Vol.09 Issue 01 - '15 Archives - GlobalFocus

Professor Francis has a headache; in fact a number of headaches. As Deputy Dean of Programmes in a well-credentialed business school, he manages a core of full-time faculty and a large cohort of part-time Adjuncts servicing graduate, undergraduate and executive education programmes. With face-to-face, online and intensive courses, his job is complex and often unpredictable.…

Charles Handy, like Peter Drucker, has always sought to identify the ‘clouds of change’ threatening society. Here he identifies one such possible threat – the dysfunctional behaviour of our large corporations. One of [Peter Drucker’s] skills was his ability to spot the clouds of change in society while they were still far off on the…

Soumitra Dutta explains why business schools must take the lead in creating managers who can harness the power of business and technology to improve the world and how one school is aiming to do just that. In July 2013 the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University took a bold step, announcing…

David Dotlich explains why leaders who are ‘unfinished’ – adaptable, collegiate, and always ready and willing to learn – are the ones who will succeed in today’s complex and paradoxical business world. Recently, Pivot Leadership ran an executive programme for the top leaders of one of the world’s largest and most successful companies. Each participant…

Dan Pontefract demonstrates how true partnership between business and academia can create learning opportunities that benefit an organisation, its employees and the academic institution itself. Innovation is an interesting concept. For many people it presupposes a “aha” or “eureka” moment in order for something new to have been created. Others (wrongly) pronounce ad nauseam that…

An increasing number of pundits argue that the business school sector has entered a process of homogenisation – that diversity as we know it is dying a slow and inescapable death. Ulrich Hommel examines the evidence and analyses the possible impact it may have on accreditation systems. Respecting diversity is one of the core values…

Most students love the buzzy, busy atmosphere of an MBA programme. But is it the right way to teach them the soft skills, particularly leadership, that employees say they want? Dianne Lynne Bevelander and David Bond suggest that ‘mindfulness’ courses may be the answer. Are business schools teaching leadership effectively? Some critics have argued that…

“Socially Responsible Scholarship”, Anne S Tsui suggests how business school scholars can overcome the growing criticism of irrelevant and self-serving research. For the past 25 years, business school research has been criticised for its serious disconnection from the world of business practice and for being an insulated and self-serving activity on the part of both…

Alessandra Ginante argues that companies must do more to meet the personal needs and ambitions of their managers if they expect them to perform effectively. In today’s knowledge-based, complex and ever-changing business environment it is paramount for ,organisations to have highly qualified professionals if they are fully to realise their economic growth opportunities. Yet the…

The ‘digital generation’ are roughly 30 or younger. As they arrive in a workplace dominated by the non-digital generation, one thing becomes clear, says Teresa Martini. They are challenged when it comes to communication skills. What makes the “digital generation” different? It is widely known that while the non-digital generation adopted the use of technology,…

Martine Van den Poel and Graham Ward describe the unique advantages of small group coaching in leadership development. Individual coaching for leadership development has slowly but surely made its way into many organisations around the world, with professional coaches helping executives assess their leadership challenges, change their behaviours and become more authentic leaders. More recently,…

David Oglethorpe argues that business schools need to embrace social responsibility more enthusiastically than they have done so far. Last year’s EFMD publication Securing the Future of Management Education by Thomas, Lee, Thomas and Wilson made plain that business and management education needed a paradigm shift. The publication drew together a narrative that implied business…

As the Asian economy develops and the environment changes, Alison Lloyd suggests there is a need to bring about a renewal of business education. Business schools are often criticised for failing to provide students with the right competencies, in particular a strong ethical framework. Such failures are often attributed to the lack of integration between…

David Bogle highlights some of the key changes that have occurred in PhDs (and more that are to come) and their particular resonances to management and business education. Do we need more PhDs? What are they for? How can we make them more valuable to the knowledge economy? These are some of the questions that…

Tracey Keys explores how leaders need to think – and act – differently to prepare themselves and their organisations for the future. Reliable crystal balls are in short supply – which is a problem as leaders and executives need to cope with an increasing amount of change coupled with uncertainty and volatility in the environment…

by Andrew M. Pettigrew, Eric Cornuel and Ulrich Hommel Novel empirical findings on the change and development of business schools, the causes and consequences of the ranking, and branding wars around business schools in particular and higher education systems more generally. In recent times, the fastest growing part of the higher education system has been…