AACSB releases Position Paper & Innovation Guide; Exhorts B-Schools to Innovate and Lead Boldly

Are business schools delivering the value that society and business expect from them? Have B-schools kept pace with the numerous social, economic, and technological disruptions? To find answers to these complex questions, in early 2023, AACSB’s Innovation Committee initiated the development of a reinvigorated value proposition for business schools, and the role they play within the business education ecosystem.

After much deliberations, on April 24, AACSB released a position paper and innovation guide at ICAM 2023 outlining a new value proposition for business schools. The paper inspires schools to "lead boldly" and collaborate with businesses and across disciplines as they prepare the next generation of global leaders. 

Within the report, AACSB highlights the value that business schools deliver and the many ways they positively impact their universities, businesses, the economy, and society. The paper is the result of analysis of business and lifelong learner needs as well as market drivers impacting the business education ecosystem. As part of the initiative, AACSB has prepared a “value proposition for business schools”, which reads as follows:

Source: AACSB

AACSB guide calls B-schools to meet following six goals:

• Ensure equitable access to high-quality business education and networks
• Empower problem-solvers to innovate and transform business
• Create timely curricula and credentials that respond to the speed of business
• Deploy learning methods and delivery that adapt to learner needs
• Pursue knowledge creation with impact on business and society
• Develop societal impact leaders for positive change

"Business education, and higher education, are going through monumental shifts right now, and business schools are well positioned to elevate the value they deliver while responding to the evolving needs of business," said McRae C. Banks, chair of the AACSB Board of Directors and dean of the Bryan School of Business and Economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. "Business schools are incubators of new knowledge and provide students with the analytical and problem-solving skills needed for business innovation," he added.

"Our world needs agile leaders now more than ever," said Alex Triantis, vice chair-chair elect of the AACSB Board of Directors, chair of the AACSB Innovation Committee, and dean of John Hopkins Carey Business School.

AACSB Innovation Guide includes innovation initiatives from leading B-schools across the globe including Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. From India, BIMTECH Greater Noida is the only B-school to be featured.

Highlighting BIMTECH’s Atal Incubation Centre, AACSB report says, “The Birla Institute of Management Technology supports India’s economic growth by developing more job creators, versus just job seekers, through the Atal Incubation Centre (AIC)-BIMTECH. The incubator partners with engineering institutes and universities so students and faculty can co-create sustainable ventures within a robust network of mentors and investors. With a focus on business modeling and market exposure, the incubator helps entrepreneurs from the school and community ideate, launch, scale, and fund their ventures.”

Business School Innovation Examples highlighted in AACSB report include:

• Solbridge International School of Business
• Foster School of Business, University of Washington
• ESCP Business School
• Crummer Graduate School of Business Rollins College
• Marshall Brad D. Smith Schools of Business
• Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
• Birla Institute of Management Technology
• Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń’s Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management
• Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business
• University of South Australia
• Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business
• University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics
• NEOMA Business School
• ILLINOIS Gies College of Business
• DCU Business School
• Hult International Business School
• Bournemouth University
• EGADE Business School Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Singapore Management University - Lee Kong Chian School of Business
• Michigan Ross
• Gustavson School of Business University of Victoria
• College of Business Colorado State University
• Princess Sumaya University for Technology
• Graduate School of Business University of Cape Town

Established in 1916, AACSB International is the world's largest business education alliance, connecting educators, learners, and business to create the next generation of great leaders. With members in over 100 countries and territories, AACSB fosters engagement, accelerates innovation, and amplifies impact in business education.  Total number of AACSB Accredited B-schools in India stand at 21 B-schools as on April 2023.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)