Business leaders and educators must help solve the social problems of the day. MBAs are looked to for contributing to market development. Partnerships between business schools and schools overseas will work if Western-style practices aren't imposed on others. Every dimension of business behavior is changing so rapidly that it's become one big blur. University- and corporate-based programs can co-exist, but it's going to take a lot of cooperation and partnering. It's an increasingly competitive environment out there and schools need to keep continuously in tune with the needs of their customers.

Those are but some of the poignant messages no doubt still lingering in the minds and experiences of the 1,600 management education leaders who trekked to Chicago in June for the Global Forum on Management Education. The messages were consistent throughout plenaries and presentations of CEOs of major corporations, visionaries, noted authors and management education gurus. How schools choose to respond will be but one of the legacies of this momentous event.

Held June 14-17 in Chicago, the Forum drew management education leaders from universities and corporations in 77 countries. Held only twice a decade - and for the first time in the United States - the Forum represented a world preeminent event for academic and corporate leaders in the field of management education and set a new record as far as total attendance and number of countries represented.

Themed "Learning Without Boundaries," the event provided deans, directors and other senior administrators from university-based business schools and heads of corporate education and training programs with a unique opportunity to come together to discuss the 21st century political, economic and technological trends affecting management education. It proved to be an extraordinary and rare occasion for networking and sharing ideas at the formal and informal level between individuals from different organizations and locations around the globe. Many delegates reported that the contacts made and the knowledge gained were invaluable. Outside the United States, the largest delegations were from Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China. Areas represented stretched alphabetically from Alaska to Zimbabwe and geographically from Canada to Australia.

Co-hosted by AACSB - The International Association for Management Education, the Association of Deans of Southeast Asian Graduate Schools of Management, the Canadian Federation of Business School Deans and the European Foundation for Management Development, the Global Forum was the outcome of three years of planning; intensive networking with university and corporate management educators from around the world; significant contributions of funds and personnel by numerous corporations, foundations and Chicago-based schools; and commitment by hundreds of deans, faculty members, corporate officials, association representatives and student volunteers.

Global Forum co-chairs welcome delegates and sponsors and show thanks for the support they received in developing the upcoming program.

Left to right are: Carlos Cavalle, dean, IESE, the International Graduate School of Management of the University of Navarra (Spain); Richard Boulton, managing partner-strategy and planning, Arthur Andersen (United States); A. William Wiggenhorn, senior vice president of education and training and president, Motorola University (United States); and B. Joseph White, dean, University of Michigan Business School (United States.)

"From all reports we've received thus far, the Global Forum truly exceeded the expectations of delegates," said William K. Laidlaw, Jr., AACSB executive vice president. "People have gone out of their way to praise the program design, the substantive content and the rich environment provided by the excellent mix of speakers." Laidlaw said the Forum succeeded in expanding the horizons of many delegates, especially those from business schools in the U.S. "I also believe a new level of expectation was set for the quality of programming of this type of event," he said.

In a luncheon and plenary, Frank G. Zarb, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., parent of the electronic Nasdaq stock market, spoke to "Building a Global Market of Markets." According to Zarb, the trading medium isn't the message. Regardless of the debate between traditional open outcry and electronic trading, customer satisfaction and efficiency of trading remains most important, he said. The exchange process really isn't as important as long as customers, brokers and even regulations are satisfied that trading is becoming better and cheaper. Zarb said he believes technological innovation will enable electronic trading to leave the more traditional style behind and that dominance shouldn't be feared by floor-trading enthusiasts. Business schools around the globe are among the "crown jewels" in building a better world, said Zarb. "MBAs not only are helping us overcome age-old political and cultural differences - they are contributing to global equitization and market development. Years ago we expected and relied on government to play this creative role," he said. "Today we are seeing international business executives - primarily armed with MBA degrees - assume this responsibility."

Gary L. Tooker, chairman of the board, Motorola, Inc.

Henry Schacht, former chairman and CEO of Lucent Technologies, urges business leaders and educators to accept a stronger role in tackling the social dilemmas of the day.

Frank G. Zarb,  chairman, president and CEO,  National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.