The Future of Management Education: what can we do together? Plenary Session

The Topic

This thought-provoking plenary Session will be devoted to the societal/political/economic changes of our times, their consequences on current business education and the main traits of reform of management education looking forward.

Questions to be Discussed

• There was a profound revision of business education in 1959: at the time, there were societal/political/economic changes which prompted those revisions. Fifty years later, there is an emergence of a new global agenda, the emerging new role of business in society, the sustainability imperative and the global social, financial and economic imbalances... do these changes warrant a new thorough and profound revision of business education today?
• If so, which should be the main substantive changes in the curricula of business education today?
• Which changes are needed in the system of research production, to back and support these changes in the curricula?
• What new approaches to educational frameworks and learning methods do we need?
• PRME convenes a very wide and representative sample of the sector, associations, leading schools and a global spread of signatories: what can we do together in order to contribute to the future of management education?

Format of the Plenary

1. A panel conversation guided by a professional moderator
2. Dialogue between panel and participants

Speakers

Rakesh Kurana, Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Harvard Business School
Philippe de Woot, Professor Emeritus, IAG Louvain School of Management
Lyman W Porter, Professor Emeritus of Management, University of California, Irvine
Moderator: Judy Samuelson, Executive Director, The Aspen Institute

Partnering with the Business Community. Plenary Session

The Topic

This session is dedicated to the demands and interests of business leaders (both CEOs and CLOs) in a new approach to business education. Tentative questions to center the debate are:

• Has the current economic and financial crisis added a note of urgency concerning the sustainability approach to corporate strategy and operations?
• What takes to be a leading corporation in today's world?
• What type of professional with a degree in management/business is needed for responsible corporate leadership?
• Which are the most important gaps you see in current business education in the area of vision, in the area of technical and conceptual knowledge and in the area of skills and competencies?

The Format of the Plenary

This session will be structured as a conversation with several CEOs/CLOs, dedicated to the analysis of the changing landscape for business and the demands they make concerning business education.

1. Presentation of the academic part of the CEOs Survey: Peter Lacey, Accenture
2. CEO Panel
   1. Jamshed Irani, Director, Tata Sons Limited
   2. Harald Zulauf, CEO, Media Consulta
   3. Richard Edelman, CEO, Edleman
3. Dialogue between panel and participants

Moderator: Mark Drewell, Executive Director, GRLI

A Learning Community through Sharing Information on Progress:

The Topic

This session is devoted to the SIPs already received, their analysis and the inspiration they can provide, in 4 main areas of the Principles. These Sessions are one of the most important components of the Forum, where participating institutions learn a great deal from each other.

The Format

There will be 4 breakout sessions. These sessions will be chaired by Steering Committee members and will be led by signatories with outstanding SIPs, showcasing their practices as a kick-off for the discussion. Breakout rapporteurs will report on main outcomes in the last Plenary Session. The four sessions will be devoted to the following topics:

1. Curriculum Change: what experience are we gaining in terms of organizational approaches that can effectively deliver curricula change?
2. New Research: which are the new insights, directions and best practices in terms of research production, in terms of applied research, case production and theoretical research?
3. New Educational Frameworks: what type of experiential approach is showing effectiveness?
4. Partnerships: in what specific aspects do partnerships add up and enhance the transformational experience of an MBA rooted in sustainability approaches?

The Chairs of each Session

Curriculum Change: Judy Samuelson, Aspen Institute
New Research: Simon Pickard, Director General of EABIS - The Academy of Business in Society
New Educational Frameworks: Anders Aspling, GRLI & AACSB
Partnerships: Gerard Van Schaik, EFMD & Net Impact

PRME Matters

The Topic

The last plenary session will be devoted to issues which are important for PRME as a community.

The Format

The session will be very agile, with short interventions covering several issues:

1. PRME Steering Committee: John Fernandes, CEO, AACSB
2. Commitment of new associations: 5 minutes interventions on their commitment to PRME, and the areas where they will materialize that commitment: representatives from AMBA, CEEMAN, CLADEA, AABS and the Association of Jesuit Business Schools
3. Reports from the 4 breakout sessions
4. Declaration: Explanation of changes in the Declaration and final endorsement of the Declaration
5. Closing remarks

Moderators

Liz Maw, Executive Director, Net Impact