Last week 140 leaders in business education from 28 countries across five continents convened in Mexico City to discuss how to develop human capacity in emerging markets. With major sponsorship by Johnson & Johnson and co-hosted by IPADE Business School, the Sixth Annual Global Business School Network Conference provided a premier international forum for professionals from industry, academia, and civil society to share best practice and expertise on management education for the developing world.
Additional support for the conference was provided by MIT Sloan School of Management, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, Grupo Pando and Emerald.
“The conference’s focus, Generating Leadership: Developing Human Capacity in Emerging Markets, is timely since businesses, governments and civil societies are facing increased competitive challenges, but also unprecedented partnership opportunities,” said Guy Pfeffermann, CEO of the Global Business School Network (GBSN).
Ron Sibert, Director of Business Development-Africa for the Graduate Management Admission Council, moderated a discussion on new business education trends around the globe with Jonathan Cook, Executive Director of South Africa’s Gordon Institute of Business Science, Edilberto de Jesus, former Dean of the Philippines’s Asian Institute of Management, and Paulo de Resende, Associate Dean for Research and Development of Fundação Dom Cabral in Brazil.
“To be globalized as a business school is to understand local customs and cultures,” said de Resende. Following up, Cook said “Business education used to be learning how Americans do it. Things have changed. Now it means going to India, Asia… understanding emerging markets, that’s where the growth is. How do you make world class companies from emerging markets?”
A panel of CEOs discussed hiring and developing management talent for international business. Moderated by University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School Dean James Dean, the panel featured Richard Frank of Darby Overseas Investments, Victor Lachica Bravo, Cushman & Wakefield Mexico, and Antonio Taracena Sosa, Cementos Moctezuma.
“Among the executive traits we look for is how people manage finance and corporate governance,” said Frank. He later added, “Schools should produce people who can work globally, not just a semester abroad, but real work in another culture.”
In addition, GBSN celebrated the winners of the first annual MBA Challenge Video Contest: Can an MBA Change the World? MBA Student Dan Parker of the first place team from Haas Business School at University of California, Berkeley presented the winning video on his team’s work in Zambia using their MBA skills to assist a program that addresses wildlife conservation and food insecurity.
The conference program also highlighted:
- Developing collaborative research opportunities
- Student projects and global partnerships in education
- Social entrepreneurship
- Responsible management education
“IPADE believes that Business Management is more an art than a science. It embraces management knowledge and leadership skills, experience, vision, intuition, character, individual values and leadership styles. Sharing different business experiences in order to define specific action plans is necessary. Since no single formula suits every company, sharing different business experiences is essential to success. In this respect, the GBSN Conference offers an ideal forum,” said Alfonso Bolio Arciniega, General Director of IPADE Business School.
The annual GBSN conference provides a unique networking and learning opportunity for educators, corporations, foundations and NGOs with an interest in strengthening management education for the developing world. Previous GBSN conferences have been held in Africa, Europe and the U.S.; this was GBSN’s first in Latin America, marking the expansion of the network into this part of the world.
The full conference program and other information on the 2011 conference is available at www.gbsnonline.org/2011.
