EFMD Global Focus Magazine Volume 6, Issue 3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

B-SchoolsFour things business really really wants

Programme guideAshridge launches a new MBA

Evolving changeNew ways to train leaders

Uncertain timesConfusion and uncertainty over MBAs

High fiveCelebrating five years of the IDP

Club MedMediterranean schools get together

www.efmd.org Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012

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Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012

Can your appliCants suCCeed in today’s data-driven Classroom?our new exam Can help you make that evaluation.the new Gmat exam with integrated reasoning

Succeeding in business and management school and the careers that follow requires the ability to process information as well as prioritize and analyze it to make sound decisions.

The new Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT exam is designed to measure students’ ability to evaluate information—presented in multiple formats from multiple sources—and to help you identify the strongest candidates for your program.

© 2012 Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®). All rights reserved. The GMAC logo, GMAC®, GMASS®, GMAT®, Essential Prep®, GMATCH®, and Graduate Management Admission Council® are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission Council in the United States and other countries.

Learn more at gmac.com

2012_EFMD_4c_170mmx251mm_v1.indd 1 9/11/2012 1:34:44 PM

Cox steers a new course for business schoolsSue Cox discusses her new role as an EFMD vice-president

Roger L. Martin, CA Dean Rotman School of Management

Dan Shechtman, IL 2011 Nobel Laureate

SpeakerS include:

Paul Polman, UK CEO Unilever

Thomas Sattelberger, DE Vice-President Board of Trustees, EFMD

Lynda Gratton, UK Prof. of Management Practice, LBS

Patrick Deconinck, BE Senior Vice President, West Europe 3M

Umair Haque, UKDirector, Havas Media Labs and author

John A. Quelch, CN Vice President and Dean, CEIBS

Adrian Wooldridge, UKManagement Editor, The Economist

Peter Solmssen, DEMember of the Managing Bord, Siemens AG

New horizons for managersCapitalism 2.0

«Capitalism as a social order and as a creed is the expression of the belief in

economic progress as leading toward the freedom and equality of the individual

in the free and equal society,…»Peter F. Drucker

The End of Economic Man

E U R O P E

P E T E R D R U C K E R S O C I E T Y E U R O P E I N C O - O P E R A T I O N W I T H T H E D R U C K E R I N S T I T U T E P R E S E N T S

NOVEMBER 15 – 16

regiStration & More inforMation: www.druckerforum.org

Corporate Social Responsibility Sponsored by IE Business School, ES

Entrepreneurship Sponsored by E.M. Lyon, FR

Family Business Sponsored by The Family Business Network International, CH and International Family Enterprise Research Academy, CY

Supply Chain Management Sponsored by BEM Bordeaux – ISLI Global Supply Chain Management, FR

Finance and Banking Sponsored by Toulouse Business School, FR

Emerging Chinese Global Competitors Sponsored by School of Business, Renmin University of China, CN

Public Sector Innovations Sponsored by Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, CA

Responsible Leadership Sponsored by University of San Diego School of Business Administration, USA

Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues Sponsored by Euromed Management, FR

African Business Cases Sponsored by China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), CN

Indian Management Issues and Opportunities Sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing Ltd

Inclusive Business Models Sponsorship opportunity

MENA Business Cases Sponsored by HEC Paris in Qatar

Latin American Business Cases Sponsored by Universidad Externado de Colombia, CL

Best of the Best Award in collaboration with ECCH

EFMD would like to thank all of the sponsors for their support of the Case Writing Competition in 2012

EFMD CASE WRITING COMPETITION 2012

Future sponsorship For information on sponsorship for future competitions, please contact Ines Proença [email protected]

Review the cases To review the winning cases and find out more please visit: www.efmd.org/case

BE THE SPONSOR

1EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012


In focus

We are always pleased to hear your thoughts on Global Focus, and ideas on what you would like to see in future issues.

Please address comments and ideas to Matthew Wood at EFMD:

[email protected]

the structure of business schools and the extent to which they can both embrace and pass on issues surrounding sustainability are key themes of this month’s issue.

sue Cox, dean of Lancaster university management school in Britain, interviewed on page 10, comments:

“We can’t just sit here. We need to adapt to new technology. We need to look at new markets, all in the context of a complex world and tough economic conditions. We have to be open to sustainability issues, ethical behaviour issues and general good practice. and we have to make a difference. If business schools don’t make a difference – why do we exist?”

Richard Lambert (page 16) points out, in a similar vein, that the considerable soul-searching now taking place in many business schools about their role in corporate excess and economic downturn is “driven in part by student pressure to have environmental, ethical and corporate responsibility issues embedded in the curriculum”.

and a report on the latest eFmD-eaBIs Global Deans survey of steps undertaken by business schools in their effort to drive the sustainability agenda forward (page 30) notes that 82% of deans participating in the survey believe that these issues have now moved from the fringe to the mainstream of business school development.

Finally, two further articles on page 42 and page 50 offer more specific analysis of the subject.

In the first, Dr Katrin muff, Dean and Programme Director for the DBa and Diploma in sustainable Business at Business school Lausanne, switzerland, explains the background to the 50+20 initiative of the World Business school Council of sustainable Business and how her own school is responding to it.

and in the second, CB Bhattacharya describes how the european school of management and technology (esmt) in Berlin has embedded tenets of sustainability and responsible leadership into various aspects of teaching, research, thought leadership and, slowly but surely, lifestyle.

What impact on “real-world” actions this as yet largely rhetorical response will have must remain to be seen. But as this issue of Global Focus makes clear, business schools and involved bodies such as eFmD are thinking very seriously about changes that will have to be made.

2 www.efmd.org/globalfocus

Global Focus The EFMD Business Magazine

Executive Editor Matthew Wood [email protected]

Advisory Board Eric Cornuel, Howard Thomas, John Peters

Consultant Editor George Bickerstaffe [email protected]

Contributing Editors Nassim Belbaly, C B Bhattacharya, Justin Bridge, Andrew Crisp, Julie Davies, Fiona Gardner, Philippe Haspeslagh, Ulrich Hommel, Didier Jourdan, Richard Lambert, Martin Lockett, Katrin Muff, Mollie Painter-Morland, Jørgen Thorsell, Jocelyne Wang

Design & Art Direction Jebens Design www.jebensdesign.co.uk

Photographs & Illustrations ©Jebens Design Ltd / EFMD unless otherwise stated

Editorial & Advertising Matthew Wood [email protected] Telephone: +32 2 629 0810

EFMD aisblRue Gachard 88 – Box 3 1050 Brussels, Belgiumwww.efmd.org/globalfocus

©EFMD


Contents

4 Talking Shop EFMDappointsnewseniormanagement IDPtovisitTurkey,SingaporeandGermany EFMDMENAConference2012,Beirut–

EmpoweringtheNextGenerationofLeaders ProfessorValeryKatkaloelectedChairman

ofEPASAccreditationBoard

10 Cox steers a new course for business schools SueCox,deanofLancasterUniversityManagementSchool,

discusseshernewroleasanEFMDvice-presidentwithGeorgeBickerstaffe

16 What does business want from business schools? RichardLambertsuggestsfourkeyissues

22 Rebranding as fuel for growth VlerickLeuvenGentManagementSchool,nowVlerickBusiness

School,hasanewnameandanewlooktomatch.DeanPhilippeHaspeslaghexplainshowthedecisiontorebrandformsanintegralpartoftheschool’sdevelopmentstrategy

26 The age of uncertainty ThelatestEFMD/CarringtonCrispTomorrow’sMBAsurvey

showsanMBAmarketplacethatismorediverse,confusedanduncertainthanever.AndrewCrisprevealsthedetails

30 Gradualism prevails and perception outbids substance UlrichHommel,MolliePainter-MorlandandJocelyneWang

summarisetheresultsoftheThirdEFMD/EABISGlobalDeansSurveyon“SustainabilityandtheFutureofManagementEducation”.Theyarenottotallyimpressed

34 Executive development: evolutionary revolution Evolution,revolution?Whateverishappening,JørgenThorsell,

JustinBridgeandFionaGardnerdescribebigchangesinthewaywearedevelopingexecutives

3EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Contents

26

50

34 Evolution, revolution? Whatever is happening, Jørgen Thorsell, Justin Bridge and Fiona Gardner describe big changes in the way we are developing executives page 34

38 50+20 offers a clear vision Can business schools present a new vision of management

education for the world? Katrin muff believes that through the 50+20 initiative they can

42 Inciting exciting insights Julie Davies looks back on five years of the International Deans’

Programme, a joint initiative between the association of Business schools and eFmD

46 Being different: Ashridge’s new MBA martin Lockett looks at the experience of redesigning ashridge’s

mBa programmes

50 Teaching sustainability to tomorrow’s leaders how can we make managers globally responsible leaders

attuned to the needs of sustainability? CB Bhattacharya explains how one school is trying

54 Renewing Mediterranean roots Didier Jourdan and nassim Belbaly explain how a new

mediterranean schools of management Consortium will strengthen the mediterranean region


News and events in brief from the business world

Talking shop

EFMD appoints new senior management teamFollowing the sad passing away of Jim herbolich, eFmD has made several changes to its senior management team. ms. helke Carvalho and Professor Julio urgel have been appointed as Deputy Director Generals, Professor michael Osbaldeston becomes the new Director of Quality services and Professor Christian Delporte becomes the new Director of Business school services.

“Both helke and Julio have been instrumental in the development of eFmD over the past ten years and I am delighted to appoint them as deputies,” said Professor eric Cornuel, CeO and Director General of eFmD. starting september 1st, helke will be Deputy Director General, Development and external Relations, overseeing eFmD’s international reach, governance, projects, marketing and communications. Julio will be Deputy Director General, Operations and Quality, overseeing network activities, research initiatives, accreditations and other quality services.

“I am also delighted that michael and Christian, both long-standing members of eFmD and former Deans have agreed to take over the roles of Quality services Director and Business schools services Director. I have great confidence in all four members of the team and know that they will work for the very best interests of eFmD in the future”.

Support in developing a business plan for the Japanese or Korean markets Would you like to improve your understanding of the business practices and cultures of these countries? Do you want to improve your business communication skills in Japanese and Korean?

since 1979, the european Commission’s executive training Programme (etP) has helped over 800 european companies and 1,000 european executives to succeed in the Japanese and south Korean markets by providing intensive language and business training.

Following the successful selection of candidates for the 2012 cycle of etP, which will start in november, applications are now open for the 2013 cycle of this prestigious business support and executive training programme.

the etP enables eu companies and their executives to develop their business plan and build knowledge of Japanese / Korean business practices, culture and languages well as their networks in order to succeed in these asian markets. the selected participants, who will be granted a scholarship, will undertake intensive business and language training at internationally recognised universities in Japan / Korea and an internship in a local company.

Why participate in the ETP?On average, participant companies’ related turnoverincreases two fold within ten years of completing etP

more than 65% of etP alumni proceed to become top executives within their companies

executives from 15 of the top 20 european companies have taken part in etP

the training is given by prestigious and internationally recognised universities

Financial support– Funding for the entire training course in Japan or Korea– a scholarship of 12,200 per month for Japan or 12,000

per month for Korea

Further informationthe deadline for applications for the next etP cycle 2013-2014 is 31st may 2013. enrol now on www.euetp.eu

Clockwise from top left:

Helke Carvalho,

Julio Urgel,

Michael Osbaldeston,

Christian Delporte

5EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Talking shop

[The IDP is] an opportunity to compare the priorities and agendas of leaders of business schools in the 21st centuryProfessor Per Holten-Andersen, President, Copenhagen Business school, Denmark

eFmD in partnership with the association of Business schools (aBs) is launching the 6th edition of the International Deans' Programme (IDP).

the programme enables a group of up to 20 international deans to visit business schools in three different countries and gain an international overview of strategy, marketing and benchmarking with debate about issues such as governance, funding models, reputation/branding, faculty development, the challenges and opportunities facing management education, and particularly the role of the dean.

the programme also enables participants to discuss, share and develop their own network with other participants and deans from schools visited.

the three compulsory modules for the 2013 IDP are:

Turkey: 29-30 January:Koç university school of Business, Istanbul (immediately prior to eFmD’s Deans and Directors General Conference)

Singapore: 26-28 March: nanyang Business school; nus Business school; Lee Kong Chian school of Business, singapore management university

Germany: 17-18 September: university of mannheim Business school; eBs university for Business and Law, Wiesbaden

each module begins with dinner at 7:30pm and finishes after the main session at 4.00pm the following day.

Benefits– Gain unique insights into the multiple roles of deans

of business and management schools in a cohort of around 20 participants

– Visit a diverse range of business and management schools, take time out to network with your counterparts, re-energise and reflect on strategies for your own school, and create new strategic alliances

– engage in debates about issues under Chatham house rules

FormatRound-table debates, learning sets, interactive activities co-designed with the participants and host institutions with optional psychometric questionnaires and 360-degree feedback.

Alumni80 participants to date from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, new Zealand, norway, Portugal, south africa, spain, switzerland, the netherlands, turkey, uK, ukraine, usa.

Feesearly bird rate by 21 December 2012: 14,250 members, 14,750 non-members.

normal fee: 14,500 members, 15,000 non-members.

Do not miss this unique opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities of being a dean, learn from the experience of other institutions and networks while exchanging ideas with a small and open group of deans. Please note that this programme is aimed at recently appointed directors general/deans of the whole business school only. Places are limited, so register as soon as possible through the online form and do not hesitate to contact us should you have any question.

ContactsJulie Davies: [email protected] +44 (0)7884 002470

Virginie heredia-Rosa: [email protected]

International Deans Programme (IDP6) 2013 to visit Turkey, Singapore and Germany


本期内容

价值驱动没有商学院……

本垒打前沿

正确的事小未尝不可

MBA

www.efmd.org

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年第

02期

中、东欧地区最优秀的商学院科茨明斯基

大学的创始人与院长安德烈科茨明斯基

教授畅谈人生与成就

全球聚焦

欧洲管理发展基金会商业杂志

News and events in brief from the business world

Talking shop

Join us in Beirut for the 2012 EFMD MENA Conference – Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders

We are pleased to invite you to the third eFmD Conference in the mena Region hosted by the american university of Beirut and sponsored by GmaC in Beirut, Lebanon, on 4 – 6 november, 2012.

this is a unique yearly event focused on management education in the mena region and this year’s conference will be chaired by tawfik Jelassi, Dean, Professor of e-Business and Information technology, enPC school of International management, France.

the conference will address topics such as the role of business schools in society, business education for employment, family business, entrepreneurship in the region, the role of women, managing country risk perception, research and executive education among others.

Leading academics and business representatives from the mena Region, north america, europe and asia confirmed as speakers include Fadi Ghandour, the CeO of aramex, and Raghda Jaber, Former advisor to the Finance minister in Lebanon.

In addition to the conference, the Quality services unit at eFmD is also running introductory Deans across Frontiers (DaF), ePas and eQuIs accreditation seminars on 6 – 7 november 2012.

If you and your school are interested in participating in the conference and seminars, please register by visiting the conference webpage: www.efmd.org/mena. If you have any additional questions you can contact Inês Proença ([email protected]).

EFMD MENA Conference

Beirut, Lebanon, on 4 – 6 November 2012

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Jain visionINSEAD’s new Dean looks at the future

Open windowRussia’s top school goes international

House doctorEPAS takes on doctoral programmes

Tipping pointHow business schools need to change

Into AfricaBusiness education can fuel growth

Think youngManaging after the Arab Spring

www.efmd.org


Change and the future:

Business education 2025

EFMD

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Global Focus


Thomas Sattelberger outlines the changing priorities and

strategies that will dominate business education in 2025

“EMLYON Business School is world renowned for its devotion to lifelong learning

for entrepreneurship and international management. Founded on teaching

innovation and its advanced approach to management education, our mission

statement ‘Educating Entrepreneurs for the World’ is at the heart of our MSc

in Management Programme.

Today’s business environment requires employees that are fully versant to manage

global challenges. Our programmes demand students who are capable of acquiring

the knowledge and skills to operate effectively in the corporate world. Our

graduates and employers alike know that EMLYON is one of the best business

schools to prepare them for a demanding career.

EMLYON has long used the GMAT exam to select the right candidates for our

programmes. Not everyone is up to the rigorous standards our business school

demands. The GMAT helps EMLYON predict academic performance and assess

the skills students need to succeed in both the classroom and professional life.

At EMLYON we expect the best, and the GMAT exam helps deliver just that.”

Vice-President Houdayer on selecting for success

To learn more about the GMAT exam and the products and services it makes possible,

visit gmac.com/efmd

©2011 Graduate Management Admission Council© (GMAC©). All rights reserved. The GMAT© logo is a trademark and GMAC©,

GMAT© and Graduate Management Admission Test© are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission

Council in the United States and other countries.

PATRICE HOUDAYER, VICE-PRESIDENT GRADUATE PROGRAMMES, EMLYON BUSINESS SCHOOL

PH

OTO

GR

APH

© P

HIL

IPP

E SC

HU

LLER

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

China lessonsJohn Quelch on 12 months at CEIBS

No copyingBusiness schools must cherishtheir diversity

Forward lookingWhy we need leaders focused on the future

Doctor, doctorAn inside look at studying for a PhD

Italy in IndiaSDA Bocconi opens up in Mumbai

Top womenHow organisations can help women become leaders

www.efmd.org Volume 06 | Issue 02 2012

EFMD

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elgium

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Email:

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Global Focus

Volume 06 | Issue 02 2012AD REQ

– GMAC TBC?

Needed: academic TriathletesToday Business Schools need multi-faceted and well-rounded faculty

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

No BordersEFMD launches Deans Across Frontiers programme

Risky BusinessDebating the importance of risk management

Revolution?The 21st century’s unlikley publishing heroes

Top RankMedia rankings inform MBA changes

Sparks for changeSiemens’ new culture of internal transformation

Society roleNew opportunities for business schools

www.efmd.org


EFMD

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ox 31050 B

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EFMD continues its mission to promote excellence in business and management education with a global mentoring programme

Dr Tony Kinder on selecting for success

To learn more about the GMAT exam and the products and services it makes possible,

visit gmac.com/efmd©2011 Graduate Management Admission Council© (GMAC©). All rights reserved. The GMAT© logo is a trademark and GMAC©,

GMAT© and Graduate Management Admission Test© are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission

Council in the United States and other countries.

DR TONY KINDER, DIRECTOR OF THE MBA PROGRAMME, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH BUSINESS SCHOOL

DR TONY KINDER, DIRECTOR OF THE MBA PROGRAMME, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH BUSINESS SCHOOL

With over 400 years of teaching experience, the University of Edinburgh Business

School is world renowned for its focus on leadership, innovation and best practice,

key principles of the Scottish Enlightenment. The Edinburgh MBA looks to the future

addressing key business challenges through cutting edge research and informed

debate.

While our focus is on the individual and developing their true potential, The Edinburgh

MBA has a strong emphasis on collaboration and team work, a reflection of today’s

global business needs. The success of our MBA is reflected in the career achievements

of our graduates, with our strong global network of alumni setting the business agenda

around the world.Selecting the right students is of critical importance to us. That’s why the GMAT exam

is an integral part of our admissions process. With students attending The Edinburgh

MBA from across the globe, the GMAT offers effective selection and significant insight

into an applicant’s abilities. At the University of Edinburgh Business School, we educate students to become the

business leaders of tomorrow and the GMAT helps ensure that we select the right

students for our programmes.

Global Focus archive now

online

Global Focus is a unique resource of insights and

opinion on management education worldwide. You can now read the complete archive dating back to the

first issue in 2006 – including the Chinese

editions and special reports.

www.efmd.org/globalfocus

7EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Talking shop

St Petersburg University GSOM is the first school in Russia to be awarded EPAS accreditation for a maximum period of five years so I have seen firsthand the great value that it can bring to a schoolProfessor Valery S Katkalo, Vice-Rector, st Petersburg university and Dean, Graduate school of management

Professor Valery Katkalo elected Chairman of EPAS Accreditation Board Professor Valery s Katkalo, Vice-Rector, st Petersburg university and Dean, Graduate school of management, has been elected Chairman of the ePas accreditation Board. the board is composed of highly respected individuals with significant experience of management education. It evaluates the Peer Review Reports on programmes applying for ePas accreditation and, based on their recommendations, makes the final decision to confer accreditation upon those business and management programmes that have demonstrated high quality at an international level. the Chair of the accreditation Board oversees and runs ePas accreditation meetings three times year.

Commenting on the appointment, Dean Katkalo said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed as the Chair of the ePas accreditation Board. st Petersburg university GsOm is the first school in Russia to be awarded ePas accreditation (Bachelor of management programme) for a maximum period of five years so I have seen firsthand the great value that it can bring to a school”.

For more information on EPAS visit www.efmd.org/epas.

Global events with EFMDEFMD has a host of events over the next few months from seminars to conferences, from Russia to China.

November

the Olayan school of Business at the american university of Beirut will host the 2012 eFmD Conference in the mena Region with the theme empowering the next Generation of Leaders. Following Beirut, we head back to Brussels for an advisory seminar on Risk management in Business schools on the 21st. On november the 29th, Lomonosov moscow state university Business school will host a Quality services Information session in moscow, that will introduce Deans across Frontiers programme (DaF), ePas & eQuIs.

november closes with the 2012 CeIBs-eFmD conference on Innovative Business in China and europe in Beijing on the 29th and 30th.

December

Kemmy Business school at the university of Limerick hosts the last big meeting of 2012: the eFmD Conference on masters Programmes (3rd to 5th of December) that will ask the question, masters Programmes – do they deliver? the final event of 2012 is an advisory seminar on Designing and Implementing an Internationalisation strategy on the 12th of December, in Brussels.

January

the first major event of the 2013 will be the eFmD 2013 Deans & Directors General Conference, hosted by Koç university school of Business in Istanbul, turkey, on the 31st January to the 1st of February. the first module of the eFmD/aBs 2013 International Deans' Programme (IDP) will also take place at Koç starting on the 29th of January.

More information on all these events is available on the EFMD website www.efmd.org/events

DECEMBER

2012

JANUARY

2013

NOVEMBER

2012


Winners of the EFMD Excellence in Practice Awards 2012EFMD is pleased to announce the names of the winners of the EFMD Excellence in Practice Awards 2012.

the awards recognise outstanding Learning and Development partnerships based on operational excellence, excellence in programme management and above all business impact.

the winning cases will be featured extensively across the eFmD network and published in a special supplement of Global Focus and by emerald Group Publishing.

to learn more about the award or read the winning entries visit: www.efmd.org/eip

CATEGORY:

Organisational Development

WINNER

Business Unit Strategy at Lonza – Linking Executive Education and Strategy Development

Lonza AG & University of St. Gallen (Executive School of Management, Technology & Law)

By Uwe Boehlke (Lonza)Philipp Guthof (University of St Gallen)

CATEGORY:

Executive Development

WINNER

Merck Global Human Health Executive Development Programme

Merck & Co., Inc. & The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania)

By Nancy Singer (Merck)Judy Kelley (Merck)Cara Stolarczyk (Merck)Sandhya Karpe (The Wharton School)A.Janeen Pesiridis (The Wharton School)

HIGHLY COMMENDED BSH Leadership Development ProgramBSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH & Axialent Europe Ltd

Meeting Strategic Challenges through PartnershipNexus (Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive) & Newcastle Business School

SCAN TO READ THE FULL CASE STUDY


9EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Winners of the EFMD Excellence in Practice Awards 2012


CATEGORY:

Talent Development

WINNER

Trusted, Innovative, Bold – Building Global Mindsets for a Global Future

BAE Systems Inc & Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

By Andrea Lewis (BAE Systems Inc)Tim Sellick (for Saïd Business School)

HIGHLY COMMENDED Ju’MP – Creating a partnership for Engagement, Innovation, Integration & InternationalisationAirbus S.A.S & AirBusiness Academy & The Open University Business School

“Energy of Knowledge” Programme: Developing Future ExecutivesDTEK & DTEK Academy & Kyiv-Mohyla Business School (KMBS)

CATEGORY:

Professional Development

WINNER

Senior Siemens Production System (SPS) Expert Program

Siemens AG & Siemens Learning Campus

By Walter Liebisch (Siemens) Ralf-Ulrich Gruhs (Siemens)

HIGHLY COMMENDED Client Leadership Experience: A Learning Initiative to Enhance Cross-Business Culture and Business Impact at UBSUBS AG & UBS Business University

CATEGORY:

Others

WINNER

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses in Yorkshire & Humberside

Goldman Sachs (Foundation) & Leeds University Business School

By Deepak Jayaraman (Goldman Sachs) Sarah Hackett (Goldman Sachs) Rob Whieldon (Leeds University Business School)

HIGHLY COMMENDED The Novartis Entrepreneurial Leadership Program – Real World Learning to drive business and social impactNovartis International AG & Novartis Corporate Learning




Sue Cox (right), Dean of Lancaster university management school (Lums) in Britain, has been appointed eFmD vice-president for academic affairs.

the first woman to fill the role, she joins thomas sattelberger, the vice-president for the eFmD’s corporate activities and a former board member for human resources at Deutsche telekom in Germany.

the official appointment lauds Professor Cox’s “high professional qualities, outstanding achievements [and] commitment to eFmD”. all true, of course, but, unofficially, one cannot help thinking that the appointment really came about because she is such a nice normal person, capable of switching without missing a beat from the intricacies of managing a large business school to the equally byzantine ins-and-outs of coaching the england football squad. (she is a highly knowledgeable football fan and a long-time supporter of British Premier League team stoke City, a mid-table outfit admired for its “direct” playing style.)

With sattelberger continuing to overlook the corporate network, Professor Cox’s role leading eFmD’s academic network will involve the representation of business schools within eFmD and supporting the challenges involved in running a business school.

Sue Cox, Dean of Lancaster University Management School, discusses her new role as an EFMD vice-president with George Bickerstaffe

Cox steers a new course for business schools

11EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Cox steers a new course for business schools: Sue Cox interview by George Bickerstaffe

The European business schools model may seem relatively homogeneous but it also contains considerable variety


Interestingly, though, her experience gives her a foot in both the corporate and academic worlds. although she has been dean at Lums for 11 years and before that was Director of Loughborough Business school, also in Britain, her training was in organic chemistry and she worked for a time at Boots, a leading pharmaceutical and retail group. her main professional interest was in planning and managing hazardous sites and she still advises the British government in this area.

But she has always been active in the management education field as well, combining heading Lums with two terms as a member of the eFmD awarding Body, chairing numerous eQuIs panels and working in collaboration with aaCsB, the american accreditation body. she is also a former chair of Britain’s association of Business schools (aBs), a representative body for British business schools.

What this has taught her, she says, is that business schools can be very different from each other and need a representation and network that recognises that.

“Being chair of aBs, even though it was just concerned with Britain, made me aware of the diversity of business schools,” she says. “here at Lancaster we are a quite substantial school with a big research base and we are a very large part of the university. so compared with other schools we have a lot of size and considerable autonomy.”

One of the things she believes eFmD has to recognise and respond to better is this diversity. For example, she says that though the european business schools model may seem relatively homogeneous it also contains considerable variety.

and, of course, the growth of business schools in China, India and other parts of asia has accelerated and complicated this diversity. this, she thinks, has considerable implications for eFmD.

“Differing ideologies, cultures, even religions, all affect the way business

education happens,” she says. “that makes it very complex and difficult to be a global accrediting body.”

One of the biggest challenges now facing eFmD, she suggests, is acting as a global provider of services to very varied and geographically distant business schools from a single “epicentre”.

Responding to this, she says, is likely to lead to some major changes in the way eFmD works in relation to its business school members. and it is this change that Professor Cox, in her new position, can be expected to, if not drive, then certainly enthusiastically cheer on from the sidelines in her best football fan style.

For example, she suggests that “in future we [eFmD] will probably need to establish new and different sorts of presences around the world to provide greater proximity and to better represent the needs of the schools”.

Like the overseas offices many business schools have established in recent years?

“Yes, they will be an office in a way but they will be more than that,” she says. “they will be a focus for events and things that we can do.”

“For example, we want to do more short one-off events for, say, half a day that people can drop into. But obviously no-one is going to get on a plane to come from China to Brussels for one of those.”

"this is going to be a big change and it is a big change that is driven by a series of imperatives. It’s going to be exciting.”

these responses are also a way of potentially helping business schools to face up to what Professor Cox believes is one of the main challenges for them in the future – the growth of good business schools outside europe and america. Increasingly this means that more overseas students can stay in their own country to study rather than travel to europe or america.

On the other hand, she points out that there will always be some foreign

11Cox's experience gives her a foot in both the corporate and academic worlds – she has been dean at LUMS for 11 years and before that was Director of Loughborough Business School. Her training was in organic chemistry and she worked for a time at Boots, a leading pharmaceutical and retail group

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF LANCASTER UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT SCHOOL (LUMS)


students who can afford a cultural and educational experience overseas. the challenge here for business schools in host countries, says Professor Cox, will be to link that experience with employability and employment for these students back in their home countries.

“this is something that we at Lums are working on and it may be something for eFmD to think about as well,” she says. “What we are considering is taking careers office people to establish networks with the corporate world in these students’ home countries. eFmD can help here, building better networks and connections with the corporate world in these countries.”

Indeed, she regards this as part of another dimension of her vice-presidential role.

“It is a mistake to think of ourselves as a set of Deans working in isolation,” she says. “In fact we are all embedded in a community that both needs and can contribute to management education. We need to be more connected at all levels.”

While she does not quite agree with the suggestions that all these changes will mean eFmD should lose the “e” from its title, another area she believes needs addressing is the relative lack of penetration by eFmD into america (though its profile in Canada is relatively high).

“If you look at our accredited schools then we have done well to establish ourselves on the ground in countries like China and India,” she says.” But in america we are not so established and we have relatively few accredited schools there. I’d like schools in america to recognise the value of the eQuIs approach.”

Despite her increasingly high profile and success at Lancaster (the school is triple accredited by eFmD, aaCsB and amBa and has expanded significantly during her leadership), she professes no great ambitions to do anything else (that niceness again).

“this job allows me to do the things I’m interested in,” she says simply.

she is, though, no Pollyanna. Professor Cox warns that the management education market (and the mBa market especially) is currently very tough though she argues that Lums, with annual revenue around £45m and 290 faculty and staff is big enough and experienced enough to survive and prosper.

she does add, though, that another big challenge facing business schools is simply how to manage the myriad activities – from executive education and career offices to pure research and doctoral studies – that larger schools currently have to be involved in.

“the challenge is to balance this whole portfolio and continue to do well in all of it,” she says

For the moment she is not totally convinced (as some others in the field are) that business schools are facing such an existential threat that they need to embrace massive radical changes to their structure and purpose. she is not one for throwing all the pieces up in the air and seeing where they land.

In any case, she says, “my own feeling is that if you did throw all the pieces up in the air, then when they came down things would not look that different. the best researchers, the best teachers want to be together. that’s human nature. People naturally form communities. Of course you want to avoid functional silos but this coming together can boost ideas.”

however, she acknowledges that in some ways “we [business schools] do need to change. We can’t just sit here. We need to adapt to new technology. We need to look at new markets, all in the context of a complex world and tough economic conditions. We have to be open to sustainability issues, ethical behaviour issues and general good practice. and we have to make a difference.

“If business schools don’t make a difference – why do we exist?”

Cox steers a new course for business schools: Sue Cox interview by George Bickerstaffe

Differing ideologies, cultures, even religions, all affect the way business education happens. That makes it very complex and difficult to be a global accrediting body

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF LANCASTER UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT SCHOOL (LUMS)


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Format:Round-table debates, learning sets, interactive activities co-designed with the participants and host institutions with optional psychometric questionnaires and 360-degree feedback.

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What does business want from business schools?

What does business want from business schools? the answer is: “exactly

what it has always wanted” – great graduates and relevant ideas.

But the qualities required of those graduates and the nature of the ideas that are of most interest to business are both changing radically. the world is undergoing a profound transformation in economic, political and social terms – on a scale and at a pace never seen before. as a result, tomorrow’s business leaders are going to need a new set of skills to handle these challenges.

and the question that readers of Global Focus have to answer is: are business schools as they are currently structured, teaching programmes as they are currently designed best equipped to deliver them?

Of course, there is no single answer to the question. But my guess is that quite a lot of schools still have much to do to keep up with the game in this fast-changing world. this article concentrates on just four of the qualities that businesses will require of their future leaders in this time of transformation. (there are, of course, many more.)

Sir Richard Lambert suggests four key issues


Embracing diversitythe first, and in some ways the most important, is the ability to manage diversity. Consider this. During the 1990s, just 12 countries in the world generated growth in incomes per head at a pace that was twice the OeCD average. In the first decade of this century, that number jumped to 83. nearly half of the two billion people now getting by on between $10 and $100 a day – the global middle class – live in what the OeCD calls “converging economies”. (that is, economies that are catching up with the living standards of the West from a low base via turbo-charged growth.)

this has profound implications for global business. so do the massive demographic changes that are already under way around the world.

By 2050, other things being equal, there will be almost as many people in nigeria as in america; ethiopia will have twice as many people as Britain or Germany. But the working population of Japan and Russia could fall by roughly one-third over the same period.

the opportunities that all this throws up for business will not be evenly dispersed. successful leaders of the future will need judgment, imagination and the capacity to work in unfamiliar surroundings if they are to make the most of these extraordinary shifts in global power balances.

In addition, our understanding of globalisation is becoming much more subtle and nuanced than was the case in an america-centric world. We are moving away from the simplistic notion that the world is flat towards a much more complex reality.

that is what today’s business graduates need to understand. and to do that they will have to learn to live with and welcome diversity in all its forms. It is going to take a different kind of mindset, and a different type of education, to survive and prosper in such a diverse and cosmopolitan environment.

What does business want from business schools? by Sir Richard Lambert

Our understanding of globalisation is becoming much more subtle and nuanced than was the case in an America-centric world

83During the 1990s, just 12 countries in the world generated growth in incomes per head at a pace that was twice the OECD average. In the first decade of this century, that number jumped to 83


Dealing with uncertaintythe second great quality required of tomorrow’s business leaders is the capacity to deal with uncertainty. this did not seem so necessary in the 15 years leading up to the latest financial crash – the period economists describe as “the great moderation”, when inflation stayed low, asset prices rose and economies grew steadily just about everywhere. the Cold War was over, the Washington consensus shaped the world economy and the business outlook often appeared as assured as it was predictable.

nor was uncertainty high on the agenda of most business schools. they were busy promoting the notion of rational economic man and the certainty of modern finance theory and economic modelling. then things changed.

the great moderation is now well and truly over. the probability is that we will see much more jagged economic cycles in the next two decades than we saw in the last. and today’s economic uncertainties are on a scale not seen since the second world war. Consider the euro crisis. the chances of a disorderly breakdown are small but not negligible. But the consequences of such an event would be catastrophic. the euro and the dollar together are the essential lubricants of global trade and finance, accounting for nearly two-thirds of trading in foreign exchange markets worldwide. that is one reason why the result of a euro collapse would be all but unimaginable.

the other is the potential impact on the global banking system at a time when the balance sheets of the world’s big banks are so closely intertwined. to take one example, Britain’s banks are not directly very vulnerable to the banking problems of Greece. But they are heavily exposed to those in France and Germany, which are. all this uncertainty helps to explain why companies in the developed world are building up vast cash mountains rather than investing their money in new products and services.

since the credit crunch started in 2007, american non-financial companies have increased the share of their assets held in cash by 50% to around $1.7 trillion. apple alone has almost $100 billion in the bank – enough to buy Dell three times over. understandable, perhaps, but is it wise? Would bolder visionaries see today’s uncertainty as an opportunity, rather than a risk? think of the great businesses that have been created at the bottom of past economic cycles. Can business schools help business to think through this challenge?

19EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012What does business want from business schools? by Sir Richard Lambert

50%Since the credit crunch started in 2007, American non-financial companies have increased the share of their assets held in cash by 50% to around $1.7 trillion. Apple alone has almost $100 billion in the bank – enough to buy Dell three times over

The role of governmentthe third important quality that will be required of tomorrow’s business leaders is a proper understanding of the role and workings of government.

again, this seemed irrelevant during the period of the great moderation. the Reagan/thatcher reforms had swept away corporatism and the heavy hand of the state and left market forces to do their work. as time passed, it came to seem – at least in the advanced economies – that almost any government interference in the workings of the market was likely to do damage. now we had once again to learn the old lesson – that markets sometimes fail and that when they do governments have to step in. the British government had to save the country’s banking system. the american government – and you have to pinch yourselves when you say this – had to nationalise General motors, albeit briefly.

across the whole of the developed world, governments are working on

major programmes of new legislation covering the financial system. energy is another sector coming in for a wave of re-regulation. there are others.

Is this a temporary blip in the workings of free markets? are we heading back to business as usual, when markets rule and governments only have a bit part to play? Or is the shock of the past few years going to change the way the global economy is managed in some fundamental way? around the world, we see the growing reach of state-directed capitalism, most obviously in China, but also visible in Russia, malaysia, Venezuela and elsewhere. according to the Economist magazine, state-backed companies today account for four- fifths of China’s stock market and two-thirds of Russia’s.

the world’s ten biggest oil and gas firms, measured by reserves, are all state-owned. and as this form of enterprise advances we see a corresponding loss of confidence in the anglo-american economic model.

the Occupy Wall street camps, in their different manifestations around

the world, are a small and largely incoherent protest

movement. But I think they are a symptom of a broader malaise: a sense that something is not quite right in a world where the average income of the

richest 10% of the population in advanced

economies is now about nine times that of the

poorest 10%. the spread is much steeper than that i n countries such as america and Britain. and even in traditionally egalitarian societies,

such as Germany, Denmark and sweden,

the income gap is expanding – from 5 to 1

in the 1980s to 6 to 1 today.

The world’s ten biggest oil and gas firms, measured by reserves, are all state-owned. And as this form of enterprise advances we see a corresponding loss of confidence in the Anglo-American economic model


hostile takeover. and of course he was right. Gradually, and then with increasing momentum, shareholder value became the driving force of business management, and business schools played an important part in pushing the process on. It brought real benefits, by driving out cost and inefficiencies and focusing on comparative advantage.

Consumers were big winners, as globalisation multiplied the choice and slashed the cost of

a whole range of products and services. But there were costs, too. Long-term investment became harder to justify as

shareholders’ engagement became increasingly short term. managers were heavily incentivised to maximise the returns on equity rather than on overall capital employed – one of

the prime explanations for the banking crash. Companies became detached from their communities, as they shifted their activities to wherever in the world the job could be efficiently completed at the lowest price.

If the return on equity stacked up, actions were justified which would not have made sense in Drucker’s world. and people paid a price. We all paid a lot less for our trousers, for our television sets and for our travel services. But the price was rising job insecurity and growing income inequality across the whole of the developed world. and after the economic shock of the past four years, we again have to ask the question: what is business actually for?

and what is the sensible response on the part of business to the largely hostile way in which the public debate is now being framed? In Rethinking the MBA, three harvard Business school professors argue that one thing lacking in many mBa programmes is an understanding of how to balance financial and non-financial objectives while simultaneously juggling the demands of diverse constituencies such as shareholders, employees,

customers, regulators and society at large. that is surely correct.

Public concern about high levels of executive compensation, accounting irregularities, and flawed decision making have prompted considerable soul searching at business schools, driven in part by student pressure to have environmental, ethical and corporate responsibility issues embedded in the curriculum.

It is good that business school graduates are rising to this big challenge. But I think academics themselves should be doing more to shape the debate, through their research and their writings.

today’s business leaders are in a difficult place. they are being criticised for their lack of diversity and for their compensation practices. they rank close to the bottom of the opinion polls when it comes to questions of trust and reputation. after everything that has happened in the past few years, shareholder value no longer seems a reliable model on which to build a company’s future. and they do not quite know how to handle the politics of a much more uncertain world.

they need guidance. they need big new ideas and fresh thinking about their role and responsibilities. and that, above everything else, is what business schools should be seeking to develop and promulgate today.

This article is an edited version of the presentation by Richard Lambert to the EFMD Meeting for Deans and Directors General, Nottingham Business School, February 2012

ABOUT THE AUTHORSir Richard Lambert is Chancellor of Warwick University in Britain. He was editor of the Financial Times from 1991 to 2001, served on the Bank Of England Monetary Policy Committee 2003 to 2006 and was Director of the Confederation of British Industry 2006 to 2011. He also chaired the Lambert Review on the relationship between higher education and business.

The purpose of businessand so finally to the fourth quality, which is a developed understanding of the role, responsibilities and purposes of business itself.

here again there is at least a chance that we are approaching a secular and not just a cyclical change in the way this subject is best approached – one that business schools, both in their roles as teachers and thought leaders, ought to be debating and leading. Business management in the decades after the second world war was shaped by what I think of as the Peter Drucker or Dave Packard approach.

the purpose of business was to meet the needs of customers. Firms had to make enough profits to undertake the research and marketing and to retain and develop the talented employees that were required to do a good job for their customers but no more than that. they did not exist for their own sake nor just to maximise their profits. Instead, they were a means to a broader end and they had a real interest in the wellbeing of the different communities that were touched by their activities.

Drucker himself forecast that this benign model would eventually collapse under the weight of two developments: the rise of globalisation and of the


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Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School is now Vlerick Business School. It started the 2012 academic year with a new name and a new look to match. A bold logo and a thought-provoking advertising campaign are a radical break from the past. But the decision to rebrand did not come out of the blue.

Dean Philippe Haspeslagh explains how it forms an integral part of the school’s development strategy to meet today’s challenges

REBRANDING AS FUEL FOR GROWTH

23EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Rebranding as fuel for growth by Phillippe Haspeslagh

First,whatarethesechallengesandhowdoesaschooldealwiththem?Infact,thechallengesfacedbybusinessschoolsmirrorthosefacedbythebusinessworld.

Fiveconsecutiveyearsofcrisishavemadecompanies,businessschoolsandindividualsthinkaboutwhatitistheydoandwhy.Inthecurrenteconomicclimateanyinvestmenthastopayoff.

Asfarasexecutiveeducationisconcerned,wecanseecompaniesdemandinggreaterintegrationoflearningwiththedevelopmentandimplementationoftheirbusinessstrategy.

Theyarelookingforpartnersinstrategyexecutionandleadershipdevelopment.Coaching,mentoringandactionlearningthereforebecomeincreasinglyimportant.Whyworkonlyonfictitiousbusinesscaseswhenyoucouldlearnjustasmuch,ifnotmore,examiningreal-lifeissuessuchasachangeprojectorsettingupanewventure?

Ibelieveourentrepreneurialbootcampsaregreatexamplesofhowpeoplelearnwhiletacklingrealstrategicproblems.Incidentally,in-companyprojectshavebeenpartofourprogrammesformorethan40yearsnow.

Astheneedsofthebusinesshavechanged,sotoohavethoseoftheindividual.

Thetraditionalhierarchicalcareerpathisbeingreplacedbyoneofserialspecialisation.Peopleareincreasinglyrealisingtheymustensuretheyareemployablethroughouttheircareerandaretakingtheirpersonaldevelopmentintotheirownhands.Thismeansnewrequirementsforopenprogrammes,suchasfinancingschemesandtimingofthecourses.

AndasfordegreestudentsIbelievethatintoday’sglobalmarket,withrankingsreadilyavailableontheinternet,reputationisakeyfactor.Mostdegreestudentsmakeaonce-in-a-lifetimedecision.Theirchoicedependsontheprogrammefeatures,howinternationalthefacultyandfellowstudentsare,traineeshipandemploymentopportunities,expectedgraduatestartingsalaryandcompaniesrecruitingattheschool.

Otherchallengesresultfromadvancesintechnology.E-learninghascomeofage.Forbusinessschoolslikeours,thekeytosuccessisthesmartintegrationoftechnology.Weincreasinglyoptforblendedlearningprogrammes,combininge-learningandclassroomteachingoractionlearning.

Partneringwithspecialists,we’vedevelopedbusinesssimulationsandseriousgames.AcaseinpointistheBelgacomleadershipgame(thathasbeendevelopedwiththeBelgacomGroup)thatseamlesslyintegrateswithdailywork.Theimpactofthesetoolsishuge,buttheirdevelopmentcostsaresignificant.

Thereisanotherreasonbesidestechnologyforincreasingoperatingcosts.Overtheyears,thenumberofkeybusinessissueshasmushroomed.Afull-rangebusinessschoolthereforeneedscriticalmassandsufficientscale.

Mostbusinessissuestodayrequireamultidisciplinaryapproach.Thisiswhereweareatanadvantage,havingestablishedatrackrecordincross-disciplinaryresearch.Wehavebeenabletogrowstronglybecausewehaveexploredseveralnewfields.Also,todayintimatesectorknowledgeisimperative.Thisiswhywehavereshapedourgo-to-marketapproachtoleverageourexpertiseinspecificsectorssuchasfinancialservices,retailandconsumergoods,healthcareandenergy.

Why work only on fictitious business cases when you could learn just as much, if not more, examining real-life issues such as a change project or setting up a new venture?


Obviously, there is not only the demand side of the market to reckon with. attracting and retaining talented faculty and staff remains a key concern. here, business schools are in competition with one another as well as with universities and companies.

We need multi-faceted talented individuals who know how to combine inspired teaching with high-impact business-relevant research. We therefore invest in our faculty by helping them develop and grow to become authorities in their field. eventually they take on entrepreneurial responsibility in the school, and may become “partners” in our structure, which has emulated professional service firms.

Running a business school today is like running a business in a highly competitive and fragmented market. We compete not only with other business schools but also with other education providers such as consultants, coaches or trainers. We are operating in a diverse ecosystem in which we have to carve out our own niche and form partnerships. successful business schools are no longer brokers of professors and programmes. they are learning consultants or architects.

I believe our school’s Dna is such that it is well armed to respond to challenges. then why the rebranding? Because reputation and international visibility are paramount in a trust-based business.

even our former students do not realise how the school has changed and the quality and range of activities we now offer. Our ambition is to become recognised as a clear leader in the heart of europe. therefore, we must create stopping power, hence the rebranding and a new Brussels campus.

We are one of those national champions, with a strong established regional presence, that is building an international reputation. With our company-specific programmes and research, we are already active in nearly 40 countries. While the rankings have helped accelerate the internationalisation of our degree

programmes, they have little impact on our open programmes. Other national champions face the same challenge.

that is why we will be exploring collaboration in areas where we have unique expertise, to bring together our respective talent pools and participants. Our strategic innovation programme with Cambridge Judge Business school in Britain, combining modules in Leuven and Cambridge, and our long-standing mBa FsI (financial services industry) are excellent examples.

In addition, we are at a crossroads. In the 60 years of the school’s history, the biggest change to its structure, programmes and identity dates back to 1998. this concept has served for well over a decade. turnover has grown from 12m to more than 130m. the question is what’s next?

We do not pursue growth for growth’s sake; we seek to answer the increasingly complex and exacting demands of our clients. We first began refocusing our strategy and restructuring our organisation back in 2008. Rebranding is the final phase of that strategic process and the start of a new chapter.

In the rebranding exercise we engaged brand specialists to benchmark the school by analysing how it was perceived by its stakeholders and, more importantly, to identify what really differentiates it.

International, openness, vitality and pragmatism are our major brand drivers.

to be relevant, we must be international and show it. We are on the right track but there is room for improvement.

25EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Rebranding as fuel for growth by Phillippe Haspeslagh

Our openness manifests itself in many ways. We are open to collaboration and easy to collaborate with. We are open-minded and as typical europeans expose our students to multiple truths, informed by our programmes in Russia and China.

as for vitality, anyone visiting the school will notice that there is a buzz about the campuses. We want to express this special energy and sense of belonging in our new identity.

and finally, what also sets us apart is our pragmatism. Our approach to teaching and research is very much centred on practical solutions and not just on theory. Our programmes have relevance in the real world, as they must: 95% of our income is derived from satisfying students and companies.

For the Vlerick alumni association,the school’s rebranding has been an opportunity to reassess its own brand and align it to that of the school. In future, we will both use the same logo and house style and will have an integrated website. this should further enhance the international strategy of both the school and the association. “no alumni without a school and no school without alumni” is the slogan.

We have now better aligned our visual identity and communications with what we are and what we aspire to be. moreover, we have taken the rebranding as an opportunity to benchmark and review our programmes and to draw more attention to the relevance of our

approach to the future demands on managers.

We have modified our degree programmes to meet the requirements of companies and students even more closely, with greater emphasis on personal development, action learning and elective courses. Our open programmes will become more modular and international.

and for our historic Flemish market, we’re offering new programmes in family owned business and management buy-ins. these changes are part of an ongoing improvement effort. We are building on our traditions and strengths and we will continue to reinforce the unique things we have to offer.

One thing, however, remains the same regardless of the rebranding. Our name change was only logical, given our international campuses and joint ventures. But let there be no mistake: despite our new name, we are and remain the business school of the universities of Ghent and Leuven. It is not what is in the name that counts, it is the collaboration. and we will continue to work together with the same zeal.

effectiveness, ROI and reputation are more important than ever. Business schools have to step up their game to remain relevant. We all feel the pressure to be more business oriented and client focused. the economic context has encouraged us to focus our strategy and to be even closer to our clients than we have been before.

These changes are part of an ongoing improvement effort. We are building on our traditions and strengths and we will continue to reinforce the unique things we have to offer


THE AGE OF UNCERTAINTYThe latest EFMD/CarringtonCrisp Tomorrow’s MBA survey shows an MBA marketplace that is more diverse, confused and uncertain than ever. Andrew Crisp reveals the details


ooking at my twitter feeds one day earlier this year, I got a sense of the current mBa marketplace. In three tweets there was coverage of the winning entry in the GBsn mBa challenge, coverage of sexism at

harvard and the Dean at stanford indicating that business schools need to embrace change – and can change.

the mBa marketplace has never been more diverse, confused or uncertain, depending on your point of view. For three years, CarringtonCrisp and eFmD have undertaken a study called tomorrow’s MBA, looking at the views of more than 2,000 prospective students around the world to help business schools better understand how the market is changing.

so is it possible to pick trends for tomorrow’s mBa? Perhaps.

a desire for lifestyle learning not lifelong. Competition from different providers in different places. new ways of using technology to reach potential students. Greater focus on alumni in recruitment, using stories to differentiate providers. supplying enhanced career services, including support for business start-ups and entrepreneurs. Revising the curriculum and finding a place for sustainability.

The age of uncertainty by Andrew Crisp

48%The survey revealed that the full-time MBA is still the preference of 48% of prospective students though 34% prefer part-time study and 18% choose distance learning

91kOver five years, those taking the GMAT aged under 24 grew from 58,688 in 2006-07 to 91,028 in 2010-11, the 24-30 age group numbers have grown over the same period (from 114,961 to 124,878) but are down from a peak of 139,144 in 2008-09

The data suggest a growing interest in lifestyle learning, that is, programmes that fit around a candidate’s present lifestyle and, equally, allow him or her to obtain the lifestyle that they want in the future

among respondents to the Tomorrow’s MBA survey the full-time mBa is still the preference of 48% of prospective students though 34% prefer part-time study and 18% choose distance learning. Blended learning is also the most popular approach to studying for 27% while just 18% choose traditional academic terms and office hours.

the Graduate management admissions Council (GmaC), guardian of the Gmat, has also reported that just over two-thirds (67%) of two-year full-time mBa programmes experienced a decline in application volume in 2011 compared with 2010, continuing a trend that began in 2009.

Over five years, those taking the Gmat aged under 24 grew from 58,688 in 2006-07 to 91,028 in 2010-11. among the 24-30 age group numbers have also grown over the same period (from 114,961 to 124,878) but are down from a peak of 139,144 in 2008-09. the number of test takers over 31 years old has also declined during the same period.

the data suggest a growing interest in lifestyle learning, that is, programmes that fit around a candidate’s present lifestyle and, equally, allow him or her to obtain the lifestyle that they want in the future.


In practice this means that rather than give up a job and take on a full-time mBa perhaps in another part of the world for two years, students are looking for mBas that offer some flexibility. they want programmes that can be taken over an extended period, perhaps with international components in different parts of the world for short spells, and use technology in place of the traditional classroom experience.

a further analysis of the Gmat test data shows that in 2010-11 only 65% of the tests taken were intended for mBa application. In the Tomorrow’s MBA report, 28% would definitely consider a specialist masters instead of an mBa and 23% might consider this alternative. Just over half (58%) want an mBa programme with a specialism, preferably finance or marketing.

GmaC also found that specialised masters programmes reported increases in application volume over the period 2010 to 2011. master of Finance programmes led the trend with an 83% increase, followed by master in management at 69% and master of accounting programmes at 51%.

Changes in demand are not limited to degree title but also include content. asked about the most valuable content in an mBa, respondents to Tomorrow’s MBA 2011-12 chose leadership, strategic management, managing people and organisations, business and financial environment, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Corporate finance, historically a mainstay of an mBa, has dropped out of the top ten and has fallen in value each year of the study. this does not mean that mBa students do not want to study corporate finance, just that other subjects are seen as more important and, perhaps, more valuable when seeking a job. Corporate finance was undoubtedly important for those seeking roles in investment banks but the number of positions is not as great as it once was and fewer mBa graduates are choosing banking as a career.

at the same time, more students are thinking about starting their own business or joining a start-up or small company. entrepreneurial skills are much in demand whether in a new business or driving change in established firms.

Delivering careers advice for entrepreneurs is often beyond the traditional careers service. Instead, alumni are being recruited to offer their experience of starting a business and what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

another change in the careers market is the type of firms that mBa graduates want to join. universum, the employer brand research firm, found in 2006 that undergraduate business students put three accountants and two investment banks in their top ten of preferred employers, with Google at number four and apple at nine. When mBas were asked in 2011 who they wanted to work for, there were no accountants in the top ten and only one investment bank; Google was top and apple was number three. also in the top ten were three consulting firms plus LVmh, nestlé, BmW and, at number six, the World Bank.

the inclusion of the World Bank suggests a change in attitudes among mBas and is reflected in the growing number of programmes that include sustainability, ethics and corporate social responsibility. Few mBas want to study these subjects as stand-alone items (there are few jobs for ethicists) but having these issues embedded in core mBa subjects and understanding their application is growing in popularity.

It is not just where mBa graduates go that is changing but where they study and where they come from. Gmat takers in east and south east asia, for example, grew by more than 23,000 in the period 2006-07 to 2010-11.

23kIt is not just where MBA graduates go that is changing but where they study and where they come from. GMAT takers in East and South East Asia, for example, grew by more than 23,000 in the period 2006-07 to 2010-11

Asked about the most valuable content in an MBA, respondents chose leadership, strategic management, managing people and organisations, business and financial environment, marketing, and entrepreneurship

29EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012The age of uncertainty by Andrew Crisp

the top-ranked schools are also changing. the Ft Global mBa rankings in 2012 had three Chinese, two Indian and one singaporean business schools in the top 30 alongside well-known european and american schools. Only five years earlier just one Chinese school made the top 30 and there were none from India or singapore.

Private firms also have a greater role in the mBa marketplace. the latest development in business education, although not for mBas, is the entry of Pearson, publisher of the Ft, into the marketplace, with undergraduate business degrees backed by a British university. Competition for mBa candidates is intensifying while the total market size for the mBa may be growing very little.

no one would be surprised to learn about the importance of technology in attracting mBa candidates, especially Google and the business school website, but there is much more to electronic communication.

Five years ago when CarringtonCrisp launched its GenerationWeb study, the device most widely used by prospective students was still the desktop PC, today it is the laptop with growing use of mobile phones, PDas and tablets. although the business school website remains important, increasingly it is the mobile app or the social networking pages that are key to engaging prospective students.

But it’s not just Facebook or LinkedIn. For international recruitment, schools need to know RenRen, hyves, Orkut, tuenti and a host of other services.

While social networks are beginning to have an impact on recruitment, their greatest impact has been in and out of the classroom as students seek to collaborate in their studies. the 2012 GenerationWeb survey shows a year-on-year increase in those using social networks for their studies from 17% to 39%.

ABOUT THE AUTHORAndrew Crisp is joint founder of CarringtonCrisp and has worked with business schools for over a decade, providing market research and marketing support to more than 100 business schools worldwide.

this is the generation that ten years ago began sharing on the internet on sites such as Bebo and then moved to myspace before Facebook and LinkedIn. Collaboration is second nature whether it is fixing party details or researching a project.

For the business school, whether it is offering a mBa or other business degrees, all of these changes can be summed up in the need to be distinctive. too many schools appear to offer the same. One approach is to make better use of alumni, to use their stories post-graduation to bring marketing messages to life. Focusing on outcomes provides a business school with an opportunity to differentiate its offer in the competitive mBa marketplace.

alumni are sometimes an underutilised and undervalued asset at a business school. In a new study, Alumni Matters, run by eFmD and CarringtonCrisp, few alumni say they would not support their business school and many offer to help with the recruitment of future students. however, alumni want a relationship rather than a one-way flow of money, seeking personal and professional development in return.

In her book Different, Youngme moon, Donald K David Professor of Business administration at harvard Business school, says, “difference is a commitment to the unprecedented, which is another way of saying it is a commitment to letting go. Get off the competitive treadmill that’s taking you nowhere. aspire to offer the world something that is meaningfully different – different in a manner that is both fundamental and comprehensive”.

If there is one prediction about the future of the mBa marketplace, it is that it will be different from what has gone before.


Gradualism prevails & perception outbids substance Ulrich Hommel, Mollie Painter-Morland and Jocelyne Wang summarise the results of the Third EFMD/EABIS Global Deans Survey on ‘Sustainability and the Future of Management Education’

31EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Gradualism prevails & perception outbids substance by Ulrich Hommel, Mollie Painter-Morland and Jocelyne Wang

Societal awareness of inequality, poverty, corruption and human rights infringements raises the question as to how future business leaders need to be prepared to address these challenges

Business schools play a key role in driving the sustainability agenda within management practice. they

do so not only by shaping and preparing the next generation of business leaders but also by influencing the perception of the role and purpose of business in society through their research, teaching and other activities.

Yet it remains unclear to what extent business schools are actually driving real change. Practitioners have criticised business schools for not having reacted forcefully enough to the financial crisis as well as the resulting disconnect with the discourse among business leaders on how to strengthen the role of businesses in society. there are both push and pull factors at work in business schools’ commitment to the sustainability agenda. they include environmental, societal, governance and ethical concerns. after the myriad of ethical failures in business, stakeholders are becoming more vigilant in their demands for tangible progress. Increased environmental risks have also put the need for change squarely on the business agenda and hence on the agenda of business schools.

societal awareness of inequality, poverty, corruption and human rights infringements raises the question as to how future business leaders need to be prepared to address these challenges. While business schools have appeared reluctant disciples of sustainability in the past, they are now becoming slightly more observant in embracing the subject. Integrating sustainability related aspects into school strategy designs is now regarded as a tool to effectively build up and/or strengthen the institutional brand. (see article “teaching sustainability”, page 50.)

accreditation standards are in the process of being adjusted to encourage a stronger focus on sustainability related performance. the aim of the eFmD-eaBIs Global Deans survey was to examine the specific steps undertaken by business schools in their effort to drive the sustainability agenda forward.

Survey designthe survey was launched in april 2012 and a total of 1,520 deans and directors of business schools around the world were contacted, of whom 148 decided to participate (9.7% response rate). Fifty-three per cent of the respondents represent business schools headquartered in europe. the remainder of the sample is based in the americas (18%), asia (13%), mena/africa (10%) and australasia/new Zealand (6%). nearly one-third (65%) of respondents represent university-based institutions; 53% represent schools of 250 employees or more and 51% stated that their student body exceeds 2,500.

Preliminary results were presented at the 11th eaBIs Colloquium held in July 2012 at ImD. two complementary surveys of business school faculty and CeOs have been launched this year, which will permit comparative analyses on how or whether the various business school initiatives are actually generating tangible impact.

In the context of these surveys, sustainability has been broadly defined to cover the environmental, social, governance and economic dimensions (esGe). It reflects our view that there is a pressing need for a new definition of sustainable enterprise – one that unites the ecology based norms of “sustainable development” and the society focused concepts of “shared value creation”. the surveys have been designed to explore consensus on a range of esGe factors perceived to have the greatest impact on the global business environment in the coming decade.

the aim of the Deans’ survey was to gather data and produce an overview on how deans and directors view the integration of sustainability issues in teaching, research, corporate engagement and campus life. the survey gauges the perception of deans and directors in terms of the centrality of the sustainability agenda, the key drivers that determine the successful integration of this agenda, and the most serious blockages that stand in the way of effecting real change.


Key findingsthe strategic relevance of sustainability is nowadays more widely acknowledged by the business school community. eighty-two per cent of deans and directors participating in the survey believe that esGe has now moved from the fringe to the mainstream of business school development. the economic dimension – in particular the impact on a school’s brand value, students and corporate demands – remains the strongest driver for change. In addition, 74% of respondents state that sustainability is by now firmly integrated into their own school’s mission.

the majority of respondents are, however, equally convinced that business schools are still not sufficiently close to the corporate sustainability agendas to formulate an appropriate response. nearly half (49%) claim that they are not receiving clear messages from corporate partners on their esGe-related needs. this may largely represent a supply-push problem from the perspective of business schools.

In addition, just 49% of respondents indicate that their institutions co-operate with senior executives to define research projects on esGe topics. equally concerning, only 53% of respondents see their institutions co-operate with chief learning officers and human resources officers of corporate partner institutions to define learning priorities with respect to sustainability.

the persisting disconnect with the corporate world may be partially due to the fact that more than 60% of business schools covered by the survey are not targeting their placement activities at companies recognised as sustainability champions. Over two-thirds (68%) of the respondents believe that their directors of career services are not even systematically asking what sustainability-related skills corporate partners are looking for. and 63% state that job placement services are not supporting the development of sustainability-related skills.

Indeed, 53% apparently believe that their directors of career services do not have the relevant knowledge and expertise to advise students on sustainability-related career matters.

the business schools’ sustainability agenda is largely managed from the top end of the organisation, with 89% of respondents indicating that, as a dean or director, they are in charge of leading the esGe agenda at their institution. at the same time, they acknowledge that, next to the senior management team, programme directors and the faculty are the key agents to help realise sustainability- related ambitions.

this top-down approach may indicate strong commitment by the school leadership to prioritise sustainability in institutional development. however, It may also reflect a potential disconnect between head office and school operations. this view is supported by the feedback that only 30% of survey respondents see sustainability directly influencing annual performance evaluations, while 34% indicated that it has no relevance whatsoever.

In line with this result, 25% believe that the performance record in the area of sustainability does have some bearing on tenure and promotion decisions while 33% argue that it is completely irrelevant.

On a positive note 71% of respondents stated that their institutions have embarked on a change management process to embed esGe issues within core research and teaching activities.

It appears that tangible progress has been achieved in the research area. Business schools have visibly built up their commitment to conduct research on esGe issues with 65% of respondents indicating they have institutes and centres in this area and 61% reporting the existence of dedicated research teams within other institutes or centres at their school. Forty-eight per cent reported the existence of chaired professorships and 39% of PhD programmes (or specialisation tracks) dedicated to sustainability.

achievements are somewhat less impressive in teaching. nearly all institutions covered by the survey have between two and four compulsory modules related to sustainability though 35% still do not cover the subject with a dedicated module in their full-time or part-time (29%) mBa programmes. One must conclude that a large part of the business school sector is apparently doing little beyond what accrediting agencies consider a minimum.

the survey finally looked at the extent to which business schools are applying sustainability considerations when managing their own physical infrastructures. the results are overall very encouraging.

more than 70% of respondents stated that their institutions have put in place long-term targets to reduce the environmental footprint as well as corresponding policies for the construction of new facilities and the renovation of existing infrastructure. around two-thirds of the business schools covered by the survey have also established sustainability-related criteria for procurement as well as behavioural guidelines for faculty, staff and students.

It is, however, open to debate to what extent the credit for these achievements should actually be awarded to the business school. Within university structures, campus management policies are typically established by the parent organisation and are also increasingly influenced by government regulations.

68%Over two-thirds (68%) of the respondents believe that their directors of career services are not even systematically asking what sustainability related skills corporate partners are looking for


ReflectionsBusiness schools have unquestionably made some notable progress in integrating esGe issues into the mainstream of their development. a number of them are moving towards more comprehensive coverage in their degree programmes and with better inter-linkages to functional specialisations. We further note a greater willingness to fund larger-scale research programmes, frequently combined with the establishment of formal research institutes or centres. Finally, it has become common that concerns for sustainability are embedded in campus management models.

the survey results also reveal, however, that business schools are struggling with serious challenges in terms of incorporating the esGe agenda into their activity portfolios: externally, to overcome the disconnect between academia and corporate practice; internally, to bridge the gap between the deans’ and directors’ positive self-evaluation and the reality of limited implementation in certain crucial areas such as performance management of faculty and staff.

Deans and directors still need to develop a better understanding of corporate needs in terms of sustainability-related skills and capacities.

Business schools must also intensify their efforts to motivate faculty to integrate sustainability into their research and teaching activities. above all, faculty reward systems should take into account that widely accepted research metrics such as journal rankings and impact factors still do not provide sufficient recognition for sustainability research.

the issues to be addressed are clearly too important for the business school community to wait until a positive majority judgement has been rendered on what constitutes good and valuable research in this area.

Business schools have frequently been criticised for primarily (ab)using sustainability for marketing purposes. It is certainly the case that numerous decision makers in the business school community still consider sustainability a temporary phenomenon and a fad.

the survey results provide little consolation in this respect. there still appears to be too much focus on creating “perception” rather than “substance”.

Gradualism prevails & perception outbids substance by Ulrich Hommel, Mollie Painter-Morland and Jocelyne Wang

ABOUT THE AUTHORSUlrich Hommel is Director of Research and Surveys, EFMD, and Professor of Finance at EBS Business School.

Mollie Painter-Morland is Academic Director, EABIS (the academy of business in society) and Associate Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University.

Jocelyne Wang is Manager of European Affairs and Research and Surveys, EFMD.

Deans and directors still need to develop a better understanding of corporate needs in terms of sustainability-related skills and capacities

The survey looked at the extent to which business schools are applying sustainability considerations when managing their own physical infrastructures. The results are overall very encouraging


Evolution, revolution? Whatever is happening, Jørgen Thorsell, Justin Bridge and Fiona Gardner describe

big changes in the way we are developing executives


D ramatic revolutions that happen with a “bang” are often less dangerous than evolutionary changes that creep in over time.

such incremental changes often go unnoticed – with catastrophic consequences.

think of Kodak and the evolution of digital technology. Kodak did not recognise and adjust to the mortal danger digital cameras and mobile phones posed to its business until it was too late. In January 2012, after 131 years being regarded as one of the world’s most unbreakable companies, Kodak filed for bankruptcy.

there is a parallel change, albeit somewhat less devastating , underway in executive education. In their article “Customised executive Learning” in the January 2012 edition of Global Focus, Gert-Jan van Wijk and Jamie anderson argued that new ways of developing executives are about to take over from the more traditional methods championed by business schools and academic institutions.

this is especially true for many advanced global corporations, which have for some time distinguished executive development from executive education and begun to favour the former as a means of enhancing business impact through executive learning.

What’s the difference?While executive education is rooted in business schools’ classic methodology of teaching theoretical knowledge based on proprietary research, executive development has a behavioural focus and is aimed at improving the performance of managers, executives and their businesses regardless of the theories and teachers employed.

Corporations have long struggled with and complained about the task of transferring knowledge gained through executive education into meaningful actions and impact “on the job”. this is not because the knowledge is not valuable but because achieving significant, immediate and sustainable impact on the business is of even greater importance.

It is generally believed that the expense of gaining knowledge cannot be fully justified unless that knowledge is provided in the specific form and context required by the recipient to make a sustainable difference in his or her workplace.

and since executive education tends to take place in classrooms detached in time and space from the workplace, the likelihood of the knowledge being immediately relevant is low.

Over the past ten years or so, executive development has matured to meet the demand for immediate job relevance and sustainable impact. By making the executives’ own current job challenges the starting point of the learning journey, executive development provides a learner-led process that enables individual executives to realise what they must do to increase their impact and, even more importantly, how they can do it.

But, though a behavioural focus is a key feature, the approach is not solely about behaviour. the learner-led process still offers relevant theories and best practices to deepen an executive’s understanding of his or her situation and provide a range of different perspectives and insights. however, rather than being presented carte blanche, these are provided according to each executive’s unique challenge so theory and best practice insights are both immediately applicable and focused on results.

In a nutshell, modern executive development creates impact by supplying knowledge, insights and learning just-in-time to an individual executive’s specific job-based circumstances, making it immediately relevant and stimulating sustainable behavioural change. thus, the classic challenge of transferring knowledge into meaningful action and impact is met.

If leadership is a relationshipexecutive coaching, with its ability to enable executives to improve on-the-job performance, has gained tremendous popularity in the corporate world since the 1970s. In a recent global study (mannaz, Global Leadership Survey, 2011), coaching was identified as the most powerful executive development practice alongside leaders teaching leaders and action learning.

Coaching is a good example of the modern concept of executive development because it provides just-in-time learning geared to the individual and is also highly relevant to his or her current professional reality.

Recently, more methodologies and technologies have emerged that move the effectiveness of executive development forward.

Executive development: evolutionary revolution by Jørgen Thorsell, Justin Bridge and Fiona Gardner


among the most interesting are those that involve both the leader and his or her team in the learning initiative.

traditionally, leadership has been considered a matter of personal traits, either learned or inherited. this idea has been supported by research that propounds the notion of the leader as a lone beacon of inspiration. Consequently, both executive education and development initiatives have, for the most part, been delivered to executives in isolation from their people and job reality.

however, there can be no leaders without followers (and vice versa) and this makes the relationship between the leader and his or her people a central pillar of leadership. It follows that effective leadership development is contingent upon the development of an effective leadership relationship and as such must involve both the leader and direct reports in the development process.

Over the past 20 years, “360-degree” survey instruments have elicited qualitative and quantitative feedback from an executive’s team and his or her superiors and peers. By using them the relationship dimension of leadership has (to some extent) been included in leadership development.

however, our long experience using 360-degree instruments suggests that most feedback on the results of such a survey is given to the recipient without the real-time sharing, intellectual involvement and emotional commitment of the respondents.

not only does this leave the feedback open to (mis)interpretation but it can also lead to a “witch hunt” as recipients endeavour to track down “who said what”.

even worse, 360-degree feedback is often “sanitised” to prevent such retribution, leaving it so bland that it leads to no more than a shrug of the shoulders and the observation that “no-one’s perfect”.

Involving team members in the leadership development process also not only encourages them to share responsibility for enhancing the leadership relationship but also avoids the “not invented here syndrome”. this is often faced by executives who come back from transformational development programmes and try to sell “new world” ways of doing things to colleagues who are still living in the “old world”.

In summary, we see that today’s advanced corporations demand that the entire “eco-system” around each leader is meaningfully involved in

executive and other development initiatives. they realise that true leadership development requires all relevant parties to commit to developing leadership relationships, not just the individual leader in isolation.

Killing two birds with one stoneanother significant trend is the integration of leadership development and strategy execution into one coherent, accelerated process.

If leadership is the single most important factor in successfully implementing a new strategy (and experience suggests it is) it follows that leadership development initiatives should be closely connected with the process of doing just that. Building a programme of leadership development that accelerates the execution of corporate strategy and improves leadership performance is like killing two birds with one stone.

In our experience, integrated development kicks-off with top executives deciding what “best leadership” should look like when they begin the journey of implementing a new corporate strategy. then all managers, with the requisite support and preparation, conduct the process of identifying and closing the gaps between current leadership capabilities (both for themselves and also within their team or teams) and those demanded by the new strategy.

Getting much more for much lessthe economic crisis that began in 2008 has engendered an understandable theme in executive development: corporations are demanding much more from executive development but are prepared to pay much less for it. and while this has placed enormous pressure on providers of executive learning, it has also driven numerous innovations, many of which have been technology based.

however, it is still early days in the development of technology-based tools and concepts for facilitating and enabling behavioural change. In particular, e-learning programmes still struggle to capture the full commitment and attention from the learner in the way a face-to-face programme can.

Despite this, we are likely to see considerable advances in the world of virtual learning in coming years, which will enable a far deeper level of trust building and better two-way communication in the virtual setting, leading to greater commitment and learning.

a unique way of taking the best from a number of technologies and adapting it to an on-the-job, learner-centric and multi-location approach is a methodology called “Flexible Learning”.

Building a programme of leadership development that accelerates the execution of corporate strategy and improves leadership performance is like killing two birds with one stone


through it, clients, both individual and teams, experience more learning for less money. We discovered the key to success is to minimise face-to-face interventions while maintaining the same high learning output.

Flexible Learning achieves this via a virtual kick-off followed by an e-based competence screening for each participant. this helps them realise – for themselves – the competency gaps they have and which they need to close. For each individual a set of focused learning sources (e-learning modules, literature and webinars to name a few) is then identified according to their unique learning objectives.

What is around the corner?as the evolution of executive education and development gains momentum, it is interesting to anticipate what awaits us in the future. While most executive learning and development experts agree innovation will continue to be driven by an urge to improve the impact of executive learning for less expense, they expect this innovation to be focused on the nature of the content, not how it is delivered.

however, in our view, the field of content is not where the next significant breakthroughs in executive development will come.

Instead, we expect to see innovation in the creation of sustainable on-the-job learning, delivered in a way (and in a learning environment) where all parties in the leadership equation take an active role.

the key challenge is how to capture job-based, participant-led learning in a qualified and meaningful way. the key question is how to make on-the-job learning a deliberate act that will serve as a fact-based platform for more learning that is relevant to and can be readily shared with other managers. social media may be a feasible solution here.

From our studies in effective leadership development (Innovation in Leadership Development 2009 and the mannaz Global Leadership Survey, 2011) we have recognised the importance of learning being readily available to individual managers just-in-time to meet their specific, role-based needs. this objective is still a long way from being met and we are seeing the more traditional approaches of mentoring and coaching growing in demand.

however, we believe more platforms need to be discovered and developed in order to fulfil the need for learning “right when you need it”. according to the same studies, the concept of real-life/real-time experiential learning is regarded as one of the most powerful approaches to executive development. Consequently we expect the demand for this approach to grow as well.

executive development is not only about improving leadership and management competency in an organisation; it is also about creating an impact on overall business performance. therefore, we foresee another significant push for more sophisticated ways of ensuring both direct and

indirect impact on performance. this raises the perennial question: how to measure the effect of executive development.

We believe this will not be limited to mere bottom-line number crunching but will be inspired by work at the frontiers of behavioural science and how behavioural change is measured.

A revolutionary evolution?Recently, we have been working with one of the world’s largest multinationals investigating ways to “refresh” its development programmes. Its learning and development executives have asked potential vendors only to document the depth of their expertise in designing and delivering programmes of experiential learning. they did not expect any suggestions for learning solutions.

We are now into a stretching and mutually enriching design process with this organisation that will bring executive development to new heights and widen the gap with executive education even more.

this is how the frontiers of executive development are being pushed to new levels; leaving us in little doubt that executive development is in the midst of an exciting evolution that to some might appear quite revolutionary.

Executive development: evolutionary revolution by Jørgen Thorsell, Justin Bridge and Fiona Gardner

In our view, the field of content is not where the next significant breakthroughs in executive development will come

ABOUT THE AUTHORSJørgen Thorsell, Justin Bridge and Fiona Gardner are respectively CEO, Managing Director and Consultant at Mannaz, a consultancy specialising in capability development of executives and key employees.

Mannaz was founded in Denmark in 1975 under the name DIEU (Danish Engineers’ Post Graduate Institute) and is among Europe’s largest and oldest companies in this field.


CAN BUSINESS SCHOOLS PRESENT A NEW VISION OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION

FOR THE WORLD?

KATRIN MUFF BELIEVES THAT THROUGH THE 50+20 INITIATIVE

THEY CAN

39EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 201250+20 offers a clear vision by Katrin Muff

The World Business school Council of sustainable Business (WBsCsB, www.wbscsb.com) was founded at the academy of management in august 2010 as a think tank. We intended it to serve as a platform

for action to ensure the engagement of the business school community in the public discourse of transforming business and the economy towards a sustainable and just world.

In november 2010, when WBsCsB representatives met with the head of the united national (un) Global Compact in new York, the failure of the Rio+20 conference was widely anticipated.

there was concern about facing another Copenhagen. It would be up to civil society and business to try to save the day. But how? the un was looking for glimmers of hope. WBsCsB promised it would do the (almost) impossible and develop a radically new vision for management education in the 18 months until Rio 2012. We felt that maybe, just maybe, business educators could rise to the occasion and offer a meaningful contribution to a 20th anniversary of the Rio earth summit.

Back in 1992 that Rio summit had put sustainable development firmly on the global agenda. But while individual scholars have been active since, business schools as a community have failed to take part in the related public dialogue and change process. We felt the time was ripe to shift gear.

In January 2011, WBsCsB joined forces with the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) and the un-backed Principles of management education (PRme) and launched the 50+20 collaboration – 50 because the future of management education was last significantly examined 50 years ago with the Ford and Carnegie reports and +20 for the two decades since the Rio summit. (see more on who and what 50+20 is on www.50plus20.org or page 3 of the 50+20 agenda, www.50plus20.org/5020-agenda.)

But how does one go about creating a process and a journey that delivers a radically new vision as an end result? the following guiding principles helped:

- A radical vision: our aim was to set a vision that would serve as a lighthouse for the coming two decades, a vision that can be used as a reference to determine whether we are on the right path rather than a model of incremental improvements starting from our current reality

- Identifying paradigm shifts: a radical new vision assumes underlying paradigm shifts. these need to be both clearly articulated and placed in a larger interconnected context (a new kind of a world and society, a new role for business, and a transformation of the economic system)

- Enabling the vision: developing a new vision requires both insight into the future as well as understanding the challenges of the past and present. Visioning exercises and analysis were used in a complementary manner in five global sessions during 14 months involving more than 100 contributors

- Inclusive approach: it is unlikely that we (scholars, deans and directors) were going to develop something radically new. We had to involve concerned members of the larger community of business and management education (parents, students, alumni, business, nGOs, coaches and trainers, consultants, representatives of the planet and so on)

- Clarity of the audience: rather than trying to convince those who believe that the current ways and means are by and large OK, we decided to write a supporting and inspiring document for a strong minority that understands that our current system is based on flawed assumptions

50The 50+20 collaboration: 50 because the future of management education was last significantly examined 50 years ago with the Ford and Carnegie reports

20...and +20 for the two decades since the Rio summit, and the coming two decades the vision seeks to influence

Educating– Transformative learning– Issue-centered learning– Reflective practice and Fieldwork

Enabling– Research in service of society– Supporting companies towards

stewardship– Accompanying leaders in their

transformation

Engaging – Open access between academia

and practice– Faculty as public intellectuals– Institutions as role models

Collaboratory– As the preferred place for

stakeholders to meet– Where all three domains overlap

and where the vision truly comes alive

– Collaborative acion learning and research platforms organised around regional and global issues

Figure 1: The 50+20 Vision

Educating and developing globally Ł

responsible leaders

COLLABORATORY

Enabling business organisations to Łserve the common good

Engaging in the transformation of

business and the economy


to enable institutional change, we propose a simple gap analysis and as an accompanying process the methodology of the “collaboratory” (an open space for learning and research). this will ensure inclusion of stakeholders and the creation of a learning community committed to develop and co-create solutions that drive implementation.

the 50+20 vision represents a call to service and is embodied in the ability of holding and creating a space to provide responsibile leadership for the world. the collaboratory reflects this intention.

Beyond institutional change, there are a number of broader challenges that concern the entire sector. We have identified six areas of priority (more details in Figure 6 on page 31 of the 50+20 agenda, www.50plus20.org/5020-agenda) for implementation – these represent the key levers of change:

1. Faculty training and development (programmes for existing faculty as well as new PhD and DBa students, seconding faculty into activities that are important for society, pairing academic faculty with teachers of a professional background for new student learning environments)

2. Creating prototypes of the vision (secure funding for a number of new business schools to showcase the vision, launching “pop-up” business schools in emerging and developing countries, creating regional or issue-centred “collaboratories”)

3. Orienting research towards the common good (focus on inter- and trans-disciplinary, future-oriented research, creating leadership sanctuaries)

4. new measures for management education (a stakeholder-managed tool to rank business schools, developing criteria for assessing the contribution of research to society, new evaluation criteria for faculty)

5. Celebrating excellence (creating awards related to the enablers of the vision, celebrating the social engagement of faculty)

6. Professionalising the management of schools (executive development of existing administrative leaders so that they and their institutions can serve as role models).

These discussions led us to understand the paramount importance of proposing a process of engagement rather than ready-made solutions

such a radical vision has built-in advantages and disadvantages. While it potentially offers a clear direction to pursue, it does not necessarily offer concrete solutions on how to get there. the challenge lies in overcoming the implementation gap. Once we had a good sense of the vision, we started embracing this implementation challenge.

early on, and in the hope of sparking a dialogue, we established lists of concrete recommendations for all key stakeholder groups: the full range of providers of management education, clients and buyers such as business leaders and potential students, funders including policy makers, and influencers such as media, ranking and rating agencies, and accreditation bodies.

these discussions led us to understand the paramount importance of proposing a process of engagement rather than ready-made solutions. (the gap analysis is outlined in figure 5 on page 27 of the 50+20 agenda, (www.50plus20.org/5020-agenda.) some institutions may opt for a “tip toe” approach, testing the waters by implementing some suitable elements of the visions into an existing programme or structure. Other will opt for a “deep dive”, a full organisational commitment by making the vision the fundamental basis for

engagement in the fields of management education. some activities will focus on removing existing

barriers first, while others may be oriented

towards enabling innovative new solutions.

41EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 201250+20 offers a clear vision by Katrin Muff

So what is the 50+20 vision all about? We envision three new roles for management education. First, we refocus education to ensure that we educate and develop globally responsible leaders.

second, we transform research into an applied field, with the clear purpose of enabling business organisations to serve the common good.

third, we add a new role for management educators to engage in the transformation of business and the economy by joining the ongoing public debate. as such, our vision is represented by the philosophy of a collaboratory – an open space for learning and research for stakeholders.

Broadening the skills, experiences and competencies of faculty represents the single biggest lever in achieving the 50+20 vision. a number of competencies are currently significantly under-represented in business education. In ascending order of complexity they are:

– Interdisciplinary business knowledge across all subject disciplines, matched with knowledge of ethics, entrepreneurship, leadership, sustainability and technology

– a concern for broad, up-to-date, trans-disciplinary knowledge

– exposure to emerging practices and tools for measuring and evaluating economic, environmental and social concerns across all fields of business

– mastery of systemic thinking and risk analysis together with other approaches that enable holistic decision making in a fast-changing environment

– expertise in the methodologies of action learning and the creation of effective action learning platforms as well as whole-person learning and person-centred learning

– advanced facilitation, coaching and mentoring skills to complement traditional lectures

We anticipate a far greater diversity of educators and researchers, including discipline-oriented, trans-disciplinary, collaborative and practice-oriented faculty. In future, collaboration across disciplines and different occupations and life-styles will become the rule rather than the exception. Compensation, selection and promotion schemes for both education and research faculty will grow to reflect these requirements in a stimulating and transparent manner.

ABOUT THE AUTHORDr Katrin Muff is Dean and Programme Director for the DBA and Diploma in Sustainable Business of Business School Lausanne, and University St Gallen Switzerland. [email protected]

so what will the business school of the future look like? We have collected and reviewed many emerging examples and projects from around the world that point towards the emergence of our vision. these emerging benchmarks (see www.50plus20.org/benchmarks) may serve as inspiration and examples for those interested in implementing the vision. at my own school, our relatively new multi-stakeholder academic advisory board unanimously decided to “deep dive” into implementing the 50+20 vision so that our small boutique school may serve as a real-life learning platform.

You are invited to come and join us in the implementation, which we will set up as a real-life learning laboratory open for co-learners and creators. and, hopefully, we will hear from many other initiatives starting around the world. success to us at 50+20 is as many people as possible adopting and implementing the vision in their own ways.

so, have we achieved our mission in Rio? Our initiative quite obviously touched the participants at the PRme Global Forum and those who took part in the three parallel “collaboratory” on hunger, gender issues and anti-corruption we ran together with the related PRme working groups for the un Global Compact Global sustainability Forum. and our circular benches installation was quite an attraction at the People’s summit.

Yet, it remains to be seen if what we did was more than a storm in a teacup. What matters is what happens next. Join us in shaping a world worth living in and begin by investing eight minutes to watch the film: www.50plus20.org/film.

6The six key levers of change are:Faculty training

Creating protypes

Orientating research

New measures

Celebrating excellence

Professionalising


Inciting exciting insights Julie Davies looks back on five years of the International Deans’ Programme, a joint initiative between the Association of Business Schools and EFMD

The programme is designed to provide new deans with opportunities to network, gain exposure to different models, and, importantly, to re-energise and take time out to interact in debates on live challenges and plan their priorities with practising deans

43EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Inciting exciting insights by Julie Davies

D o business school deans take their own medicine? how do they make a difference? What keeps them sane? these are just some of the questions the International Deans’ Programme (IDP) seeks to address.

When I joined the association of Business schools (aBs) in 2006 I was surprised that most deans of British business schools were British nationals. this seemed odd given the diverse international faculty and student base of the units they led. One might expect a cadre of internationally mobile talent to be running world-leading institutions.

Britain’s talent pool for deans has diversified considerably since then, with 30% women and, for the first time, the business schools in Oxford and Cambridge universities have respectively appointed deans from harvard and InseaD.

aBs runs a suite of capacity-building programmes so it seemed natural to work with our partners eFmD on a development programme for new business school deans worldwide. We agreed to deliver the IDP over seven days in three modules, one outside europe. the programme is designed to provide new deans with opportunities to network, gain exposure to different models, and, importantly, to re-energise and take time out to interact in debates on live challenges and plan their priorities with practising deans.

We began the IDP on a dark rainy December morning on the shores of Lake Geneva with breakfast at ImD. It felt like a séance. Lesson number one – deans need to wine and dine for their schools so that is a good place to start an IDP conversation.

Indeed, a key message in the book Mastering Executive Education written by Paul strebel and tracey Keys, ImD faculty members, is the importance of tapping into executives’ emotions and real-world experiences.

the first activity on the IDP was for trios of deans to present the differences and similarities between their business schools. some were very guarded and reluctant to collaborate. Lesson number two – build up trust first.

thankfully, Peter Lorange, the inimitable then President of ImD, and his colleagues embraced the IDP. they volunteered candid insights into research-based thought leadership, faculty recruitment and remuneration, and ImD’s particular model of non-tenured faculty, minimal meetings and faculty team bonuses. Lesson number three – visiting a business school whose dean has been in post a long time and who is about to step down generates very open and lively discussions.

In planning for the second session of the first IDP, we asked ourselves where in the world might you find some of the highest concentrations of business schools. Boston seemed a logical option. We crammed in visits to Babson, Bentley, Boston university, harvard Business school, the offices of Harvard Business Review, mIt sloan and northeastern.


We were amazed at how distinctive they were and how some staff seemed to move with ease between them. By chance, we bumped into David Garvin at harvard as he was returning from a lunchtime swim and quizzed him over the case studies on the mBa in leading institutions, which hBs had commissioned for its 2008 centenary.

We were quite relieved after crossing the Charles River to mIt sloan that while the new dean there said he appreciated the value of case studies, he believed there was more to the mBa than hundreds of cases and that live student consultancy projects was just one alternative.

after this massachusetts marathon, IDP participants visited Lisbon, where we reflected on the development of the Lisbon mBa and business and management education on the periphery of europe.

For the second year we were immediately able to leverage our IDP alumni contacts. the general manager of training at Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, participated in the first IDP and invited us to Rio de Janeiro. here we had lively debates with colleagues from different Brazilian business and management education providers and a taste of samba dancing and caipirinhas (rum, sugar and lime for the uninitiated).

this was followed in madrid by inspiring sessions with santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, Dean of Ie Business school and President of Ie university, about their unique example of a private business school purchasing a university in segovia. We were fascinated by Ie’s teenage advisory board, their student induction sessions that include team sports and the launch of the Ie Brown executive mBa Program, which broke the six figure dollar tuition fee barrier.

the IDP has been to spain twice – a testament to what are now world-class private business schools in Barcelona, where Jordi Canals, Dean of Iese, has written books about business schools as has alfons sauquet, Dean of esaDe and an IDP alumnus.

since then IDP cohorts have visited Central europe and the Baltics, with thought-provoking discussions on executive education thanks to Danica Purg, President of IeDC in Bled, slovenia, and nerijus Pacesa, President of Ism university of management and economics in Lithuania.

the IDP has taken us to Cambridge Judge Business school and Cranfield school of management in Britain. We had a magical dinner in King’s College Cambridge with howard thomas as an after-dinner speaker before he embarked on his deanship on a third continent.

subsequently, we travelled to Beijing, where Rolf Cremer of CeIBs was opening its new campus and we compared the Cheung Kong Graduate school of Business model with the tsinghua university school of economics and management experience.

In 2011 we took IDP to north america for the second time with a visit to Philadelphia to explore Wharton, haub school of Business and Drexel university’s LeBow College of Business.

Clockwise from top left:

Danica Purg Peter Lorange McGill Santiago Iñiguez Laurent Batsch Harvard Business School Rolf Cremer


seeing George Yip at Rotterdam school of management a few weeks before he stepped down was useful as he could reflect frankly on his experiences as dean,

or “plate spinning” as he called it. In the netherlands we also met Ramon O’Callaghan at tiasnimbas, another leading european business school, with an interesting set up as a private company with shares owned by two universities.

In 2012, the IDP moved to IÉseG school of management’s site at the Grande arche in la Défense in Paris. at Paris-Dauphine university, President Laurent Batsch (an IDP alumnus) explained the formation of PsL Research university. We were similarly inspired by Peter todd, Dean of Desautels Faculty of management, and michel Patry, Director of heC montréal in Canada, for their negotiations with the provincial government and students and focus on nurturing a high-performance research culture. Finally in 2012, BI norwegian Business school hosted two insightful days where we focused on deans’ strategic priorities, how they manage their time and energies and on topics relating to technology in teaching, entrepreneurship and innovation.

In 2013, for the first time, the IDP is scheduled immediately prior to the eFmD Deans and Directors-General meeting in Istanbul so that new deans can get to know each other in a small group hosted by one of our alumni, Baris tan, at Koç university before joining the main event. IDP6 will also include visits to three business schools in singapore and two in Germany.

Inciting exciting insights by Julie Davies

Virginie heredia-Rosa at eFmD and I collaborate with a tremendous range of talented individuals on the IDP, both delegates and hosts. We are amazed at the hospitality and openness provided by the business schools we visit and the high-quality discussions generated. We are able to draw on topical debates in literature on business schools and historical developments and have developed a range of activities for IDP cohorts to work on separately as a group. Over time we have also compiled an amazon listmania for business school deans and Youtube interviews with deans about their roles (http://www.youtube.com/user/theaBsuK/feed).

We are getting better at briefing our hosts to minimise PowerPoint slides and classroom tours. IDP participants really want to discuss what it is to be a dean, to share and develop views on their current problems, such as how to attract and retain research-active faculty and to craft a clear brand relevant to key stakeholders in society beyond being milked as a “cash cow” or a narrow fixation with totemic a ranked journal publications.

as howard thomas and eric Cornuel suggest in their 2012 article (“Business schools in transition? Issues of impact, legitimacy, capabilities and re-invention”, Journal of Management Development, 31(4): 329-335), deans need to enhance their academic legitimacy and review ideas of business and management education in the context of changing business models that are driven by globalisation, sustainability, social media, cost efficiencies and effective delivery.

the IDP is evolving to match this complexity in uncertain times. We are working confidently with new generations of deans, as Flávio Carvalho de Vasconcelos, eBaPe, Brazil, says, “to exchange ideas and help gain perspectives on the complexities business schools face all over the world.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORJulie Davies is Deputy Chief Executive of the Association of Business Schools, London. Her email address is [email protected]

IDP participants really want to discuss what it is to be a dean, how to attract and retain research-active faculty, and to craft a clear brand relevant to key stakeholders in society beyond being milked as a “cash cow” or a narrow fixation with totemic A ranked journal publications

$$$IE’s launch of the IE Brown Executive MBA Program broke the six figure dollar tuition fee barrier (priced at $102,000 in 2013)


Being different: Ashridge’s new MBA

Martin Lockett looks at the experience of redesigning Ashridge’s MBA programmes

All faculty were invited to put forward their own proposals for modules in the new MBA, these had to be aligned with distinctive programme-level learning outcomes. No one was excluded, to make it clear that the new MBA was going to be different

47EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Being different: Ashridge’s new MBA by Martin Lockett

In a global marketplace with around 150 eQuIs- and ePas-accredited business schools offering mBas and thousands of other mBa programmes, differentiation is a challenge.

For Britain’s ashridge Business school this came into sharp focus when a 2009 internal quality review concluded controversially that its mBa had been innovative and was excellent but was probably not right for the future. the response was a major strategic review leading to new integrated full-time and part-time mBa programmes, which started in september 2012. this article shares our experience in rethinking the ashridge mBa and the challenges we and others faced in making it happen.

Stakeholders and design principlesa starting point was to involve many stakeholders in the design. Internally, this deliberately involved existing mBa faculty, others interested in working on the mBa and a few sceptical of the value of the mBa degree. Combined with alumni and others in corporate roles, participative working sessions evolved the principles of a new mBa.

Balancing “knowing”, “doing” and “being” was one of these principles rather than focusing on knowledge [Datar, Garvin & Cullen Rethinking the MBA, hBs Press, 2010]. this meant building on the strengths of existing programmes and ashridge’s 50-plus years of executive development experience – then going further.

We also benchmarked ourselves against a wide range of other business schools. What had differentiated our 2005 mBa design was no longer so distinctive. at least in their publicity, by 2010 other business schools were making similar claims about such themes as relevance and leadership. the design sessions were clear that we wanted to be different and needed to move quickly to do this.

a branding study reinforced the “be different” theme, which then became a design principle. this was part of attention to detail throughout the design process. For example, benchmarking showed that blue was the dominant colour of mBa brochures, so our old shade of blue went out in favour of aubergine and lime.

the review recognised successes elsewhere in ashridge that could be used on the new mBa. Our virtual masters in management, for example, had developed an online “Learning Zone” that won plaudits from eQuIs and Qaa peer review teams as well as the highest student feedback of any programme. Faculty were starting to internalise that virtual did not mean second best – so integrating an online Learning Zone with face-to-face learning became another core principle.

Last but by no means least was feedback from students. as well as reinforcing the need to maintain our distinctive strengths, they were also critical of aspects of current mBas. they questioned the relevance of hand-written exams and the primarily individual nature of assessments. they wanted a wider personal network rather than just those in their own year cohort. and they wanted more flexibility in when they could start – and potentially have the ability to move between full-time and part-time study if their personal circumstances changed.

Making it realBy 2011, a clear vision with broad support had evolved. Converting that vision into reality became the challenge. many faculty wanted to be involved but did not have the time to help in all aspects of the design. as a result, a two-level structure emerged: a core design team that focused on the whole with faculty and other working groups on specific topics. around 40 faculty and staff have been involved.

In doing this, all faculty were invited to put forward their own proposals for modules in the new mBa. these had to be aligned with distinctive programme-level learning outcomes. no one was excluded, to make it clear that the new mBa was going to be different. some modules had competitive bids from which choices had to be made. some modules had a single bid that was reviewed and challenged after review by the core team. and one needed a search for new faculty to fill the gap.

the core team developed the vision into more concrete principles that were applied across the whole programme. this covered many areas, two of which are highlighted here: the overall programme design; and the innovative learning approach that permeates the new mBa.


Be different. We are.

Rigorous. Relevant. Real. The Ashridge MBA.

MB

A/E

MB

A

Overall programme designembedding nearly all the design principles in an mBa that could actually work in practice was a major task. the outcome, though, was closer to the vision than most believed would be possible. It included:

Networks and diversity: to enlarge personal networks and increase the geographical diversity of each class, full-time mBa students (most from outside europe) mix for much of the time with part-time (primarily european) emBa students

Flexibility: with six-month blocks of modules, entry can be half-yearly rather than annually. the learning design has 12 “sequence independent” modules that complement each other and could be studied in any order

Location independence: the mBa can be run in multiple locations, initially at ashridge, a great reflective learning environment, and in London, a leading business city, as well as the one week International Business experience

Group and individual: both learning activities and assessment mix individual and group activity, reflecting the reality of organisational life where not all success can be measured individually and you do not always choose colleagues

Disciplines and integration: as well as eight core subjects, there are four integrative modules on embedding sustainability, leading change, managing globally and creating value that integrate disciplines and include live cases

General management perspective: there is always more than enough potential content. the choice was made to reduce coverage of the internals of functions, so detailed hR content has given way to what every manager needs in order to manage people and change

Personalisation: rather than electives based on faculty preferences, the approach is to offer individuals opportunities to choose specific topics in their assignments (usually their own organisation in the part-time emBa) as well as having full choice over the project work that counts for one-third of the final marks

Masterclasses: run every two months, they provide an opportunity to spend a day with academics and practitioners outside the mBa faculty on current topics, increasingly chosen by students themselves

Professional development: as well as a core “personal impact” module, there is a “professional development” module to help students manage themselves, individuals and teams as well as with an optional “employability” module on post-mBa careers.

Masterclasses run every two months, they provide an opportunity to spend a day with academics and practitioners outside the MBA faculty on current topics, increasingly chosen by students themselves

49EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Being different: Ashridge’s new MBA by Martin Lockett

Innovative learning approacha clear learning strategy was set out that would be integral to the mBa. Based on ashridge research into executive learning as well as experience from the virtual masters in management, this strategy was:– “Knowledge transfer” is online in advance

of class sessions– Face-to-face class sessions are 100%

interactive– assessment methods reflect what happens

in the “real” world– all learning resources are online.

this meant a significant change from a teaching style where little work other than some pre-reading was done before a topic was covered in class. In the new mBa students will have a range of resources in the Learning Zone that they need to use before a session, including online presentations by faculty giving overviews of the subject.

Face-to-face time builds on this knowledge, developing understanding and analysing key concepts. application is critical, initially in a “safer” in-house environment, then moving to live consultancy work with real organisations. In addition, assessment was changed from a “one size fits all” style dominated by individual assignments and exams. now it is more varied, with a mix of group and individual assessment with the style dependent on the module.

this approach can be seen as ‘4as’ as shown in the diagram below: absorb, analyse, apply and adapt.

In terms of learning resources, the principle is “anytime, anyplace, anywhere” – which was ruthlessly plagiarised from the 1980s martini advertising campaign. anyone looking up these old tV adverts on Youtube will find what looks like an iPad on a beach, which is now the reality of the 2010s.

so we wanted students to have access to all that they needed 24/7, at home, work, when travelling or on the beach. as a result, physical books or articles have been almost eliminated from reading lists – which include e-books, articles from electronic databases and ashridge resources in the Learning Zone. Despite some faculty and librarian scepticism, “anytime, anyplace, anywhere” has been achieved.

What’s in the Learning Zone– Online faculty presentations– Programme calendar– Reading lists clicking through to e-books,

journal databases and websites– Other programme learning materials– Discussion groups– study skills – both general and mBa-specific– Programme handbook and documentation– up-to-date feeds of selected news and articles

on subject areas– ‘Virtual ashridge’ – an extensive virtual resource

library

Challenges and lessonsDeveloping a new, different mBa has been a big challenge. While most issues have been resolved, some remain – such as integrating recognition for virtual resource development into faculty performance management systems. We will also monitor whether we should move more of the programme to London.

What has we learned that may be useful to others? seven lessons stand out, though there are many more:1. Don’t be complacent – review your strategy

before it gets outdated2. spend time developing the vision with a wide

range of stakeholders3. Don’t just rely on the old team, bring in new

people and new thinking4. Keep student experience at the heart of design5. Give faculty freedom to innovate within clear

design principles6. use a core team to ensure programme

coherence7. Look for synergies in virtual content across

programmes.

the result has been a new mBa that responds to the needs of the next generation of mBa students.

ABOUT THE AUTHORMartin Lockett is Dean of Academic Development at Ashridge Business School

Absorb key concepts in Learning Zone

Analyse together in the ‘classroom’

Apply live in organisations

Adapt reflecting on practice


TEACHING sUsTAINAbIlITY TO TOMORROW’s lEADERs

ESMT considers sustainability and responsible leadership essential components of a 21st century business education that develops responsible and entrepreneurial leaders who think globally, act responsibly and respect the individual

How can we make managers globally responsible leaders attuned to the needs of sustainability? CB Bhattacharya explains how one school is trying

51EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Teaching sustainability to tomorrow’s leaders by CB Bhattacharya

The clamour for business schools to educate their graduates not only as managers but also as responsible leaders is increasing

in volume. there is a cry for academics and executives to change mindsets and follow new paths that enable more balance and greater stability. We need managers who implement strategies that are not only profitable but also account for the wellbeing of the planet and its people.

the european school of management and technology (esmt) in Berlin sees itself at the frontline of this transition. We have embedded, and continue to embed, tenets of sustainability and responsible leadership into various aspects of our life including teaching, research, thought leadership and, slowly but surely, lifestyle.

esmt has identified three broad research and teaching areas to distinguish ourselves as an institution: – european competitiveness – management of technology – sustainability and responsible leadership

esmt considers sustainability and responsible leadership essential components of a 21st century business education that develops responsible and entrepreneurial leaders who think globally, act responsibly and respect the individual.

this is shown in a number of ways, including the e.On Chair in Corporate Responsibility (currently held by the author), an mBa sustainability track, a mandatory sustainable business class in our mBa and emBa programmes and the sustainable Business Roundtable, which brings together practitioners and academics in a common forum to discuss strategies for increasing sustainability practices within companies.

esmt was placed 29th worldwide and 4th in europe in the aspen Institute’s 2011 Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking. We are also in the initial stages of measuring our own environmental and social footprint.


Our mBa programme offers a variety of core courses, including business ethics and business in society, that directly or indirectly address sustainability and corporate responsibility issues. more specifically, the Global sustainable Business track offers a core course, sustainable Business, and a set of electives (Fighting Poverty with Business, Corporate environmental strategy, sustainable supply Chain management, Global Growth engines and a field seminar in an emerging economy).

Informal research conducted on our student body shows that the school’s focus on sustainability is an important attraction for prospective students irrespective of whether this is their academic and/or professional focus.

the sustainable Business course is taught by the author in the second quarter of the year, before students choose their electives. It is designed to facilitate issue-centred learning and to use functional knowledge and expertise to help resolve major societal, environmental and economic issues.

students learn that when done correctly, sustainability initiatives can affect positive change for our planet and its people and contribute to financial wellbeing (profit).

Figure 1 illustrates that the goal of sustainability can only be accomplished through the symbiotic work of multiple actors – companies, consumers, social entrepreneurs, regulators and so on. While the first half of the course focuses on corporate responsibility, the second half discusses the role of other actors.

specifically, the course aims at helping students:1) understand current challenges and opportunities

in sustainability with particular attention on the role of multiple actors

2) assess reactions to sustainability initiatives from various stakeholder perspectives (customer, employee, supplier, nGO, regulators)

3 grasp the conditions under which sustainability initiatives yield positive business and social returns

4) evaluate the effectiveness of sustainability strategies.

throughout the course, students are encouraged to view sustainability and corporate responsibility initiatives through the lens of the stakeholder so that they emerge as leaders who can leverage the power of business to create social and environmental value. (Bhattacharya, C B, s sen, and D Korschun (2011). Leveraging corporate responsibility: The stakeholder route to maximizing business and social value, united Kingdom: Cambridge university Press,IsBn 978-1-107-40152-5.)

Importantly, throughout the course, students question the dominant market paradigm and are given room to think about alternatives.

Pedagogically, the course blends theory and practice in a way that emphasises both critical thinking and experiential learning. this is accomplished through multiple components.

First, articles, guest lectures and case studies expose students to theories and principles that can be applied to formulate, implement and evaluate sustainability initiatives through the entire value chain – from procurement to disposal.

second, via a series of real-world group consultancy projects, mini-workshops, presentations, simulations and role-play, students analyse the sustainability strategy and performance of companies to discover first-hand the mechanisms by which sustainability initiatives yield both business and social returns. through this healthy dose of experiential learning, which includes acting as social change agents in their group projects, students are exposed to the complexity of problems, inherent trade-offs, ambivalence and the difficulty of defensible decision making in this field.

Research conducted on our student body shows that the school’s focus on sustainability is an important attraction for prospective students irrespective of whether this is their academic and/or professional focus

Figure 1:

SUSTAINBILITY:PeOPLe / PLanet / PROFIt

GOVts

CIVIL sOCIetY

shaRe- hOLDeRs

meDIa

sCIentIsts CustOmeRs CORPs nGOs

CRResPOnsIBLe COnsumeRIsm

sOCIaL entRePR/shIP

53EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Teaching sustainability to tomorrow’s leaders by CB Bhattacharya

here are three examples of the different kinds of things we do in the course:

1) at the outset, we play the FishBanks simulation (meadows, D L, 2004, FishBanks, Ltd. the Laboratory for Interactive Learning, Durham, usa), where several student groups act as independent fishing companies that aim at achieving the greatest possible assets by the end of the game. the final assets equal the accumulated bank balance plus the salvage value of ships. the game helps illustrate the “tragedy of the Commons” phenomenon (hardin, G, 1968, “the tragedy of the Commons”. science 162: 1243-1248), which is then linked to a variety of problems facing the world today.

2) a second illustrative example is the exxonmobil case (Werhande, P, J mead, R, Freeman and a Wicks (2003). “exxonmobil and the Chad/Cameroon Pipeline (a)”, Darden Business Publishing. uVa-e-0262), which documents the case of exxonmobil pondering whether it ought to continue with or withdraw from its plan of building oil pipelines through Chad/Cameroon. students assume different roles such as the exxonmobil management, exxonmobil stockholders, Chad/Cameroon citizens or its government, the World Bank, environmental groups, indigenous people and Western europe oil consumers. By bringing the hot topic of building pipelines in poor (and poorly governed) countries to the classroom, and by viewing the situation from the stakeholders’ vantage point by virtue of the role play, students get a better handle on the complexity of real world decision making in this field.

3) the third and final example deals with the real world projects students conduct in the course where they not only get a healthy dose of “learning by doing” but also see how they can enable social change. the projects come from a mix of non-profit (for example, World Wildlife Federation, my Finance Coach) and for-profit (allianz, microsoft) organisations and typically deal with strategic issues.

For example, one project for media giant axel springer dealt with the question of what it should do to combat the potential backlash from nGOs and activists given that the digital devices via which media content is increasingly viewed contain “conflict minerals” such as tantalum, tungsten, tin ore and gold mined in the Congo and other sensitive areas. these projects bring students into close contact with company personnel (often the corporate responsibility or sustainability manager) and usually entail secondary research as well as some primary data collection from relevant stakeholder groups to come up with an analysis and set of recommendations.

While the course as well as the topic of sustainability is generally off to a good start at esmt, there is of course much scope for improvement, including:

1) Building linkages to other disciplines Given the inherent interdisciplinary nature of the topic of sustainability, it would be good to build stronger linkages to non-business disciplines such as political science and philosophy.

2) Integrating sustainability through the entire curriculum

the message surrounding sustainable business would be far more powerful if key concepts were integrated more strongly into courses on finance, marketing, operations and the like.

3) Increasing cross-fertilisation across knowledge forums

there is no systematic interaction between mBa students and the esmt sustainable Business Roundtable (sBRt). the sBRt provides a learning platform that combines the latest academic insight with best business practices to develop leading-edge concepts that produce a “sustainability advantage” for businesses. Currently, managers from 17 companies participate in two meetings per year and it would be good from a learning perspective to actively engage students in these meetings.

Importantly, throughout the course, students question the dominant market paradigm and are given room to think about alternatives

ABOUT THE AUTHORProfessor CB Bhattacharya is Dean of International Relations and E.ON Chair in Corporate Responsibility at the ESMT European School of Management and Technology, Berlin, Germany.


Renewing Mediterranean roots

Didier Jourdan and Nassim Belbaly explain how a new Mediterranean Schools of Management Consortium will strengthen the Mediterranean region

The competitiveness of the management education market in europe, and especially in

France, leaves medium-level business schools no choice other than to follow innovative strategies to sustain their development.

Given that mainstream strategy is focused on achieving strong budgets, reputation, alumni power, and european and international recognition in term of scholars, students, executive education and so on, medium-level business schools are left with three choices:– find partner/s to merge with in order

to reach a similar budget as the main european players so they can compete with the same level of financial resources

– find alternative strategies to differentiate themselves and play a leading role in a specific area

– let go their ambitions to play at a european and international level and concentrate more on national objectives with some european and international activity

montpellier Business school (mBs), however, has chosen an innovative strategy to continue and sustain its positive evolution in management education. this strategy is mainly based on the setting up of the mediterranean schools of management Consortium with an emphasis on managerial innovation, defined as the introduction of practices and management methods

new to a company with the aim of sustainably improving its overall performance.

mBs has adopted and implemented managerial innovation as a positioning by integrating it in its pedagogical processes, curriculum development, intellectual contributions, staff organisation and corporate relationships at national, mediterranean and european levels.

this strategy finds its sources first in the geographical location of montpellier. the city is at the heart of the mediterranean basin. It was a former trading post for spices, a place of pilgrimage and a centre of learning in the fields of medicine and law. this has ensured it constant prosperity and a shared mediterranean history. strategically, the mediterranean region’s attractiveness comes from the 30 countries that border its coast, 25% of worldwide maritime traffic, 30% of petroleum traffic and a steady regional growth.

Recent changes and opportunities such as the so-called arab spring, financial crises and population growth in the mediterranean region are the main drivers propelling mBs to increase its involvement in management education in the area.

In parallel with the development of the consortium, other actions by mBs include the creation of a recruitment

55EFMD Global Focus | Volume 06 | Issue 03 2012Renewing Mediterranean roots by Didier Jourdan & Nassim Belbaly

centre for students, developing student and faculty exchange programmes, customised executive programmes, establishing links with the business community and the recruitment of a dedicated professional to deal with mediterranean relationships.

the mediterranean schools of management Consortium is a network of institutions of management education in mediterranean countries and institutions with the desire to acquire excellence in management education. three business schools have already expressed their intention of joining the consortium: mBs (France), IsCae (morocco) and the university of Bari (Italy). Other business schools, in algeria, tunisia, Greece, turkey and egypt are in the process of negotiation.

the consortium aims to contribute to the economic, social, environmental and sustainable development of countries in this geographic area.

It will become a dedicated space for meetings to share experiences and jointly develop advances characterised by managerial innovation in all its forms but with a constant concern for pragmatism, ie the applicability of management sciences.

this innovative and motivational project will focus on training tomorrow's mediterranean managers while inventing new ways of transmitting business-specific knowledge and skills as well as connecting mediterranean countries with other international economic centres.

It will also enhance the international visibility of management disciplines (teaching and research) in mediterranean countries and the recognition of their role and influence as an essential driver of the sustainable

economic development of the mediterranean world’s peoples, cultures and territories.

It will inevitably create strong and lasting relationships between the various mediterranean countries, beyond the differences that may characterise them.

Finally, it will help establish a better understanding of mediterranean countries by focusing on cultural, social and environmental factors crucial to future developments. to support this initiative, the business schools comprising the consortium will meet twice a year in one of the management schools in the mediterranean basin. the meetings will focus on topics promoting a better understanding of the respective higher education systems in management education (differences, similarities, shared orientations and so on).

these meeting will therefore facilitate co-operation between academic institutions in different mediterranean countries and will develop transnational co-operation themes and initiatives in research and in undergraduate, graduate and executive educational programmes.

The consortium will strengthen programme efficiency by:– Developing and implementing joint

bachelors and masters degree programmes. a French-language emBa in mediterranean managerial Innovation will be launched for the academic year 2012/2013 in morocco and later in other countries so that future students may follow the courses in different locations in the mediterranean area. this programme will allow future managers, from distinct economic, social and cultural

background, to enrich their worldview and acquire a network that will be effective in the business world.

– sharing teaching methods, particularly educational innovations, and implementing processes and initiatives to improve teaching practices.

– Creating an alumni network of consortium members to act as ambassadors for mediterranean countries.

– establishing a network of business incubators with mediterranean business schools.

The consortium will also facilitate research outputs by:– establishing joint research teams

on managerial innovation in the mediterranean and launching joint research programmes on various topics in this field.

– exchanging faculty and business partners as part of joint research programmes and organising joint educational programmes supported by shared research from different institutions.

– Organising workshops and conferences on managerial innovation in the mediterranean region.

– establishing a joint chair of managerial innovation in the mediterranean.

– Creating a Consortium doctoral degree in "mediterranean managerial innovation”.

– Developing training programmes on research methodologies for international researchers on mediterranean topics.

ABOUT THE AUTHORSDr Didier Jourdan and Dr Nassim Belbaly are respectively Dean and Academic Director of Montpellier Business School, France.

The consortium aims to contribute to the economic, social, environmental and sustainable development of countries in this geographic area


Upcoming events

EFMD 2012 | www.efmd.org/events

October 2012

2012 EFMD Africa ConferenceDates / Venue

11-12 October / nairobi, Kenyatheme

sustainable Business education appropriate for africahOst

strathmore Business school and university of nairobi

November 2012

2012 EFMD Conference in the MENA RegionDates / Venue

4-6 november / Beirut, Lebanontheme

Business schools in the mena Region – empowering the next Generation of LeadershOst

american university of Beirut, Olayan school of Business

EFMD Advisory SeminarDates / Venue

21 november / Brussels, Belgiumtheme

Risk managementhOst

eFmD

EFMD Quality Services Information SessionDates / Venue

29 november / moscow, Russiatheme

Introduction to eFmD and its accreditation and mentoring systems: eQuIs, ePas and DaFhOst

Lomonosov moscow state university Business school

November 2012

CEIBS – EFMD ConferenceDates / Venue

29-30 november / Beijing, Chinatheme

Innovative Business in China and europehOst

CeIBs

December 2012

2012 EFMD Conference on Master ProgrammesDates / Venue

3-5 December / Limerick, Ireland theme

master Programmes – Do they Deliver?hOst

Kemmy Business school, university of Limerick

EFMD Advisory SeminarDates / Venue

12 December / Brussels, Belgiumtheme

Designing and Implementing an Internationalisation strategyhOst

eFmD

January 2013

2013 International Deans' Programme (IDP) Module 1Dates / Venue

29-30 January / Istanbul, turkeyhOst

Koç university school of Business

2013 EFMD Deans & Directors General ConferenceDates / Venue

31 January - 1 February / Istanbul, turkeytheme

making things happenhOst

Koç university school of Business

March

2013 EFMD Entrepreneurship ConferenceDates / Venue

4-5 march / madrid, spaintheme

empowering entrepreneurs for GrowthhOst

eOI Business school

2013 EFMD Conference for International, External and Corporate Relations, PR, Marketing, Communication and Alumni ProfessionalsDates / Venue

14-15 march / hong Kong, ChinahOst

the university of hong Kong, Faculty of Business and economics

May 2013

EFMD Higher Education Research Conference 2013Dates / Venue

23-24 may / Paris, FrancehOst

université Paris Dauphine

June 2013

2013 EFMD Annual ConferenceDates / Venue

9-11 June / Brussels, BelgiumhOst

eFmD

For more detailed information, please visit our website www.efmd.org or email [email protected]

Roger L. Martin, CA Dean Rotman School of Management

Dan Shechtman, IL 2011 Nobel Laureate

SpeakerS include:

Paul Polman, UK CEO Unilever

Thomas Sattelberger, DE Vice-President Board of Trustees, EFMD

Lynda Gratton, UK Prof. of Management Practice, LBS

Patrick Deconinck, BE Senior Vice President, West Europe 3M

Umair Haque, UKDirector, Havas Media Labs and author

John A. Quelch, CN Vice President and Dean, CEIBS

Adrian Wooldridge, UKManagement Editor, The Economist

Peter Solmssen, DEMember of the Managing Bord, Siemens AG

New horizons for managersCapitalism 2.0

«Capitalism as a social order and as a creed is the expression of the belief in

economic progress as leading toward the freedom and equality of the individual

in the free and equal society,…»Peter F. Drucker

The End of Economic Man

E U R O P E

P E T E R D R U C K E R S O C I E T Y E U R O P E I N C O - O P E R A T I O N W I T H T H E D R U C K E R I N S T I T U T E P R E S E N T S

NOVEMBER 15 – 16

regiStration & More inforMation: www.druckerforum.org

Corporate Social Responsibility Sponsored by IE Business School, ES

Entrepreneurship Sponsored by E.M. Lyon, FR

Family Business Sponsored by The Family Business Network International, CH and International Family Enterprise Research Academy, CY

Supply Chain Management Sponsored by BEM Bordeaux – ISLI Global Supply Chain Management, FR

Finance and Banking Sponsored by Toulouse Business School, FR

Emerging Chinese Global Competitors Sponsored by School of Business, Renmin University of China, CN

Public Sector Innovations Sponsored by Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, CA

Responsible Leadership Sponsored by University of San Diego School of Business Administration, USA

Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues Sponsored by Euromed Management, FR

African Business Cases Sponsored by China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), CN

Indian Management Issues and Opportunities Sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing Ltd

Inclusive Business Models Sponsorship opportunity

MENA Business Cases Sponsored by HEC Paris in Qatar

Latin American Business Cases Sponsored by Universidad Externado de Colombia, CL

Best of the Best Award in collaboration with ECCH

EFMD would like to thank all of the sponsors for their support of the Case Writing Competition in 2012

EFMD CASE WRITING COMPETITION 2012

Future sponsorship For information on sponsorship for future competitions, please contact Ines Proença [email protected]

Review the cases To review the winning cases and find out more please visit: www.efmd.org/case

BE THE SPONSOR

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

B-SchoolsFour things business really really wants

Programme guideAshridge launches a new MBA

Evolving changeNew ways to train leaders

Uncertain timesConfusion and uncertainty over MBAs

High fiveCelebrating five years of the IDP

Club MedMediterranean schools get together

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Global Focus


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Cox steers a new course for business schoolsSue Cox discusses her new role as an EFMD vice-president

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EFMD Global Focus Magazine Volume 6, Issue 3