AACSB Top 17 Stories From 2017

As we count down the final days of 2017 and begin looking forward to the new initiatives, relationships, and opportunities 2018 will bring, we take a quick glance back at the stories that resonated most with our global audience. Some strong themes emerged, particularly in the areas of sustainability and lifelong learning, which we imagine will have an even stronger foothold in the years to come, given their importance to the entire business education ecosystem and impact on global society. We also see continued interest in the ever-important connections between business education and business practice.

Approaching the new year with optimism and zeal, we are already thinking of new ways we can continue to shed light on the broad diversity of topics and issues in global business education, and as always we look forward to including your perspectives. Here are the stories that were most viewed in 2017:

1. The Sustainable Future of Management Education
   How would you create new generations of graduates, and faculty, with the confidence needed to meet our ever-growing sustainability challenges, which are also increasingly businesses challenges?
2. 8 Questions Executives Should Ask Business School Deans
   By asking business school deans eight targeted questions, business executives can jump-start a mutually beneficial relationship and help make business education stronger and more relevant.
3. Business Schools Confronting a De-Globalized World
   Business schools today face a historic opportunity to reinvent their mission and reposition their activities to influence the transformation of global society.
4. Collecting Credentials: The New Market for Just-in-Time Education
   As more universities and alternate providers begin offering a wider array of credentials, both learners and employers are struggling to understand what any certificate is worth.
5. Business Schools Deliver Lifelong Education
   Today’s students expect to pursue learning continuously over the course of their careers. How can business schools be the go-to source for these lifetime learners?
6. Programs Send Alumni Back to School
   Business schools offer a range of specialized offerings that help alums and working professionals continue to upgrade their skills.
7. Why Business Education Should Include Human Rights Issues
   Human rights challenges pose serious reputational and operational risks for corporations. Are business schools adequately preparing graduates to manage these matters?
8. How Business Schools Are Collaborating With Business
   The outpouring of business school innovations that demonstrate engagement with business underscores a positive shift occurring between industry and academia. Here we share three examples.
9. Criticism of Business School Rankings Thrust Into Spotlight
   In a Decisions Sciences article, 21 business education administrators and researchers break down the fundamental flaws of business school rankings and recommend collective action.
10. Polish, Practice, Prepare
    A professional development program at Tennessee Tech helps ready students for the workplace.
11. How We Talk About Responsible Management Education
    Teaching responsible management requires more than adding "sustainability" or "ethics" to a course title. Sustainability, ethics, and corporate social responsibility relate to everything that is taught and should be taught in a business degree.
12. MBA Soft Skills: A Hard Approach for a Softer Workplace
    For most employers, being “book smart” is no longer enough. Whose role is it to prepare business students with the necessary skills to bridge business education to business practice?
13. 5 Reasons for Optimism About Business School Research
    Despite discouraging attitudes toward business school research, five positive developments are signaling a broader movement toward greater relevance and impact.
14. Accelerators for Female Entrepreneurs
    Innovations at two business schools demonstrate ways more women are being encouraged to enter the marketplace as entrepreneurs.
15. Business and Business School Collaborations: Working Toward Sustainability
    Sustainability provides new opportunities for businesses to further engage business schools. Business and academia are coming together to explore solutions to current and future challenges.
16. Students as Consumers: Understanding Candidate Motivations
    President and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council^®, Sangeet Chowfla, sits down with Dan LeClair of AACSB and discusses treating potential business school students as consumers when recruiting.
17. Is There an Ideal Length for an MBA Program?
    Representatives from three business schools debate whether an MBA program should last one year, 16 months, or two years.