BOOK REVIEW: “The Art of the Sale” by Philip Delves Broughton (2013)

Philip Delves Broughton made quite a name for himself by writing a book, which was highly critical of Harvard Business School and the MBA system in general.  During his time at HBS, he was surprised that sales was not part of the curriculum.  He expected it to be very present in MBA programs and yet found that, in general, they looked down upon such mercantile procedures. 

Business school performance culture. Are we targeting the right things?

Those of us working in higher education at the moment must recognise that some of the targets to which are business schools work are leading to dysfunctional outcomes, for example staff being taken away from front line teaching and student support duties so that they can write articles for obscure academic journals.

Study Abroad : Justine Lhoste talks about her double degree programme at the Laval University, Canada

Laval University, situated in Quebec City, was quite a change for Justine Lhoste. As a GEM student, Justine is pursuing the double degree opportunity and wanted to experience a new culture, as she has already studied abroad in Ireland and Australia. From the start, she knew that she needed to be prepared to work a lot in her competitive Marketing MBA pursuit, and when she arrived in Canada, her expectations became reality.

BOOK REVIEW: “From Higher Aims to Hired Hands” by Rakesh Khurana (2007)

This book caused quite a stir when it was first published and perhaps not surprisingly since it is an “insider’s account” of why business schools have never gained the respectabilty they have searched for over the past century. Rakesh Khurana is a Harvard Business School professor whose book came at an end of a decade of a great deal of criticism of business schools that came mostly from within. That was just before the current financial crisis. Since the beginning of this crisis those criticisms have continued to grow.

BOOK REVIEW: “The Future of Business Schools: Scenarios and Strategies for 2020″ by Thomas Durand & Stéphanie Dameron (2008)

Written and coordinated by two French professors, The Future of Business Schools for 2020, sets out some of the challenges and external pressures on business schools today and the impact that may have for the coming years. Many of the European countries are dealt with individually; there is also an essay on the U.S.A, a more general one on business education in Latin America, and another one on management education in Asia.

Does management work and does it have a future?

I recently completed some research on the management and organisation of British universities, which concluded that despite being full of good intentions (in this case to internationalise their offering) they lacked the management experience and know-how to implement the changes necessary to implement their strategies.  Whilst it seemed fairly clear to me that what they needed to do was improve their management knowledge and know-how, it did not feel entirely comfortable for me to be saying this. After all I work at a Business School, one of whose primary functions is to provide management education to help managers develop their knowledge and know-how.

STUDY ABROAD / INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE : City University of Hong Kong

Pascal Masapollo, a graduate management student from Grenoble EM, talks about his experience at City University of Hong Kong.

   

Hong Kong is a city where all your dream become reality ! It is not just about buildings and noodles but also about amazing landscapes, people, and cultural experiences ! The City University of Hong Kong offers amazing facilities (even a swimming pool!). Everything is made so that you can enjoy your time like never before…   So you’d better not forget your camera !!

    

Text and photo by Pascal Masapollo

 

AACSB Associate Deans Conference: Leadership Skills and Strategies (David Logan: CultureSync & USC Marshall School of Business)

   

At the AACSB Associate Deans Conference 2012 David Logan, Senior Partner, CultureSync and Lecturer, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, gave a highly entertaining talk about dealing with ‘tribes’ in organizations. The title of the talk was “Leadership Skills and Strategies: Techniques and Tools on Leveraging Group Dynamics” and it gave some useful advice on how we can teach groups to develop a more positive attitude to their work.

Interview with Bertrand Guillotin of the Fuqua School of Management, Duke University

It was a great pleasure to welcome Bertrand Guillotin, International Programs Director at the Fuqua School of Management, Duke University to Grenoble EM in November. During his time at the school we were able to make a short video in which Bertrand talked about life at Duke. Having studied and worked in both France and the USA, he was also able to share his insights into and the differences between French and American styles of teaching and learning.

AACSB Associate Deans Conference 2012: The Many Faces of the Associate Dean

The Many Faces of the Associate Dean: Working with Diverse Stakeholders

   

At the AACSB Associate Deans Conference 2012, Dawn Hukai, Associate Dean at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Susan Laurenson, Associate Dean at The University of Auckland Business School and David J. Urban, Executive Associate Dean, at Virginia Commonwealth University discuss the many roles of an Associate Dean.