Leading Boldly in Business Education

• To lead boldly, business schools should identify significant local and regional challenges and collaborate with multiple stakeholders to find effective solutions.
• Leading boldly involves shifting from a narrow focus on shareholder profits to one that considers the well-being of all stakeholders, including communities and the planet.
• Business schools should explore innovative, flexible learning environments that extend beyond traditional classrooms, adapting to the changing needs of learners and businesses.

Transcript

Simon Mercado: [0:15] Leading boldly means leading for change, leading for the public good, leading for positive societal impact.

[0:24] That's something that we can only achieve working together as a community with a collective value proposition of business schools working with multiple stakeholders, government, NGOs, companies, and, of course, within our own communities to really affect progressive education, knowledge generation, and outreach activities.

Sherif Kamel: [0:53] Leading boldly is a very promising, ambitious, and interesting drive. It's very important for business schools at this time and age. Business schools, to be able to do what they do best, which is to create knowledge and shape the leaders of tomorrow, they need to remain current and they need to remain relevant.

[1:15] To do that, they need to have a consistent look at their academic triangle of teaching, and learning, research service including community development, and see how they reflect the developments that are taking place.

For business schools to be able to do what they do best, which is to create knowledge and shape the leaders of tomorrow, they need to remain current and they need to remain relevant.

Ian Williamson: [1:30] For me, in a business school context, to be bold means you're focusing in on the problems, the big issues, that your community around you locally or regionally is facing. What are those things that are impacting not just economic outcomes, but social outcomes in a community? How can we as a business school address that issue?

[1:49] Obviously, we're going to do that by shaping business. How are those issues impacting the businesses that serve or could be serving that community? Then, what is it that we possess, our research skill sets, our pedagogy, our resources more broadly that we can bring to bear to support those businesses, to support that broader region to be successful?

Ann Harrison: [2:11] If you look back a hundred years ago, the role of business leaders and the role of business schools was actually much broader. It was not just to equip leaders to be successful in business, but it was also to equip leaders to take care of their communities, to take care of their planet, to take care of their people.

[2:32] It's interesting in the 1930s, '40s, '50s, that goal somehow fell by the wayside. The focus became really narrow. It became primarily on, I would say, shareholder profits. When I think of let's lead boldly, I think of going back to a model where we care not just about the shareholders, but we also care about the stakeholders.

There is such a potential amongst business education as a whole to make a difference, and there's a need. If you pull those two things together, it can be powerful.

Bill Imada: [2:59] Leading boldly for this organization might be to look at the classroom as a mobile place, a place that could be anywhere. It could be in an office space, in a living room, in a church, mosque, or temple.

[3:14] One way to lead boldly is to look at the classroom as a place that's organic. Something that's pliable and movable that changes each and every day. If we can move to a different format in terms of a classroom, that would be one example of how we could lead boldly.

Geoff Perry: [3:32] Business schools is a really powerful component of higher education throughout the world. They tend to be large within their organizations. They're preparing graduates to go out and be leaders to work in a wide range of businesses, policy groups, nonprofit government organizations, etc.

[3:56] There is such a potential amongst business education as a whole to make a difference, and there's a need. If you pull those two things together, it can be powerful. To do that, the business schools as a whole need to lead boldly.