Leadership roundtable: The future of business education

Nottingham Business School Business Leaders

Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast

Leadership roundtable: The future of business education

Summary

To mark the opening of Nottingham Business School’s new Postgraduate and Executive Education Centre, three experts come together to discuss the future of business education.

They are, the President of the European Foundation for Management Development Professor Eric Cornuel, the Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools Flora Hamilton, and the Dean of Nottingham Business School Professor Baback Yazdani.

In a candid discussion hosted by Honorary Visiting Professor Mike Sassi, they talk about impactful research, challenging technologies and why business schools will only be truly successful if they embrace a higher purpose.

They also agree that business schools should be proud to generate the revenues that underpin other university departments.

Introduction

• Professor Eric Cornuel has been President of the prestigious European Foundation for Management Development for more than 15 years.

• During a career spanning more than three decades, Eric has helped establish world-class standards of management education and research in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.

• His work has set new benchmarks for the impact of management teaching on business practice across the globe.

• Eric has held leadership positions at management schools in Europe and Asia, including HEC Paris and the Catholic University of Louvain.

• He is a fellow of numerous universities – and sits on the boards of several international business organisations.

• In recognition of his outstanding contribution to higher education, Eric has been awarded France’s highest honour, the Légion d’honneur.

• Flora Hamilton is Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

• The chartered association is an organisation that promotes the UK business schools that offer the most effective support for small business.

• Flora became CEO last year, having previously spent ten years as Director and Head of Financial Services at the CBI.

• Professor Baback Yazdani has been Dean of the Nottingham Business School for 17 years.

• NBS is now the fourth biggest business school in Britain and a global exemplar for the sustainability of its research and education.

• It is also among the one per cent of business schools across the world, recognised by all three international accreditation bodies, EQUIS, the AACSB and the AMBA.

• NBS is a global leader in experiential learning and personalisation of education.

• NBS is also acknowledged as a major innovator in the delivery of its programmes and in its connectivity to business.

Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast

Leadership roundtable: What is the future of business education?

Episode 45

Summary

To mark the opening of Nottingham Business School’s new Postgraduate and Executive Education Centre, three experts come together to discuss the future of business education.

They are, the President of the European Foundation for Management Development Professor Eric Cornuel, the Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools Flora Hamilton, and the Dean of Nottingham Business School Professor Baback Yazdani.

In a candid discussion hosted by Honorary Visiting Professor Mike Sassi, they talk about impactful research, challenging technologies and why business schools will only be truly successful if they embrace a higher purpose.

They also agree that business schools should be proud to generate the revenues that underpin other university departments.

Introduction

• Professor Eric Cornuel has been President of the prestigious European Foundation for Management Development for more than 15 years.

• During a career spanning more than three decades, Eric has helped establish world-class standards of management education and research in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.

• His work has set new benchmarks for the impact of management teaching on business practice across the globe.

• Eric has held leadership positions at management schools in Europe and Asia, including HEC Paris and the Catholic University of Louvain.

• He is a fellow of numerous universities – and sits on the boards of several international business organisations.

• In recognition of his outstanding contribution to higher education, Eric has been awarded France’s highest honour, the Légion d’honneur.

• Flora Hamilton is Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

• The chartered association is an organisation that promotes the UK business schools that offer the most effective support for small business.

• Flora became CEO last year, having previously spent ten years as Director and Head of Financial Services at the CBI.

• Professor Baback Yazdani has been Dean of the Nottingham Business School for 17 years.

• NBS is now the fourth biggest business school in Britain and a global exemplar for the sustainability of its research and education.

• It is also among the one per cent of business schools across the world, recognised by all three international accreditation bodies, EQUIS, the AACSB and the AMBA.

• NBS is a global leader in experiential learning and personalisation of education.

• NBS is also acknowledged as a major innovator in the delivery of its programmes and in its connectivity to business.

NOTES

Key takeaways

Eric Cornuel is an advocate for business schools to be moral institutions that perpetuate strong values…

He said: “We [business schools] have to teach respect for stakeholders. We have to get back to our roots. A business school is an academic institution.”

Professor Cornuel believes private business must be “more than just a cash machine”…

He said: “Companies have a role in society… in the middle of an eco-system of stakeholders. Everybody has to take care of everybody[else], otherwise the system simply collapses.”

And Baback Yazdani agrees…

He said: “Companies today are more than just profit-making entities. They need to be guardians of the environment… to respond to societal needs… to play their part…”

Flora Hamilton believes business schools should be proud of the prominent role they play in helping to underpin university finances…

She said: “UK business schools enjoy a fantastic global reputation… That’s why they have been able to step in and bridge the gap where the absence of funding [for other university departments] has been… let’s celebrate that.”

Baback Yazdani highlights how keeping up with technological change is one of the great challenges for universities…

He said: “The time that elapses between invention and adoption used to be 30 or 40 years. It is now just months. Business schools need to understand this – and utilise it.”

Eric Cornuel says management and leadership research undertaken by business schools is often too hypothetical…

He said: “The connection with the reality of management is very doubtful sometimes… Research should be more connected to the current management of organisations.”

Flora Hamilton agrees…

She said: “We have to have a focus on impact… and ask [researchers], why are you doing this? What is the economic impact of that research?”

As does Baback Yazdani…

He said: “Research needs to be linked to the reality of what is happening in society… so we see that the ideas make a difference in the real world.”

So, what does the future hold for UK business schools?

Baback Yazdani said: “We need to be more connected to the world… to our regions… to the people we serve. At the end of the day, we are here to serve society, so our connectivity with it needs to be deeper… so we understand what to produce.”

Eric Cornuel said: “We have to produce sense, through research, then disseminate this sense through the population. And that sense has to be much more than simply being profitable. It is about being a citizen that plays a full part in society.”

Flora Hamilton said: “The future is bright for our world-leading [UK] business schools… because we are able to show the true societal impact of what they can deliver… Universities are about improving lives – and business schools sit at the heart of that.”

Related links:

Find out more about Professor Eric Cornuel here

Read more about Flora Hamilton here

There’s more about Professor Baback Yazdani here

If you enjoyed this episode of the NBS Business Leaders’ Podcast, listen to previous episodes with…

The MD of global financial services company Experian Jose Luiz Rossi

Entrepreneur and broadcaster Michael Hayman MBE

The Vice Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University Professor Edward Peck

NOTES

Key takeaways

Eric Cornuel is an advocate for business schools to be moral institutions that perpetuate strong values…

He said: “We [business schools] have to teach respect for stakeholders. We have to get back to our roots. A business school is an academic institution.”

Professor Cornuel believes private business must be “more than just a cash machine”…

He said: “Companies have a role in society… in the middle of an eco-system of stakeholders. Everybody has to take care of everybody[else], otherwise the system simply collapses.”

And Baback Yazdani agrees…

He said: “Companies today are more than just profit-making entities. They need to be guardians of the environment… to respond to societal needs… to play their part…”

Flora Hamilton believes business schools should be proud of the prominent role they play in helping to underpin university finances…

She said: “UK business schools enjoy a fantastic global reputation… That’s why they have been able to step in and bridge the gap where the absence of funding [for other university departments] has been… let’s celebrate that.”

Baback Yazdani highlights how keeping up with technological change is one of the great challenges for universities…

He said: “The time that elapses between invention and adoption used to be 30 or 40 years. It is now just months. Business schools need to understand this – and utilise it.”

Eric Cornuel says management and leadership research undertaken by business schools is often too hypothetical…

He said: “The connection with the reality of management is very doubtful sometimes… Research should be more connected to the current management of organisations.”

Flora Hamilton agrees…

She said: “We have to have a focus on impact… and ask [researchers], why are you doing this? What is the economic impact of that research?”

As does Baback Yazdani…

He said: “Research needs to be linked to the reality of what is happening in society… so we see that the ideas make a difference in the real world.”

So, what does the future hold for UK business schools?

Baback Yazdani said: “We need to be more connected to the world… to our regions… to the people we serve. At the end of the day, we are here to serve society, so our connectivity with it needs to be deeper… so we understand what to produce.”

Eric Cornuel said: “We have to produce sense, through research, then disseminate this sense through the population. And that sense has to be much more than simply being profitable. It is about being a citizen that plays a full part in society.”

Flora Hamilton said: “The future is bright for our world-leading [UK] business schools… because we are able to show the true societal impact of what they can deliver… Universities are about improving lives – and business schools sit at the heart of that.”

Related links:

Find out more about Professor Eric Cornuel

Read more about Flora Hamilton

Here’s more about Professor Baback Yazdani

If you enjoyed this episode of the NBS Business Leaders’ Podcast, listen to previous episodes with…

The MD of global financial services company Experian Jose Luiz Rossi

Entrepreneur and broadcaster Michael Hayman MBE

The Vice Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University Professor Edward Peck