholders

Business schools are well positioned as trusted conveners. They bring together governments, NGOs, companies, and communities to align goals and share learning.

At Universidad de los Andes School of Management in Colombia, for instance, collaboration with local farmers and logistics providers has improved coffee supply chains while balancing export competitiveness with social impact. By anchoring initiatives in local partnerships, schools build trust and continuity that extend beyond short-term projects or political cycles.

As Akoto has emphasized, solving food insecurity “requires a coalition of stakeholders.” His perspective on adaptive leadership, shaped during his MIT Legatum Center (now the Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship) Foundry Fellowship, underscores the vital role of collective problem-solving, which business schools can nurture through their teaching and convening power.

Collaborating Across Borders

While individual schools can make a difference, their impact multiplies when they work together. Just as the challenges of modern supply chains transcend borders, so do the opportunities to improve them.

GBSN is helping to unlock this potential. Programs such as the GoTrade Fellowship with DHL and the Social Logistics Challenge allow students from multiple countries to design business solutions for real supply chain problems. They learn by doing, benefit from experienced mentors, and test new ideas in different contexts.

We want to do more. Edinburgh Business School has stepped up to steward and support GBSN efforts, building on its experience creating logistics courses for Africa and long-established excellence in online education. Our aim is to form a global group within GBSN to strengthen supply chains for development, starting with Sub-Saharan Africa.

We want first to leverage the global network to empower business schools in Sub-Saharan Africa to build and expand contextually relevant education programs and courses, including experiential components. Next, we want to facilitate data sharing and comparative research to reveal what works across regions globally—from rural Ghana to coastal Peru to urban Vietnam. Finally, we aspire to expand efforts to convene borders as well as sectors, helping to align businesses, governments, and development agencies in critical areas. 

The intent is also to connect this with efforts to improve human rights education in business schools, led by NYU Stern School of Business and the Geneva School of Economics and Management, as well as with other centers of excellence, such as Hanken School of Economics in Humanitarian Logistics and  Tongji University in managing large-scale infrastructure projects. 

With GBSN’s help, we believe that business schools can act not only as educators but as ecosystem leaders, helping coordinate the flow of knowledge, talent, and innovation that makes supply chains both stronger and more inclusive.

Looking Ahead

This November, both Akoto and a representative from Edinburgh Business School will join us at GBSN Beyond in Accra to continue this conversation. Akoto’s journey, from roaming family farms as a child in Ghana, to leading one of Africa’s most ambitious logistics ventures, illustrates why collaboration among business schools matters. When we connect ideas and institutions across borders, we empower the next generation of leaders to solve problems that no single organization or country can solve alone.

The Future of Globalization May be Uncertain. The Need for Innovation is Not

Posted on by Jennifer Deschain

Over the past few decades, globalization—the closer integration of countries and peoples—has been a powerful engine of economic growth, improving global health and lifting millions out of poverty, as well as increasing efficiency. Expanding cross-border collaborations and knowledge exchanges have empowered countries to address critical societal issues.

However, globalization has also been blamed for widening income inequality within and between countries, weakening communities, and fueling social and economic discontent. Some people connect environmental degradation and climate change at least partially to the rise of global supply chains and the increasing mobility of people. Dissatisfaction with globalization opened the door to nationalism, trade wars, and geopolitical tensions between major powers, contributing to the fragmentation of global cooperation. Many countries have been reconsidering their roles in the world economy, prioritizing domestic interests over international cooperation. While the world is more connected than ever and globalization remains a powerful force, what will happen next is unclear.

Like other organizations, business schools will be affected in myriad ways by the changing global landscape. The path of globalization shapes what business schools teach and the way they organize to teach it. It impacts the distribution of internationally mobile students, markets for executive education, faculty hiring, research collaborations, financial models, and more. Navigating the uncertainty and changing environment will require schools to be agile, entrepreneurial, and resilient.

Now, while the future of globalization may be uncertain, the need for innovation is not. As technological advancements, climate change, and social inequality continue to shape the global landscape, innovation will be crucial to addressing relevant challenges. In this period of increasing uncertainty, I encourage business schools to continue channeling energy and resources towards innovation.

We know that innovation thrives when ideas and talent flow freely across borders, enabling communities and organizations to leverage diverse perspectives, skills, and resources of people around the world. By capitalizing on globalization, business schools have equipped students with the skills and mindsets needed to collaborate across borders, generated useful research, and strengthened connections between industries and communities. But what happens if international mobility shrinks, and the world economy becomes more fragmented?

What can business schools do to maintain and grow their impact on innovation even while the future of globalization is uncertain, and potentially in retreat? I offer three suggestions, which taken together offer new perspectives on the role organizations like GBSN.

First, business schools are of course engaged locally as well as globally. They catalyze innovation by fostering local entrepreneurship that meets the specific needs of their communities. With international mobility shrinking, business schools can increase their focus on building strong local networks that connect students, faculty, and businesses. Through incubators, accelerator programs, and partnerships with local industries, schools support entrepreneurs in developing innovative solutions tailored to local challenges, such as healthcare, sustainability, and education. By empowering local talent, business schools help build resilient economies that are less dependent on global markets.

Second, even in a fragmented global economy, business schools still play a key role in bridging the gap between private enterprises, governments, and civil society organizations. By creating platforms for collaboration between these sectors, schools can drive innovation in areas that require collective action, such as environmental sustainability, digital transformation, and social equity. Schools can facilitate dialogue, joint research projects, and problem-solving initiatives that bring together diverse stakeholders, encouraging the development of innovative solutions that can address complex, multi-dimensional challenges at the local level.

Third, even as international mobility shrinks, business schools can use digital tools to maintain global collaboration and knowledge exchange. By adopting online learning platforms, virtual exchange programs, and remote research partnerships, business schools can continue to connect with global experts and thought leaders. This approach allows schools to sustain a global perspective, despite geographic constraints, while also enabling students and faculty to access international insights and innovative practices that can be adapted to local contexts. Leveraging digital connectivity ensures that schools remain a catalyst for innovation even in a more fragmented world.

Taken together, the three strategies offer new perspectives on the role of organizations like the Global Business School Network (GBSN). Perhaps counterintuitively, the focus on innovation even as globalization retreats makes our work more important rather than less. Organizations like GBSN build bridges between local entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, helping them to share knowledge that can accelerate progress. GBSN cultivates important partnerships across sectors at an international level. For example, collaborations with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have contributed vital teaching resources for local contexts. Finally, through programs such as the Africa Business Concept Challenge, GoTrade Fellowship Program with DHL, new Global Business Student Changemakers, and a range of faculty impact communities and development activities, GBSN provides the infrastructure and support to virtual connections across schools.

By strengthening their focus on local innovation systems, building multi-sectoral partnerships, and supporting virtual programs, while participating in global networks and maintaining robust international collaborations, business schools can continue to thrive and make a positive impact and a complex, ever-changing world.

The Global Business School Network Appoints Juliane Iannarelli as its First Chief Impact Officer

Posted on by gbsn

The Global Business School Network (GBSN) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Juliane Iannarelli as its first Chief Impact Officer. 

This year celebrating its 20th anniversary, GBSN is a Washington D.C. based non-profit of nearly 150 leading business schools across 50 countries with a mission “to improve access to quality, locally relevant management and entrepreneurship education for the developing world.” GBSN was built on the conviction that business knowledge and management skills are powerful drivers of economic and social development.

“Today our mission means helping business schools to build more inclusive and sustainable communities,” according to Soumitra Dutta, Chairman of the GBSN Board of Directors. “To do that we must help schools to work together with each other and connect with business, civil society, and government.” 

GBSN has been building programs that engage students, faculty, and leaders of business schools in meaningful activities that improve as well as develop economies across the globe.

As the first Chief Impact Officer, Iannarelli will lead the development and implementation of GBSN’s activities that align with GBSN’s vision — to enable business schools to profoundly impact sustainable development worldwide—through education, research, and community engagement.

“We achieve our mission by amplifying the existing commitments among our member schools around the world and creating opportunities for further collaboration and co-creation,” said Juliane Iannarelli. “I look forward to working to increase our community’s impact by building a more inclusive and connected global GBSN network.”

Iannarelli brings nearly 20 years of experience in global higher education. Prior to GBSN, she served as the senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at AACSB International, where she led the organization’s research team and agenda in support of thought leadership, advocacy, and global development objectives. Iannarelli facilitated innovation-focused workshops for thought leaders and led the association’s data benchmarking services and industry magazine. Juliane also serves in advisory roles for other mission-driven organizations, including Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM).

“I had the privilege of working with Juliane for 15 years,” said Dan LeClair, CEO of GBSN. “In addition to extensive knowledge of the industry, she has experience with the kind of programs and systems we’ve been building to support business schools in their impact initiatives.” 

GBSN Impact Communities connect faculty, students, administrators, and/or professionals in industry, civil society or government who share common professional and co-curricular experiences. Impact Communities amplify cooperation and engagement around a common research goal, theme, or challenge. Through peer to peer sharing and collective action, Impact Communities improve access to quality, locally relevant management education.

Central to the Chief Impact Officer’s role is leading efforts to better demonstrate impact and increase visibility of GBSN. Iannarelli will lead and develop the strategy behind programs that amplify cooperation and engagement across the network through GBSN Impact Communities.

Improving Access to Business Education is Not Enough

Posted on by gbsn

Have you heard about the best-selling author and professor who is building his own business school? He’s bringing in some of his friends, other superstar business professors, to teach short, intense courses called “sprints”, which are open to anyone. These “sprints” will attract tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of learners. The venture will disrupt higher education and earn a ton of money “making elite business education accessible to all.”

I’m rooting for our education entrepreneurs and others building online education for the masses. Making business education more accessible is a good thing—the first three words in the GBSN mission are “to improve access.” The demand for management education will continue to grow beyond our capacity to provide it. Great business professors and their insights and ideas can have a profound impact on society, as well as on business and the careers of individual learners, even at scale. 

What if superstar professors could indeed reach a massive global audience? Are “MOOCs” and online “sprints” the only answers we need for our mission? Unfortunately, as I often tell the GBSN team, “if we just improve access to management education, it is not enough.” Expanding access is not sufficient to achieve our vision “for the developing world to have the talent it needs to generate prosperity” or for our mission, which is “to improve access to quality, locally relevant management education for the developing world” when written in full. 

I have written before about the challenge of local relevance. Three years ago I started my monthly blog by asking “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?” What do you think? What about Chinese managers in a glass factory in Ohio? If this question interests you, check out the documentary American Factory.

The point is that cross-border differences in business and management limit the potential of education to scale globally. Some go further and say that because of these differences, especially cultural ones, bringing education from the Global North (with technology or not) to the Global South can do more damage than good and could distract leaders from the real task of building local capacity for business and management education. 

There is another nagging question about what has been taught in business schools. GBSN was created and built on the belief that management education is critical for international development, which is about enriching lives by reducing poverty, improving health, increasing access to education, protecting the environment, and more. Yet, business education was built on a different paradigm, one in which business prioritizes profit maximization and government and NGOs are responsible for international development. As we transitioned from the MDGs to the SDGs, all societal sectors, including business, have become key development actors and need to work together. Many GBSN schools have been leading the way in rethinking curricula and partnerships for the SDGs.

That’s why so much of the GBSN agenda is about responsibility, sustainability, and ESG. Simply expanding access to what schools teach in more developed countries will not be enough to help leaders in less developed countries build more inclusive and sustainable communities. Indeed, it is possible that the reverse could be more beneficial. It is not just about access to education; part of our job now is to work with other organizations, such as EFMD and AACSB to rethink the foundations of business curricula and research to achieve our development mission. 

Much of this work is being led by GBSN Impact Communities. For example, the Business & Human Rights Impact Community has been making the case and facilitating the research needed to strengthen human rights education in business schools. The Sustainable Finance & ESG Investing Impact Community convened a Seed Course to support efforts in rethinking finance education in the Global South.

Finally, improving access to education is not enough because we also need to ensure that the work of business schools translates into meaningful international development progress. The way GBSN used to achieve its mission was through grants—we were a project-driven development organization. Now, we still do projects but can be described more as a purpose-driven network organization. This means that we must build the connective tissue between business schools, helping them to work together more effectively for international development, and between business schools and other sectors, to help business schools to lead beyond their organizations. 

GBSN Beyond is designed to support these two initiatives: (1) rethinking education and research to address the issues that matter for inclusive and sustainable development and (2) building the platform to support the societal impact of business schools. At the in-person conference, 7-9 November in Amsterdam, we position business schools at the nexus between business, government, and civil society, and structure sessions to help business schools work more effectively together. 

Leading up to the in-person conference, we engage student teams in the Social Logistics Challenge in which teams apply supply chain and logistics knowledge and skills to build solutions for the SDGs. We also partner with Capsim for the Micro-Simulation Development Lab and with EFMD for the Going Beyond Awards in which business schools share their work to build more inclusive and sustainable communities. 
We look forward to seeing you there. Remember, as always for GBSN Beyond, to emphasize our commitment to inclusivity and access, the base registration package includes one ticket to the in-person conference AND unlimited virtual access to both the pre-conference track experiences and the conference program for the institution’s community.

Register for GBSN Beyond 2022

Dan LeClair, CEO

Dan LeClair was named CEO of the Global Business School Network (GBSN) in February of 2019. Prior to GBSN, Dan was an Executive Vice President at AACSB International, an association and accrediting organization that serves some 1,600 business schools in more than 100 countries. His experience at AACSB includes two and half years as Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, seven years as Chief Operating Officer, and five years as Chief Knowledge Officer. A founding member of the Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) initiative, Dan currently participates on its working board. He also serves in an advisory capacity to several organizations and startups in business and higher education. Before AACSB, Dan was a tenured associate professor and associate dean at The University of Tampa.

Dan played a lead role in creating a think-tank joint venture between the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and AACSB and has been recognized for pioneering efforts in the formation of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), where he served on the Steering Committee for many years. Dan has also participated in industry-level task forces for a wide range of organizations, including the Chartered Association of Business Schools, Graduate Management Admission Council, Executive MBA Council, and Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program.

Widely recognized as a thought leader in management education, Dan is the author of over 80 research reports, articles, and blogs, and has delivered more than 170 presentations in 30 countries. As a lead spokesperson for reform and innovation in management education, Dan has been frequently cited in a wide range of US and international newspapers, magazines, and professional publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, China Daily, Forbes, Fast Company, and The Economist. Dan earned a PhD from the University of Florida writing on game theory.

Introducing Business and Human Rights at HEC Paris

Posted on by gbsn

Thirty-four students have just completed a dedicated course on Business and Human Rights at HEC Paris. Prior to entering an ever more complex labour market, they had the opportunity to take a deep dive into some of the most pressing human and labour rights challenges and discuss how to reconcile business imperatives and respect of fundamental rights.

On Sunday 15 May 2022, 4,000 delegates from around the globe will gather in Durban, South Africa for the 5thGlobal Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour. Anousheh Karvar, the chair of the Alliance 8.7 â€“ the global alliance to eliminate child labour, forced labour and human trafficking – will be among them. Seven weeks earlier, she stood in front of HEC students for the first lecture of a new elective course entitled Business and Human Rights (#BHR).

During the three-hour lesson, Anousheh Karvar introduced the dire situation of contemporary child labour, sharing some of the figures and trends from the 2020 global estimates. Currently 160 million children aged 5-17 are estimated to be in child labour and progress in reducing child labour has stalled and is at risk of being reversed with the COVID-19 pandemic. Without concerted efforts and the active participation of the business community, progress towards the elimination of child labour is impossible. 

As they learned about this reality, students admitted being unfamiliar with the topic and, for most of them, being surprised at the magnitude of a problem they considered much less important. During this same lesson, they also learned about the difficulty for survivors of child labour to hold companies accountable for the mistreatment they have endured. They were given the opportunity to discuss the case of three Malian children, trafficked to work in Cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast, who have been litigating unsuccessfully for fifteen years against NestlĂ©, Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill, in the US federal court system.

None of the students in the course had any prior experience studying #BHR and two-thirds of them had never heard of the concept of #BHR prior to enrolling in this course. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering that the introduction of #BHR in business education is still quite recent. Without formal knowledge of #BHR, students had however expressed strong motivation to follow the course and were familiar, as citizens, newsreaders, or consumers, with a number of #BHR issues. The diversity of their origins – roughly half of the class was composed of exchange students coming from Asian, European, African and American universities – also increased the possibility to discuss examples from different geographies.

Harnessing this opportunity, different guest speakers participated – in person or remotely – to share their expertise and guide students through the multiple layers of contemporary #BHR challenges. With the help of Alix Nasri and Maria Gallotti, technical specialists at the International Labour Organization, students learned about the harsh reality of recruitment practices for low-paid workers in the Middle East and Central America. They learned about efforts made to reduce forced labour in the fishing industry as well as the international legal framework governing private employment agencies. 

Through case studies, practical testimonies and readings, students discovered the great number of tensions – legal, economic, strategic, reputational, among others – which businesses must square in their daily operations. DorothĂ©e Baumann-Pauly, a respected figure in the field of #BHR, presented her research on issues such as sustainable fashion and cobalt mining. She also shared her engagement over the past years to professionalize and strengthen the field of #BHR in business education, notably through her participation in the establishment of two business and human rights centres in business schools at New York University and the Geneva School of Economics and Management.

As weeks passed, news from around the globe resonated strongly with the content of the course. The debate around the upcoming EU-legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence, the sentencing of executives of a food delivery company for misclassifying platform workers, or the decision by Harvard University to redress its ties with slavery all gave way to passionate discussions. They also provided concrete opportunities to study important elements of the theoretical #BHR framework and notably the United Nations Guiding Principles on #BHR and the associated three pillars: protect, respect, and remedy.

Guest lecturers working in sustainable investment – Benjamin Michel (OECD), Sabrina Ritossa Fernandez (Sycomore AM) and Claire Berthier (HEC 2008, Trusteam) – presented students with some of the most complex human rights dilemmas, those related to war. Should financial organizations ask companies to leave countries accused of war crimes? Can weapon manufacturers be considered socially responsible investments? In small groups, students had to answer these quasi-philosophical questions and quickly understood that they had different views and that none could be presented as a categorical answer.

After weeks of navigating these difficult, and often dramatic issues, students were given the opportunity to look at #BHR through a different lens for the final lecture. Rajeev Dubey, a former executive of the Tata and Mahindra Groups, was invited to share with them the story of RISE, an inspiring initiative to transform the purpose of the Mahindra Group, one of India’s largest multinational federation of companies. This experience, which has since become a Harvard Business School case, is a concrete example of how the public good and human dignity can be integral elements of a company’s philosophy. And how this philosophy can coexist with growth and economic performance.

For the next few weeks, students will write an individual essay and have the possibility to connect what they have studied with their personal and professional interests. Some will continue for several years of business education while others will soon graduate and enter the labour market. Most probably, the new perspectives they have acquired during this course will be of use when taking decisions on human and labour rights-related issues. And hopefully, other students will be given the opportunity to walk in their footsteps and advance the continuous effort to uphold fundamental human rights for all.

The Business and Human Rights course at HEC Paris is taught by Charles Autheman. Charles Autheman is former HEC Paris and Sciences Po Paris alumnus and a member of GBSN for BHR. He works as a consultant for the International Labour Organization and other UN agencies on human rights and labour rights related issues.

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