UpFront

The subject I will discuss will come as no surprise to you as it applies to most of the world, yet how it applies within management education is unsettling; and, we must overcome it. What I am alluding to is the massive anti-institutional malaise that rears its head daily in many countries, and its threat to global development and the sustainability of peaceful societies. While government and distributed governance organizations, like AACSB, search for solutions to pressing problems that threaten their interests, we need only look to the well-aligned, take no prisoners business world for leadership.

Many governments, NGO’s, and associations such as AACSB have identified the myriad of challenges that will, if left unmitigated, cause a slow decay in their ways of life. Solving these problems in their decision making structures is often untenable. Yet, companies with relevant knowledge and well aligned boards and management work together to beat their competitors. They have just one clear mission in mind; stay strong. They do what it takes, hopefully legally, ethically and with society’s best interest in mind. These companies are “all over” their risks and opportunities and they coalesce to defeat them.

Governments are not as fortunate. They are set up to deal with massive and often conflicting threats, and they have little alignment in their governance and stakeholderships. They don’t have the resources to do what would be preferred by all stakeholders, and neither do they have the alignment of thinking and action to stand a chance. Most are destined to slowly crumble until they pop altogether in states of unrest. We must ask ourselves, “will democracy and our way of life survive, or will we all end up in totalitarian, ration-driven environments?”

While many may say, “here he goes; over the top again;” I say that left to current modes of problem-solving and fractious leadership, maybe we ARE at risk. If government and other distributed governance entities would simply entrust their best leaders to seriously identify threats to their country’s well being and devise plans to mitigate these threats, and these plans were supported by the voting governance structure, I am sure we could solve most of the controllable problems we see before us today. Take a lesson from successful businesses, do what is necessary to ensure the entity competes effectively. Make the hard choices, and voters; be supportive. In the long run, it is critical to societal sustainability.

The world of management education also faces many challenges in sustaining its way of life and maintaining its quality image. Hundreds of millions of students will need to be educated in management principles and practice in the next twenty years, and we just don’t have the academic faculty to develop these students worldwide with traditional approaches. We are unable to maintain educational structures that we have employed historically due to shortage of academic faculty and mercurial increases in students. The AACSB Blue Ribbon Committee on Accreditation Quality is struggling with these and other issues that simply will not go away. AACSB must become the best at assuring quality in distributed management education environments with highly-leveraged academic faculty. It must lead in developing the efficacy of non-traditional faculty, and above all, assure quality learning has been accomplished. New and much more efficient quality assurance strategies are desperately needed and they are needed now. With nearly 14,000 business degree granting providers in the world at last count, having less than five percent accredited is a huge threat to our traditional world.

While the challenges to the world’s renowned institutions, including AACSB, are quite real and ominous, working together; making tough choices; and implementing strategies that work, are the techniques used effectively since the dawn of time. If we all place resolution of threats in the proper perspective and give until its hurts, (ALL of US), then we will be on the right track and our descendants will respect that we did the right things to make their world sustainable. Be a good team member and maybe governments, NGO’s, and associations like AACSB, will do just as well as the businesses whose employees we continue to develop.

Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating this time of year. To others, enjoy the time off.

with John Fernandes
President and CEO
AACSB International