Perspectives, news, reviews and information on the intersection of management education and development from the GBSN staff and community.
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Yesterday, GBSN hosted a webinar, Creating
Jobs: Education’s Role in Reducing Unemployment featuring GBSN’s Nora Brown,
COO, and Lisa Leander, Membership Officer. In advance of the upcoming 2013 GBSN
Annual Conference in Tunisia "Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship,” Nora
and Lisa discussed research on employment and education and ways that business
schools can help create jobs.
As employment
takes center stage on the global agenda, the international development
community is asking themselves critical questions about the complexity of the
current jobs crisis. Business schools play an important roll in addressing the
jobs shortage, and will be key to educating young people with relevant skills
for the workplace.
There are about
200 million people unemployed globally in 2013, including 12.3% of youth. There
are 600 million new jobs that need to be created to keep up with population
growth.
How did we get
to this situation that we are facing in 2013? The world population has grown significantly
in the last 100 years. One of the major challenges that we face is the high
competition for jobs because there are a lot more people entering the
workforce. The 2008 financial crisis just exacerbated the problem.
In addition to
poor economic performance and population growth, we are also looking at a big
skills mismatch. A major reason that
employers don’t fill entry-level positions is skill shortages. There are jobs
available, but candidates who have relevant skills are lacking.
Why does this
matter? Jobs are a foundation of economic and social development, improving
living standards, productivity and social cohesion. Jobs are responsible for
moving people out of poverty.
Given these
challenges, what is the role of education in improving unemployment? Some
recent research shows a high correlation between educational attainment,
employment and earnings. The more education you have, the less likely you are to be
unemployed and the higher your weekly earning rate becomes.
Ironically, in low-income
countries like India, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Morocco, studies show that
university graduates are more likely to be unemployed than non-graduates. This
raises the question: Does education really lead to employment?
Here at GBSN,
we believe that when done right, education can have a big impact on
employability of graduates. What does good education look like? In setting up educational
programs, it is important for schools to consider what employers want: identifying
the skills gap, incorporating the needs of the marketplace into the curriculum,
and building a bridge between academia and employers.
One
thing for business schools to think about is how educators can incorporate work
experience and experiential learning into education. The World Bank looked at the
success rates of different types of programs, and found that the most
successful programs were those that have in-class and workplace training
combined, plus other services such as mentoring and alumni support.
Looking
at the role of business schools in supporting job creation from the GBSN
perspective, Lisa highlighted a number of opportunities for business schools:
Producing
curriculum that focuses on relevant skills that employers need
Implementing pedagogies
that promote development of soft skills
Providing
experiential learning opportunities – on the ground experience like internships
and consultancies that helps build those soft skills
Management
programs targeting various sectors
Partnerships
with primary and secondary schools – building management education at a younger
age
Partnerships
with employers
Role of
convener as well as offering research and policy recommendations
Providing
greater accessibility to training through MOOCs and the use of technology
Looking
at a specific example, one of GBSN’s member schools, George Washington
University, has a tourism management program within their business school that
works to develop the tourism industry in emerging markets. Recently they
collaborated with USAID and other partners to develop a guide on how programs
can incorporate youth and marginalized communities to increase employment.
Another
example came from the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER)
at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. CIBER just
launched a certificate program - essentials for successful cross-cultural business
communication, which fits with the discussion on the need to soft skills. The
program offers four 3-hour workshops on general cross-cultural communication
skills. The participants undergo an assessment where they stand in terms of
their communication skills and styles and how that relates to other countries.
The workshops are supplemented by four webinars on specific issues in China and
Brazil, the two countries that were focused on this year. The program is open
to business students and professionals around the world. People need more of
these soft skills to have the ability to function in diverse teams, in more
globally oriented markets and corporations.
Babson
College has developed three unique niche programs that are focused on youth
leadership and youth entrepreneurial education.
Summer
Study for high school students program – academic residential emersion program
that runs for 5 weeks every summer. Students from around the world participate
every summer and explore social, economic and environmental problems in the
context of developing new ventures as solutions, learning how to grow
commercial or social ventures, and developing tools and resources for business.
Lemonade
Day is a partnership with the city of Boston and is part of a nationwide
organization. Babson has connected a network of staff, students, alumni who are
working with teachers and agencies in the Boston area to teach about
entrepreneurship and skills to the youth in the area. It culminates in a city
wide daylong event with youth-run lemonade stands throughout Boston.
Lastly,
Babson developed collaboration with LeadAmerica. The program itself focuses on
core issues by entrepreneurs, explores leadership and entrepreneurship as a
means of value creation, and uniquely engages Babson faculty in concert with
LeadAmerica faculty and staff.
IPADE
supports an agricultural technical secondary school in a rural area in Mexico
that suffers from economic, social and educational deficiencies. They give
scholarships to students to attend this school. They do all the fundraising for
all the scholarships. While IPADE doesn’t do any of the teaching, they provide
the support. This example is in regard to a sector area looking at agribusiness
and supporting those rural families.
GBSN
is excited to continue this conversation at our annual conference, which is
quickly approaching.
I came across this quote yesterday as I was reading and found it quite relevant to GBSN's mission and vision for social and economic development. Management matters.
"[T]he winning of great wars always requires superior
organization, and that in turn requires people who can run those organizations,
not in a blinkered way but most competently and in a fashion that will allow
outsiders to feed fresh ideas into the pursuit of victory. None of this can be
done by the chiefs alone, however great their genius, however massive their
energy. There has to be a support system, a culture of encouragement, efficient
feedback loops, a capacity to learn from setbacks, and ability to get things
done.”
Paul Kennedy, "Engineers of Victory – The Problem Solvers
who turned the Tide in the Second World War” Conclusion Chapter – "Problem
Solving in History” (Random House, 2013, p. 372)
Guy Pfeffermann is the founder and CEO of the Global Business School Network.
One of our member schools, IMT Ghaziabad, is calling for papers for their International Journal of Intercultural Information Management (IJIIM). IJIIM is a fully referred journal which publishes papers analyzing all aspects of international and intercultural issues with regard to information management. IJIIM welcomes all scholastic researches addressing how international or intercultural questions can produce information systems/information technology (IS/IT) related problems, which may involve changing management concepts, modeling, methodologies, and business process engineering/re-engineering as well as ethical and security concerns.
For decades, our cultural background, ethical stance and national considerations such as law, currency, management philosophy, security concerns, etc., affect the way we use information systems. At the same time, the use of information systems/information technology (IS/IT) changes the way we interact, do business and communicate changes which in turn may impact businesses with different cultural backgrounds in significantly different ways. Because of cultural and national differences, an information system that works perfectly in one place may not work at all in another, or identical systems may find completely different uses in different cultures.
Papers are solicited that address these issues from an empirical and/or conceptual point of view. The topics of interest to IJIIM include but not limit to:
Case studies of issues in different countries
The influence of national/corporate culture
Role/comparison of theories, criteria/determinants
Intercultural/international moralities/codes of ethics
Risk/project management, systems design/development
Changing philosophy due to cultural variation, HR practices
E-commerce design/development/ management
Supply chain/customer relationship management
Intercultural decision support systems
Business intelligence and knowledge management
Business process engineering/reengineering
Software and data engineering
Quality issues
Education/training, collaborations and partnerships, innovation
Submission for Papers:
Papers, case studies, etc. in the areas covered by IJIIM are invited for submission. Authors may wish to send an abstract of proposed papers in advance. Notes for intending authors can be found at:https://www.inderscience.com/papers
All papers must be submitted online.
Authors of accepted papers will receive a PDF file of their published paper. Hard copies of journal issues may be purchased at a special price for authors fromsubs@inderscience.com
All editorial correspondence (but not subscription orders) should be addressed to:
Professor Jayanthi Ranjan Chairperson, International Relations Institute of Management Technology (IMT)
Neither the editor nor the publisher can accept responsibility for opinions expressed in the International Journal of Intercultural Information Managementnor in any of its special publications.
Subscription orders:
IJIIM is published in four issues per volume. A Subscription Order Form is provided in this issue.
Payment with order should be made to:
Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. (Order Dept.), World Trade Centre Building II, 29 Route de Pre-Bois, Case Postale 856, CH-1215 Genève 15, Switzerland.
The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is looking for mentors
to join their June 2013 program. The foundation supports women entrepreneurs in
developing and emerging economies. This mentoring program is an opportunity to
make an impact on women entrepreneurs in Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, China,
Pakistan, the Philippines or a host of other countries.
Through the combination of mentoring and technology, the
Cherie Blair Foundation is revolutionizing a new way of supporting women
entrepreneurs. All of the mentoring is done online using a specifically
designed Google platform, which makes room for great flexibility and cross-country networking and learning. Over the course of a year, you will meet with your
mentee online for two hours a month to work on goals that are tailored to her
needs and your expertise.
To become a mentor, you need to have seven plus years of
relevant experience and commit to a full year, one hour every two
weeks, of mentoring.
Mentoring provides a tremendous learning and growth
opportunity for both mentees and mentors. Mentoring has cultivated a global
competency and enhanced skill set amongst mentors, which feeds back into their
own work and can enrich the companies that employ them. In addition to building
their CVs, gaining new skills and expanding their networks, many mentors
reported that their mentoring relationships were truly life changing and
inspirational.
To hear directly from past mentees and mentors, check out
the program’s impact wall
or read blogs by Shilpa, Julian or Nicola.
The application deadline is May 28, 2013. Click here to apply and support a women entrepreneur today!
Important Information:
The first step is to review the selection criteria and complete the online application, which helps the Foundation find you a mentee who is a great match with your expertise and interests. If successful, you'll be invited to complete a short multimedia training online that will prepare you for being a mentor.
After that, the foundation will match you with a mentee and help you kick-off your mentoring relationship, which will begin mid June.
The program lasts for 12 months and is all done online. You'll communicate with a mentee using Skype, Google Talk, Gchat, email or other online tools.
In addition to a one-to-one mentoring relationship, you'll also have access to trainings, webinars and interactive online networking and learning platform that connects you with accomplished people from around the world.
You'll want to se aside at least 2 hours a month to meet with your mentee and a bit more time if you'd like to attend webinars, trainings, etc.
Mentors are both men and women who are mid- to-senior level professionals and entrepreneurs from a variety of different backgrounds.
Mentees come from over 50 different countries and are passionate, driven entrepreneurs who are looking for dedicated mentors to help them build their businesses, confidence and business skills. They request help in a wide range of areas, especially including (but not limited to) marketing, communications, finance, IT, strategy, sales, and HR.
Mentors receive an unparalleled learning and growth experience, a title from the Cherie Blair Foundation, an opportunity to gain new professional contacts, access to networking events and trainings, a certificate from Cherie Blair and a personal relationship with their mentee.
You will be expected to be proactive in communicating with your mentee and available to meet according to a schedule you agree on together.
Mentoring is a responsibility that requires time, dedication, but also yields a wealth of rewards. The program offers mentors a unique opportunity to develop their own leadership skills and network with like-minded professionals.
Posted By Nicole Zefran,
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Updated: Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The moment you have all been waiting for is here! GBSN is
proud to announce the 1st Place winner of the 2013 MBA+ Challenge is the Mama Carts - Increasing Food Security video by a team from Colorado State University Global, Social and Sustainable MBA. They
produced a video on increasing food security in urban slums, now specifically targeting East Africa.
MamaCarts is a for-profit, food cart microfranchise that powers existing supply chains to distribute complete, clean and delicious meals to lower income, urban markets. Over 200 million people living in urban slums are food insecure. MamaCarts has worked in food systems around the world, but is now targeting East Africa.
The most detrimental result of food insecurity is chronic malnutrition, otherwise known as "hidden hunger." Chronic malnutrition is perpetuated as a result of four key root causes:
Broken supply chains
Poor sanitation
Gaps in nutritional education
High prices
In recognizing these complexities, this team of MBAs developed a solution that touches on all four issues. Food security is a complete, clean, and deliciously accessible future we can all play a part in. By buying nutritional food in bulk from local suppliers, the price per meal becomes cheaper. Through the combination of their cooking center and distribution system, MamaCarts vendors complete the link between local suppliers and food insecure customers. By 2018, MamaCarts will address the root causes of malnutrition by annually delivering 1 billion affordable and holistic meals.
2nd Place goes to the GIVEWATTS video by a team from the IMD in Switzerland. The video is about installing renewable energy in
marginalized schools and clinics in Kenya. GIVEWATTS uses solar lanterns as their entry point into communities. In order for children to study at
night, families are forced to buy kerosene. For families who cannot afford
kerosene, the children are forced to use open fire to study. GIVEWATTS uses a
commercial model to increase the number of lamps placed, as well as to avoid
dependency and create sustainability.
Third Place goes to the Seeking Change - UNC Kenan-Flagler and the World Around Them video by the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. The video is about 12 MBA students who embarked on an 8-week journey to use their business education to make an impact in three countries: the US, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Out of 21 entries from around the globe, five finalists were
chosen by a public online vote. All five finalists won the opportunity to be matched up with a prestigious
business leader from around the world, and are participating in a one-hour
mentoring session in the next couple of weeks. The student mentor matchups are
below:
UNC Kenan-Flagler with Bruce McNamer, President and CEO of TechnoServe
Colorado State University, Global Social and Sustainable
Enterprise MBA with Ben Odukwe, Group Director, Human Resources, United Bank for Africa Group
International Institute for Management Development with Manu
Chandaria, Chairman of the Comcraft Group
Thunderbird School of Global Management with Mari Kuraishi,
CEO of Global Giving
A panel of judges, with each judge submitting scores, chose
the winners. This year’s panel of judges included:
Della Bradshaw, Financial Times
Gina Tesla, IBM
David De Feranti, Results for Development
David Wilson, GMAC
Mahmoud Triki, Mediterranean School of Business
Jaqueline Stein, Tuck MBA and2012 MBA Challenge Winning Team Member
The 1st Place team has the opportunity to send one team member
to our Annual Conference in Tunis, Tunisia to present their video at our Gala
Dinner. They also win an opportunity to write about their work and experience that will be
featured by Nextbillion’s and New Global Citizen’s blog.
Congratulations to the winners and to all teams that
produced creative videos demonstrating the impact they are having in the
developing world. GBSN is truly inspired by the work these students have been
doing to make an impact on people’s lives. We hope all the videos inspire you to
follow down this path as well. So, the answer to our original question is YES,
business education can and does change the world!
Nicole Zefran is the
Communications and Event Planning Intern at the Global Business School Network.
Posted By Guy Pfeffermann,
Monday, April 29, 2013
Updated: Tuesday, April 23, 2013
This month I talked about Africa at Chicago’s Booth School of
Business, a GBSN member. So I thought I would put on my development economist
hat and take a fresh look at the continent – meaning Sub-Saharan Africa. Nothing about management education this time
around.
Things have definitely improved, especially since world commodity
prices started soaring around 1995.
There is so much exuberance about Africa that a recent issue of "This is
Africa” is entitled "Over-hyped? Competing narratives on the African growth
story”. I thought it might be interesting to compile two lists: what I see as positive
factors and the challenges.
Let’s start with the list of challenges:
In spite of its
enormous size and population, Africa is small economically, accounting for less
than 2 percent of the world economy. Three economies – South Africa,
Nigeria and Kenya – produce more than half of Africa’s GDP. On average, the other countries have small
markets – the size of Albania or Cambodia or about $ 10 billion. As there is little inter-African trade,
incumbent firms tend to dominate each of these small markets.
Poor infrastructure
increases costs. Shipping a car from China to Tanzania costs $4,000, but
getting it from there to nearby Uganda costs another $ 5,000. Forty percent of produce trucked into Lagos
spoils in transport. Power shortages are daily occurrences. For businesses,
energy adds up to 10 percent of total costs, compared to 3 percent in
China. Labor costs are high by
international standards in relation to productivity. Partly because of this,
Africa has the world’s lowest share of manufacturing, and it continues to
decline.
While some public
institutions have improved, corruption is pervasive, as evidenced by recent
Transparency International and African Development Bank surveys. This is a drag
on property rights and law enforcement. Public education systems yield very
poor educational outcomes.
Last, but not least, Africa’s
economies are more than ever vulnerable to drops in commodity prices (i.e.,
the economic health of OECD and BRIC countries).
Fortunately, there are lots of positive developments as
well:
Growth has
accelerated from only 2 percent a year in the 1980s (when population was
growing by 3 percent a year) to 5 percent in this century. At this rate
Africa’s market will double in about 12 years. Macro policies have improved greatly, and
inflation is no longer a major concern. The volume of oil and other mineral
exports keeps growing.
Private capital
inflows, including public and private investment from China, now exceed foreign
aid, putting Africa on the desirable path of "development without aid
dependence”. Private capital is flowing
into a whole range of sectors: telecommunications, banking, tourism,
construction, health and education facilities and, importantly, because they
generate a lot of employment, agri-business and retail shops.
Perhaps more than any
other factor, the spread of mobile phones has transformed Africa, bringing
several hundred million persons out of isolation. As internet connectivity
improves, the next wave of innovation is underway with the increasing spread of
smart phones. This revolution has begun to transform retail banking, health and
agricultural services. Education will be
next in line – including business and entrepreneurship education.
To end on a cheerful note, the University of Michigan’s
World Value Surveys asked persons in some 80 countries: "Taking all things
together, would you say you are: 1.Very happy, 2. Rather happy, 3.
Not very happy, or 4. Not at all happy?" Nigeria topped the list! On the broader ranking of "subjective
well-being”, Nigeria ranked 19th, wedged between Sweden and Norway.
Guy Pfeffermann is the CEO and founder of the Global Business School Network. He served as a development economist for the World Bank Group for 40 years, including 16 years as the chief economist of the International Finance Corporation.
The Association of African Business Schools (AABS) will launch the Agribusiness Management Programme (AgMP) at Lagos Business School on May 7.
The AgMP is developed by AABS to provide high-quality, business, management and leadership education to a range of stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Africa, especially senior executives of agro-allied, food and beverage and financial institutions.
It will be run in six schools of the AABS Agribusiness Consortium (AAC). The schools are Lagos Business School, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania and Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration (GIMPA).
Others are United States International University (USIU), Kenya, University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya.
The keynote speaker for the launch is the Managing Director, Doreo Partners, Mr. Kola Masha who will speak on the topic: "Building the Future Agribusiness in Africa: The Role of the Management Education." The AgMP will begin in LBS this October.
Lagos Business School is situated in
Nigeria’s commercial and industrial hub, Lagos.
The School was established in 1991, and is committed to teaching
management with a humanistic approach, delivering general management education
to high potential professionals, across all levels in organisations, in a wide
range of industry sectors. A premier
business school in Africa’s largest country, LBS is uniquely positioned to
develop visionary business leaders capable of maximising the high growth opportunities
in key industry sectors to move Africa to economic prosperity. Over the years,
LBS has collaborated with other business schools in Africa and around the world
on programmes to develop responsible business leaders. LBS is a member of the
Association of African Business Schools (AABS), the Global Business School
Network (GBSN), the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and
AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of
Business. LBS has been ranked every year
since 2007 by the Financial Times of London among the top 55 business schools
in the world in the area of open enrolment executive education programmes. It is the only Nigerian school to attain this
world ranking. LBS is the business
school of Pan-African University.
Nicole Zefran is the Communications and Event Planning Intern at the Global Business School Network.
I had an amazing visit to Tunis in preparation of the
upcoming GBSN Annual Conference, Education,
Employment and Entrepreneurship.
Our team is thrilled with the plans so far, and we think you will be
too! I believe a picture speaks a thousand words, so I thought I would share my
experiences of the visit through photos.
Lisa’s Top Ten
Reasons to Attend the GBSN Annual Conference in Tunisia
(as told from photos
of her visit)
10.) Every detail,
from an agenda of fascinating speakers and topics, to the logistics of the conference
rooms has been given considerable thought and planning.
The team hard at work. Houda Ghouzi, MSB Faculty and Leila
Triki, MSB Faculty join me in discussing the details of the agenda.
9.) After a long day of networking and learning
about new innovations in entrepreneurship education, return to your balcony,
have a cool drink, relax and enjoy the view.
View from my hotel room balcony at The Residence Hotel, the
location of the GBSN Annual Conference.
8.) Visit the new
modern building of the Mediterranean School of Business and learn about their
programs in entrepreneurship and business management.
The team in front of the new MSB building in downtown Tunis.
7.) Attend the GBSN
Member’s only meeting and learn about our impact over the last ten years as
well as strategize for our plans for the next ten years. This will be a highly participatory meeting
with breakout sessions and discussions.
View from the meeting room at the MSB campus in Tunis that
will hold the member’s meeting.
6.) During the
conference site visits, learn more about Axe Finance, a credit risk software
company. Come discover how they have
grown by 30% in this last year, and why it is so difficult to hire a business
specialist, as compared to an engineer, in Tunisia.
Out in front of the AxeFinance office building in downtown
Tunis.
5.) Learn about the
great challenges of being an innovative entrepreneur, starting a new video
gaming business in Tunis. One (of many) of his greatest challenges? Hiring creative employees.
Picture hanging on the wall of the DigitialMania. "How do you encourage individuals to be
creative, when they have lived a life without freedom and are forced into
conformity?”
4.) The food will be
amazing.
The team worked hard to taste all of the delights of
Tunisia! (A tough job). One of my favorites? The desserts with a french influence.
3.) Learn about
accessing finance with a visit to Tuninvest, a private equity firm with investments
throughout the Middle East and Africa. Greatest
Challenge, I ask? "Viable and creative
projects.” Hmm, creativity and
innovation seems to be an on-going theme.
Learning about the portfolio of investments with Tuninvest
Management.
2.)Opportunity to
learn more about the business environment in the MENA region. Through discussions, plenaries, breakout
sessions and site visits, this is the opportunity to share the greatest
challenges in management education, and how business schools are using
innovation and entrepreneurship education to address unemployment.
And the number one reason to attend the GBSN Annual
Conference in Tunisia?
1.) Loads of
networking opportunities.
As always, the audience at the GBSN Conference will be
diverse. Last year in India we had over 30
countries and 60 business schools represented.
We envision we will surpass those numbers this year. During tea breaks, opening receptions,
lunches, site visits and breakout sessions, meet new and interesting
individuals from business schools, NGO’s, businesses and the public sector.
A Tunisian tea break.
GBSN 2013 in Tunisia, it is not to be missed!
Lisa Leander is the Membership Officer with GBSN overseeing
the Annual Conference, Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship, co-hosted by
the Mediterranean School of Business and Babson College. Please feel free to leave her questions and
comments about her stay. For more
information on the conference and registration, please visit
www.gbsnonline.org/2013.
Yesterday GBSN hosted a webinar, "Bringing Social Business
Into Your School” featuring speaker Leonhard Nima, Head of Academia at the
Grameen Creative Lab.
Mr. Nima talked about spreading the idea of social business,
which is what he Grameen Lab was created to do. He explains this topic in
depth, but specifically highlights GCL’s ideas for incorporating social
business in universities.
Some highlights from the webinar:
Founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Grameen Creative
Lab is a small company based in Germany whose purpose is to spread the idea of
social business. GCL’s vision is "to bring social business into universities
and create a culture within academia, with the goal to serve society’s most
pressing needs through social business.”
The Grameen Creative Lab believes that social business
education is key to setting a new mindset. It associates with universities
within three pillars:
Seeding –
GCL facilitates speeches on social business at universities and international
conferences. They also hold social business labs, which are two-day workshops
that are adapted to university needs. GCL supports student initiatives, giving
students the opportunity to volunteer, student field trips or participate in
idea competitions. They lay the groundwork down by highlighting social business
best practices in case studies, literature, or student guides filled with
information that should inform students with opportunities and answer any
questions they might have.
Network
– GCL has created an environment for universities to exchange ideas. The big
networking opportunity offered for universities is the Academia Meeting on Social
Business, a yearly event where faculty from all over come to establish
relationships, exchange ideas and establish possible projects for collaborations.
They are also in the process of publishing an academia newsletter, which will
highlight activities and initiatives of universities that are involved with
social business.
Consulting/
Joint Initiatives – By providing consulting services, GCL helps universities
discover social businesses and apply courses and activities within the
university. Specifically, they provide strategic and project consulting,
helping universities implement institutional projects and also plan on
developing centers or incubators within the university.
GCL@University is a joint initiative established to
promote the concept within the institution. Together, the two will decide about
the approach of incorporating activities within the pillars of research (PhD
courses, publications, case studies), teaching (courses, labs, tours,
conferences, e-learning) and practice (social business ideas contest, field
trips, case studies, internships, local activities). GCL developed this modular
approach to allow flexibility.
GCL believes that universities should start small; begin
with incorporating one or two courses on social business or facilitating small
social business labs, and then eventually work to create a program around it. By
starting simple and laying down the groundwork, GCL hopes to spread this
concept to many leading universities around the world.
Mr. Nima provided a very compelling presentation on their
approach. To view the whole presentation click here.
It was quite exciting to see the stories of impact from
around the globe in this year's MBA+ Challenge Video Contest. We had 21 entries from around the globe that received thousands of votes.
Based on the online votes, the five finalists in the
challenge, which will advance to the selection panel to be considered for the
grand prize are:
Momtaz Hostfrom
Thunderbird School of Global Management
Congratulations to our finalists, and to all of you who are
using your business education to make a real difference for the developing
world. We hope this opportunity inspires
you to continue your work.
Page Schindler Buchanan is the Communications Officer for the Global Business School Network.
1010 Vermont Ave., NW Suite 201, Washington, DC 20005, USA | +1.202.628.9040 | info at gbsnonline.org
The Global Business School Network is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC.
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I came across this quote yesterday as I was reading and found it quite relevant to GBSN's mission and vision for social and economic development. Management matters.
I had an amazing visit to Tunis in preparation of the
upcoming GBSN Annual Conference, 
Yesterday GBSN hosted a webinar, "Bringing Social Business
Into Your School” featuring speaker Leonhard Nima, Head of Academia at the
Grameen Creative Lab.
It was quite exciting to see the stories of impact from
around the globe in this year's 