The Annual efmd Meeting of Business School Managers The Challenges facing Business Schools in the Twenty-first Century More than 100 European business school managers took part in the European Foundation for Management Development's (efmd) annual meeting, which was held on January 17-18 in Cologne, Germany. The purpose of the meeting, which was attended by IESE's Dean, Carlos Cavallé, was to exchange experiences and analyze the sector's future. This year, managers from Eastern European schools were invited for the first time The echo of professor Juan Antonio Pérez López Program for World Bank Managers The business school sector is becoming increasingly competitive. As American universities increase their presence in Europe, European schools strengthen their ties with the United States and other regions. Meanwhile, a new competitor is gaining ground: corporate schools, business schools that belong to or are financed by major companies. It is expected that within ten years, more than 300 of the 1,000 American business schools will belong to conglomerates. These institutions provide an eminently technical and practical training. efmd's members hope that the corporate schools will give the same priority to research as that given by schools that work closely along university lines. The European managers emphasized the need to continue to focus research and teaching towards generating useful ideas for businesses, ideas that encompass not only concepts and techniques, but address above all the human dimensions of management. "There is a need for more human organizations, run by technically able leaders who are trained to react to change", said Carlos Cavallé. "Leadership means more than discovering business opportunities. The true leader is the manager who is able to motivate and put to optimal use the abilities of his organization's members." Like all businesses, business schools can choose to strengthen their competitiveness along three lines: closeness to the market and its needs, process efficiency optimization, and product differentiation. Until now, the key to survival has been to excel in one of the three areas. However, it is becoming increasingly necessary to strengthen the three options simultaneously. "Management schools that limit their efforts to improving their teaching, for example, cannot survive. We must take a more hands ­on approach to companies' real needs through cooperation in research and teaching", emphasized Cavallé. The efmd members pointed out the effort that some schools, like IESE, were making in this area. The echo of professor Juan Antonio Pérez López "It is very satisfying to witness the legacy of professor Juan Antonio Pérez López' research", commented Carlos Cavallé. The efmd indicated the need to train leaders able to manage in the awareness of the impact their decisions have on people. "If a manager does not assess people from a human and ethical viewpoint, the organization will never acquire intelligence nor increase its ability to react to organizations' real needs", explained Carlos Cavallé. Program for World Bank Managers A joint venture undertaken in 1996 between the American universities Harvard (Business School and Kennedy School) and Stanford, and the European schools INSEAD and IESE, is offering, through 1998, an intense management development program for the senior management of the World Bank, related institutions like the IMF and the International Finance Corporation, and certain multinational companies that are involved in development macro-projects. James Wolfenson, the World Bank's president has publicly declared his interest in making the Bank more dynamic and improving its efficiency in the struggle against world poverty. This program is one of the tools to help achieve this goal. IESE Professors Eduard Ballarín, Pedro Nueno and Josep Valor are taking part in the project.

Portada | En 10 minutos | A fondo | Tendencias | Reflexión
Es noticia | Agrupación de Miembros | Ultimas noticias | Servicios

REVISTA DE ANTIGUOS
© IESE 1997