Q&A with VIP Guest Andrea Backman

Don’t miss Andrea Backman for a discussion on increasing the value of management education on 10/1 from 12-1 p.m. EST.

Andrea Backman—Senior Vice President & Dean, Jack Welch Management Institute—speaks with the Jam Team:

How would you describe industry/academia relationships today? How do you hope to describe them in five years?

The current state is disconnected and ineffective. There is very little focus on aligning core competencies to the needs of employers and/or helping to solve for the skills gap, particularly in terms of soft skills and leadership skills. In the future, those who can respond to the needs of both employers and consumers will be most successful. These institutions will need to be nimble, innovative, and student-focused.

What challenges facing global business today could be better approached through a partnership with academia?

There are a number of challenges facing global business today, including increased competition, economic swings, the acceleration of technology innovation, and the need to do more with less. But, amidst all of these challenges, the one that is central to all of them is people development. People are everything, and the businesses that hire, grow, and develop great talent best will be out in front.

At present, there is a clear disconnect between what business leaders need and what higher education is delivering by way of college graduates and future employees. With talent at the center, academia can and should do a few things to help with this challenge:

  • Ensure students and graduates understand the importance of organizational mission and values so that they align their behaviors and outcomes appropriately to the organization’s overarching strategic goals.
  • Ensure that students are applying learning while they study—even before they become graduates. In this way, they are adding immediate value to their companies and ensuring that the learning is relevant.
  • Take a proactive role in understanding the core competencies businesses need and want in employees. Then, align content and learning outcomes to those core competencies to help close the skills gap.
What do you think the most exciting thing about the Business Education Jam is/will be?

It’s creating a forum for rich exchange between business and academic leaders to talk about the disconnect. It also allows for cross-pollination of thought leadership and allows the community to dream into the future and create action plans to get there.

What is the one piece of advice you would give students as they pursue business education?

Consider going for an option that allows you to continue to build your career while earning your degree—a program that offers maximum flexibility coupled with maximum value. You’ll get the most out of your MBA by far if you can apply your learnings from business school in real time to your job to solve the immediate challenges you are facing in the workplace.

 

Q&A with Dan LeClair, Forum Host

Don’t miss Dan LeClair for a discussion on regulation, reputation, and rankings throughout the Jam.

Dan LeClair—Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, AACSB—speaks with the Jam Team:

How would you describe industry/academia relationships today? How do you hope to describe them in five years?

While many business schools have close relationships with business, overall there are enormous opportunities to create more value for society by strengthening the intersection between business and academia. Rather than think of industry simply as the “consumer” of university graduates, in five years I’d like business schools to be described as institutions where academe and business come together to develop leadership and management, a partnership combining the scholarly approach of academics with the experience of practitioners to create new knowledge and high-quality education.

What do you think the most exciting thing about the Business Education Jam is/will be?

It is the number and the breadth of participants—academic leaders, students, executives, faculty, policy makers, and more—all coming together to envision our future, rather than contemplate the past or complain about the current state.

What are the three most important things institutions must do in order to remain relevant to industry—both now and well into the future?
  1. Every business school should consider what makes it distinctive, especially focusing on its purpose and impact in the various communities it serve. To be relevant, quality business schools need to be more than career development centers and make their mark as social institutions. Most schools need to start locally.
  2. Business schools should develop richer faculty models, moving towards greater diversity in academic and professional experience from an overreliance on the single scholar/teacher model. This also means thinking about as faculty not just as content experts, but also facilitators and coaches.
  3. Business schools should develop new business models—rethink their portfolio of services and products, and develop new ways of providing them. Universities should support these models with more transparent financial systems.
What is the one piece of advice you would give students as they pursue business education?

Keep in mind that business education is incredibly diverse, with a wide-range of programs designed for different types of students. Students should first understand their objectives, then look for the best program match. And make sure to look for AACSB accreditation, which signals that a school is high quality and delivers on its promises.

 

Q&A with VIP Guest Johan Roos

Don’t miss Johan Roos leading the discussion on cultivating relevant, impactful research at 11 a.m. EST on October 2.

Johan Roos, PhD—Dean, CEO and Managing Director, Jönköping International Business School (JIBS)—talks with the Jam Team:

How would you describe industry/academia relationships today? How do you hope to describe them in five years?

Too distant. I hope we can develop new and creative ways to bridge the gap. In a few years I hope we have undergraduate and graduate-level programs that integrate different forms of “learning-at-work,” just like we do in executive education. I also hope we have part-time “professors-in-residence” in different kind of organizations, for example.

What do you think the most exciting thing about the Business Education Jam is/will be?

The format, the theme, and the potential of the dialogue.

What are the three most important things institutions must do in order to remain relevant to industry—both now and well into the future?
  1. Develop and implement a more focused strategy based on making real choices.
  2. Graduate T-shaped individuals who are both generalist and specialists.
  3. Ensure that the faculty pool have hands-on experience of management practice.
What is the one piece of advice you would give students as they pursue business education?

Ensure that you have the knowledge, attitude, and curiosity that make you a valuable partner to engineers and designers.

 

Q&A with VIP Guest Martin Nisenholtz

Don’t miss Martin leading the discussion on harnessing digital technology on 10/1.

Martin Nisenholtz—Venture Partner, Firstmark Capital; Adjunct Professor, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism; Senior Advisor, The New York Times Company—talks with the Jam Team:

How would you describe industry/academia relationships today? How do you hope to describe them in five years?

Largely undisciplined and ad hoc.  More research is needed to fully understand how to best leverage the relationship. In five years, I would hope that a more comprehensive body of “best practices” will emerge that will lead to better results.

What do you think the most exciting thing about the Business Education Jam is/will be?

Great content. I think the most exciting outcomes will come from the nature of this kind of collaboration. What will we learn about making collaboration of this kind more successful as digital becomes truly pervasive?

What are three things industry must do now to ensure a prepared workforce?
  1. Better, richer communication and collaboration between industry and academia.
  2. As the White House has suggested, improve STEM education at community colleges with a focus on partnerships between academia and employers.
  3. Be more proactive in articulating future workplace demands.
What is one piece of advice you’d give students as they pursue business education?

Online identity is critical. The networks you build begin now.

 

Q&A with VIP Guest Mary C. Gentile

Don’t miss Mary leading a discussion on fostering ethical leadership on 10/1 at 6 p.m. EST.

Mary C. Gentile—Director of Giving Voice To Values, Babson College—talks with the Jam Team:

How would you describe industry/academia relationships today? How do you hope to describe them in five years?

There is a lot of room and need for more collaboration. Too often the realities and demands of faculty publishing requirements can lead to research that is not presented in ways that are most accessible to practitioners and in the failure to focus on questions that are perhaps more difficult to research but also more critical for businesses to function effectively. I would hope that there will be opportunities for more productive interaction.

What are the three most important things institutions must do in order to remain relevant to industry—both now and well into the future?
  1. Define research topics that address important real problems, not simply intellectual fads.
  2. Develop methodologies for cross-functional integration in the curriculum, including, and especially around, preparing graduates to effectively enact values-driven leadership.
  3. Reward faculty for creativity and relevance in their teaching.
What is the one piece of advice you would give students as they pursue business education?

Consider a historical perspective on business and its impact on wider society—both for good and for ill. Allow yourself to take a wider perspective in some of your coursework.

It is critical to gain skills but your business education is also a valuable opportunity to think more broadly and to feed a deeper vision for your own professional impact.

What do you think the most exciting thing about the Business Education Jam is/will be?

I want to hear what practitioners are saying about what they really need from new business graduate hires; and I am eager to hear what students are satisfied—and dissatisfied—with in business education.