Perspectives on the Impact, Mission and Purpose of the Business School

With contributions from some of the leading thinkers in business school education, this book explores the impact and purpose of the business school, and addresses some of the most important questions facing management education today. The diverse perspectives brought together by the EFMD in this volume examine a number of common questions, themes and challenges. These include: whether business schools should be viewed as schools of management, given the complexity of the business environment; what is the positive impact of business school research, and the balance of relevant, practical impact and academic rigour; the strategic evolution of business schools and how they may evolve in a more purposeful direction; and why business school leaders compete strongly but are reluctant to collaborate, and how collaboration may encourage greater positive societal impact. With insightful commentary and illustrative case studies, this book serves as a landmark publication on the value and impact of business schools. The book will be of particular interest to those working in business schools, higher education leaders, policy makers and business leaders seeking insight into the value, impact and future of business and management education.

Eric Cornuel is President at EFMD Global. Howard Thomas was the inaugural Ahmass Fakahany Distinguished Professor of Global Leadership at the Questrom School, Boston University. He is also an Emeritus Professor and former Dean at Singapore Management University and a Senior Advisor at EFMD. Matthew Wood is Director, Operations and Global Focus Magazine Editor at EFMD Global.

1. Perspectives on the Impact, Mission and Purpose of the Business School 2. Positive Impact: An Important Role for Business School Leadership in a Changing, Precarious World 3. Business Schools should be Schools of Management: An Evolutionary Perspective 4. The Search for Meaning: BSIS and its Role in Promoting Business Schools' Societal Impact 5. What Topics Should Business School Research Focus On? Insights from 123 Award-winning Responsible Research Projects 6. How Management Academics Have Locked Themselves in an Iron Cage 7. Open up the Business School! From Rigour and Relevance to Purpose, Responsibility and Quality 8. Building Back Better: Purpose-Driven Business Schools 9. Gross National Wellbeing: The Future of Work 10. Co-Creating Relevant Knowledge through Regional Virtual Collaboration: The Latin America Scholars Community Case 11. The Competition Fetish in Business Schools: Challenges and Responses 12. Contextualising Change with Social Network Analysis 13. Singapore Management University (SMU): Tracking the Strategy Evolution of a Start-up University 14. Striving for Meaningful Impact in and through Management Education: The IMD Perspective