When asked if they believe that business schools are under pressure to change their fundamental value proposition and business model, 80% of business school leaders said ‘yes’. Just 13% said ‘no’, while the remaining 7% said they are unsure at this stage.
This is a principal finding of AMBA & BGA’s Transformation and the Emerging Business Model Shift in Business Education report, in association with Saleforce.org. The report surveyed 144 business school decisionmakers from around the world to garner their opinions on business school culture, strategy, and purpose.
Distilling business school strategy to the fundamentals, respondents were asked who they believed is a business school’s main customer. More than half (58%) believe its primary customer is students while a third (33%) think its main customer is society itself.
The survey then moved on to ascertain business school leaders’ top two priorities for students. Just under two thirds (65%) of business school leaders that completed the survey deem teaching and learning to be the number one priority area for students. Careers support, cited by 35%, is the second-most popular priority area.
What role should business schools play in society? More than half (54%) of responding business school leaders believe it is to develop and nurture responsible managers; 17% said the role of business schools is to support the societies in which they’re based, 16% said it is to produce world-class leaders to innovate in terms of corporate strategy; and 13% believe it is to help solve the world’s greatest problems.