Author: Angela Leone

Leadership and purpose: the human aspect returns to the centre of business

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From awareness to sustainability. Why is it so important that managers leading companies put the human element at the centre? Arrigo Berni and Josip Kotlar explain, presenting the Executive Programme in Leading with Purpose

Facing the challenges of the present supported by a conscious intention, a reason that pushes us to pursue an objective. In a word, purpose. It’s the test that awaits the leaders of today and tomorrow, called on to deal with increasingly interconnected scenarios and challenges and with consumers who evaluate brands based on their contribution to society: «In the last decades, material living conditions have improved enormously at the global level. And human nature is such that from the satisfaction of a class of needs, in this case material ones, new ones are born, in this case immaterial, of meaning», explains Arrigo Berni, founding partner of The Mind at Work Italy and Adjunct Professor at MIP. But not only. The progressive worsening of environmental conditions imposes a rethinking of the reasons at the basis of economic activities: «Defining the purpose of an activity is essential to bringing the human aspect to the centre of business in a coherent fashion», explains Josip Kotlar, director of the Executive Programme in Leading with Purpose offered by MIP Politecnico di Milano with the collaboration of The Mind at Work. «Until now we have seen a sort of division between economic and corporate social responsibility activities. Our intention is to use purpose to promote a more integrated vision of these two aspects which are not separate but must go together to be sustainable».

Awareness, the key for complexity

A sea change, that requires enlightened leaders: «Intentional leadership», explains Berni, «is characterized by great self-awareness and by the ability to give a meaning to reality, rather than reacting to it. In addition to this, a purpose-driven leader has the ability to develop collaborative relationships with others and to correctly interpret the situation in which they operate».

An approach that can be read as an evolution of the methods by which people have always tried to come up with effective strategies.  As Kotlar explains, «it’s important that decisions are guided by what we can define as “conscientiousness”. Today, however, the traditional tools with which decisions are made are commodities available to every company. They no longer represent a competitive advantage. New approaches are needed that lead to conscientious decisions. Purpose is important because it provides a new set of tools with which to manage complexity, without restricting oneself to a technical, and therefore limited, vision of the world».

Sustainable change involves purpose

The advantages of leadership inspired by purpose are due above all to abandoning a vision superficially focused on “what” and “how”. «An approach », stresses Berni, «that sacrifices awareness of the intentions underlying a decision and that leads to results that not only are not very sustainable over time, but also fall short of their potential, because it doesn’t’ transmit energy to the entire organization». If you let yourself be guided by purpose, instead, «results are based on structural changes and therefore are sustainable over time, because they are children of a systemic vision of the company. Results are also better, because they are the fruit of more energy, both at an individual and collective level».

A course to develop your strengths

Motivated by the desire to encourage positive change in the world, MIP Politecnico di Milano decided to launch the Executive Programme in Leading with Purpose: «It is based on the innovative digital learning model FLEX», explains Kotlar. «It combines impact learning with maximum flexibility. The programme is composed of eight thematic modules, each consisting of a combination of brief clips, a live question-and-answer session and four interactive lessons. It concludes with project work that allows participants to put themselves to the test with real projects; it also offers a coaching session that supports participants in working on themselves, to discover and develop their inner strengths, to improve the ability to innovate, develop entrepreneurship and other characteristics of leadership. It’s a programme that allows for broad flexibility in one’s personal path».

“From know HOW to know WHERE”.

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With these brief words, Federico Frattini, Dean of the MIP Business School of the Politecnico di Milano, described the FLEXA project, a personalised and continuous learning platform based on Artificial Intelligence mechanisms developed over the last 4 years by a team of over 20 people. The project is rightly considered to be one of the most innovative and successful experiments in making training a virtuous habit to which we devote time every day.

Federico spoke about it with emotion and pride in a recent interview with Sole24Ore, in which MIP announced the decision to open FLEXA free of charge to private users who want to embark on a personal reskilling journey.

But where did this project come from, and what role does OfCourseMe play in FLEXA?

It all goes back to the spring of 2018, when OfCourseMe and the FLEXA Team first met to share their vision of how it was necessary to build lifelong learning journeys by leveraging the wealth of open access training content on the web.

“In the last 15 years, we have seen an exponential growth in the number of sources and formats for personalised and continuous learning,” recalled Frattini, “but no one had yet tackled the problem of organising this abundance and making it usable in a guided way for people, starting from an analysis of their own skills. We saw an opportunity to bridge this gap with FLEXA and we met with OfCourseMe at the right time.”

In fact, FLEXA was created with the aim of helping users to gain an overview of any gaps in their knowledge and to construct learning itineraries, translating the academic experience of MIP into a product. However, one of the challenges it faces is organising the content. It’s just like a teacher who has to steer a student through a very well-stocked yet very diverse and extensive library.

This is where OfCourseMe comes in: developed as a search engine that organises and standardises tens of thousands of items of online training content, OfCourseMe immediately proved to be a valuable partner for the FLEXA team. Using OfCourseMe’s API, FLEXA was able to outsource a powerful search engine that aggregates and classifies over 500,000 titles, in over 20 languages and a variety of formats.

“OfCourseMe has provided us with features that we would have struggled to develop and maintain independently. In addition, OfCourseMe continues to add new sources every month, and we can always leverage the freshest content from the Web to offer personalised recommendations to users of our product, all on a fully automated basis,” says Frattini.

So what are the next steps?

To date, FLEXA has welcomed more than 3,000 users: mainly Alumni or students of the MIP Masters courses. The idea is that, soon, FLEXA will be extended beyond the perimeter in which the initiative was established.

“From the very first exchange of ideas on this matter, the strategic alignment between the FLEXA team and us was clear,” concluded Davide Conforti, CEO of OfCourseMe. “The ambition now is to work together to make personalised and continuous learning in the company a virtuous routine, in a context where upskilling and reskilling have become categorical imperatives.”

FLEXA and OfCourseMe boast an absolutely excellent solution ranging from assessments to training content recommendations, on-demand curation and indexing of proprietary content… Basically everything you need to be ready for the future.

How to Pay for an Online MBA

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Budget cuts caused by coronavirus are (sometimes) making corporate sponsorship scarcer, and scholarships can be hard to find. Here’s some tips on how you can pay for your Online MBA. Although the payoff can be huge, studying for an MBA, even an online program, is a long-term investment that requires significant sums of money, time and effort.

With coronavirus roiling the world economy, record numbers of people are applying to business schools to improve their credentials. But many of these students, while by no means poor in most cases, will face a harder time funding their studies during a sharp global recession.

“Funding seems to be a pressing concern for candidates. Indeed, we are receiving more requests about loans than in the past,” says Greta Maiocchi, chief customer management officer at MIP Politecnico di Milano, the Italian business school.

Is employer funding for Online MBA programs drying up?

Traditionally, employers have been more willing to pay for their staff to complete a part-time program, such as an Online MBA, over a full-time degree. That’s because online students continue to work, applying their insights on the job in real-time.

However, employer funding is now drying up because of coronavirus. In a recession, companies will cut costs to shore up their bottom line, though not all organizations.

“Some companies have increased their investment in education despite the pandemic, while others — which used to pay for their employees to do a part-time program — are now slowing down,” says Maiocchi.

Matt Wakeman, director of student financial services at Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in the US, notices a reduction in the level of corporate sponsorship for students working in the oil and gas sector, which is reeling from the collapse in the price of oil.

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom, though. “Several companies with prominent education programs haven’t scaled back at all; some have actually expanded their benefits,” says Wakeman. “Even during difficult economic times, they understand how beneficial it can be to attracting and retaining employees.”

Online MBA funding: loans and other options

Wakeman says his office has seen an increase in the number of students with questions about funding their education.

He is getting more queries about loans, but for opportunistic reasons. “With federal interest rates at historic lows, even students who are fortunate enough to be in a position to pay for their education out of pocket are considering taking out federal loans,” he says.

Last March, America’s Department of Education set student loan interest rates to zero until the end of September 2021. However, such loans are unavailable to overseas students, who make up a minority of students on most Online MBA programs, which tend to attract people who want to study closer to home.

Even bank loans can be difficult to obtain for international students, usually requiring a domestic citizen to co-sign the loan. For this reason, some business schools have struck partnerships with alternative lenders that provide loans with favorable terms for its students.

MIP, for example, works with Prodigy Finance, a peer-to-peer lender which does not require a co-signer, nor collateral. MIP also works with Germany’s Deutsche Bildung, which offers loans with income-linked repayments over a number of years after graduation.

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Innovation: the key pillar for future managers

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on Innovation: the key pillar for future managers

A year has now passed since I introduced myself with my first article for the Polimi School of Management community. Back then, I had only high hopes for the path I was about to undertake. Today, as a result of the new knowledge and skills that I have acquired, I have many more convictions. One of the main focuses of MIP’s MBA Programs is innovation, which is covered in many courses, such as the last one I attended: Innovation Strategy, held by Dean Federico Frattini, Prof. Josip Kotlar and Prof. Reinhard Prügl.But first, what is innovation?

In the current economic and social context, innovation is one of the main development drivers and a determining factor for business success. It is talked about a lot, but all too often without its true meaning being known. My favorite definition of innovation is that of the Hungarian biochemist, Albert Szent-Györgyi:

“Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”

One of the most interesting aspects is that this “innovation awareness” no longer belongs only to large companies: in fact, we are witnessing a process of a progressive “democratization of innovation”, also driven by the most recent paradigms, such as Open Innovation, which are multiplying the opportunities to innovate, even in smaller companies. This is, above all, thanks to the lower cost of access to innovative solutions, ideas and skills, a privilege historically reserved for large multinationals.

This is the historic moment when every company should ask itself: “Am I doing things right?” And to achieve this awareness, one cannot only look inside, but also (and above all) to the continuously developing economic and social context that surrounds us.

As the famous inventor, Charles Franklin Kettering, once said: “If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.” And this is absolutely true! If the world around us changes, we, too, must change accordingly. And if we haven’t done it yet, we are probably already lagging behind.

Successfully innovating, however, is not always easy. There are some enabling factors that can help achieve the desired goal.

The first of these is having good vision, or the ability of the top management to steer their company effectively towards the chosen goal.

Another important key factor is the culture of failure. While it is essential to have clear methods to avoid the commitment of resources in favor of initiatives that will not be successful, it is equally essential to activate mechanisms for capturing knowledge and learning from cases of company failure.

Finally, the last fundamental factor is to have a well-defined strategy, focused on specific objectives. Frenzy and instinctive decisions can be very dangerous. For example, introducing a very powerful technology, but one which you do not know what to do with, or do not have the skills to manage, can have a negative impact on the performance of an organization.

In this regard, from what emerges from a recent study conducted by PwC, 54% of the managers interviewed argue that within innovative companies there is a struggle to bridge the gap between business strategy and innovation strategy. Both strategies must move in the same direction. Even better, they should be two sides of a single model geared towards achieving economic results over time. And this is even more achievable through the concept of Open Innovation, theorized by the US economist, Henry Chesbrough, in the essay “The era of open innovation”.    According to Chesbrough, “Companies can and must make use of external ideas, as well as internal ones, and access markets internally and externally if they want to progress in their technological skills”. Adopting an open approach, therefore, means innovating by leveraging one’s talents within the organization, but also involving various actors outside the company boundaries.

The result? A much more democratic and much more widespread access to new technologies.

Now, the last question which could come to your mind is: “Ok, in the MIP classes you talk a lot about innovation. Do you really put it into practice, though?”

The answer is yes, if you’re willing to. MIP offers you access to research articles, events and webinars about innovation. Most of all, however, it provides all the alumni with the chance to be supported in the creation and development of deep tech startups, providing services for acceleration, access to funding, mentorship, and advice, thanks to the strong connection to PoliHub, the Innovation Park & Startup Accelerator of the Politecnico di Milano. So what we learn is not just the concept of innovation, but how to make it real. And that’s important, because, quoting Goethe:

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

 

About the author
 Marco Di Salvio

Student of the International Part Time MBA at MIP Politecnico di Milano.
Industrial Engineer currently working @ Gucci as WW Supply & Demand Planner, based in Florence.
Tech passionate, Cinema-lover, Sports addicted.
Solving the world’s problems one spreadsheet at a time.

 

«Thanks to the Full-Time MBA I learned to enhance the family business»

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Fabio Borgia, a Full-Time MBA student, has a leading role in the Le Rogaie farm, managed together with his parents and siblings. The history of an innovative project that, through social media, tells the story of a group that is attentive to social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Innovating in a sector that is considered to be among the most traditional is possible. That is shown by Le Rogaie, a family-run farm in the Tuscan Maremma, which during the first lockdown deciding to talk about its activities online. The family business is managed by the Borgia family: two parents and five children. Among these is Fabio Borgia, currently enrolled in the Full-Time MBA programme at MIP Politecnico di Milano. An engineer by training, specialised in the energy sector, he talks to us about the reasons that led Le Rogaie online: «We took our inspiration from some foreign farmers, who thanks to social media had the opportunity to talk about their activities in a transparent fashion and without stereotypes. And we also decided to try».

The farm goes online

So, Le Rogaie landed on YouTube, on Facebook, on Instagram. The views and registrations in its social channels are growing, as is the interest of users: «I believe the success comes from the mix of tradition, passion, familiarity and innovative spirit. We are real, we show ourselves for what we are, and our initiative is already attracting users from outside of Italy.  The face of the initiative is my brother Edoardo, who in the videos talks about the activities of our company with language that is technical but also informative», explains Borgia.  The contents created, which have an educational objective, and the company’s opening to research have also drawn the interest of the academic and scientific world: «The European and Italian space agencies, together with the research institute CNR and different European universities, collaborate with Le Rogaie carrying out advanced studies on chlorophyll photosynthesis, as well as taking measurements useful for the calibration of satellites». Returning “to earth”, instead, it is worth mentioning that initiative that allowed students of agricultural faculties to virtually visit the company, thus bypassing the restrictions caused by the pandemic: «Thanks to our initiative, those visits now take place online. But we would like to give everyone the opportunity to live a real experience on the farm». In fact, the social media pages are aimed at the widest possible audience. «Le Rogaie mainly produces milk. The growing attention paid to the issue of breeding, and to zootechnical issues in general, deserves in-depth information that talks about this in an honest way, also stressing an element that is central for us like sustainability».

Social, economic, environmental sustainability

«It’s a theme that has always been important for us, and that we see from three points of view», explains Fabio Borgia. «The first is that of social sustainability.  Our first commitment is to involve the local community, to be present, open to the outside world. Then comes economic sustainability, which perhaps is the biggest challenge: we have an advantage, from this point of view, from having preserved the dimensions of a family business. Each of us leverages off specific skills to reinforce the fundamentals of the company. Specifically, I follow the development of online activities and handle establishing new contacts. Last, but not in terms of importance, there’s environmental sustainability». A theme that, in the case of Le Rogaie, is strictly tied to an aptitude for innovation: a family tradition, seeing that, as Borgia tells us, his father Giulio has never shied away from experiments, whether of a social or technical nature. «In 2008 we invested in a biogas plant that closes the CO2 cycle and produces 250 Kilowatts of electricity per hour that is now sold entirely to Enel. Our goal, ambitious but possible, is to transform Le Rogaie to become carbon negative. We want to convey the message that agriculture isn’t the exploitation of nature, on the contrary: human intervention improves nature itself», says Borgia.

At MIP for an entrepreneurial mindset

Fabio Borgia is currently enrolled in the full time MBA programme at MIP and is preparing to immerse himself in bootcamps ahead of the summer internship. «I am an engineer, but I am gradually becoming interested in governance issues. In general, I find that the whole course has been done well and is well-structured. I decided to enrol in this MBA programme because I find the technological tradition of Politecnico di Milano to be winning. For me it was an investment motivated by curriculum needs and the desire to gain access to a type of training that can offer countless opportunities, also thanks to the strong tie between MIP and companies. In fact, I have already had several interviews. Then there’s also PoliHub, the MIP incubator. Thanks to this MBA I am developing an entrepreneurship mindset, able to stimulate reflection and innovative ideas. Ideas that, of course, will also make a strong contribution to Le Rogaie», concludes Borgia.

 

The School of Management at Politecnico di Milano confirms itself in the top 2% of Business Schools globally with AMBA-re-accreditation

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The School of Management at Politecnico di Milano officially received re-accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA), one of the world’s leading authorities on post-graduate business education, demonstrating its continuing commitment to excellence in management education.

Upon receiving AMBA accreditation, all current MBA students and recent MBA alumni of the School of Management at Politecnico di Milano are invited to join AMBA’s global member community of more than 56,000 students and alumni in more than 150 countries on a free basis, for networking, thought leadership, career development, and a variety of benefits.

Accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) represents the highest standard of achievement in post-graduate business education. Its rigorous assessment criteria ensure that only the highest-calibre programmes which demonstrate the best standards in teaching, curriculum, and student interaction achieve Association of MBAs accreditation.

The School of Management at Politecnico di Milano was founded in 2003. The Business School’s mission is to ‘contribute to the collective good through a critical understanding of the opportunities offered by innovation.’

Members of AMBA’s accreditation panel, representing senior management at AMBA-accredited Business Schools globally, commended the culture of innovation at the Business School which was seen to be present in all its activities.

An example of this innovation was seen in the FLEXA life-long learning initiative, which is based on artificial intelligence. The panel noted that this was ‘highly distinctive’ among European Business Schools.

The leadership team at the School was said to be dedicated to the academic and pastoral wellbeing of the students.

“We are extremely proud to be in the top 2% of Business Schools that received re-accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA). A recognition that demonstrates our engagement in reaching the highest level of achievement in our programmes and in pursuing excellence in management education.” said Vittorio Chiesa and Federico Frattini, President and Dean of MIP Politecnico di Milano.
”We are really pleased that on this occasion, the members of AMBA’s accreditation panel also commended our culture of innovation, well represented by FLEXA, our continuous and personalized training platform, that we have made accessible to everyone, free of charge, just in these days.”

AMBA accreditation is international in scope and reach, and AMBA works under the belief that accredited programmes should be of the highest standard and reflect changing trends and innovation in post-graduate management education. Its accreditation process reflects this commitment to fostering innovation, and demanding Business Schools to perform at the highest level continually.

Andrew Main Wilson, Chief Executive of the Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association (BGA) said: ‘I am delighted that the prestigious School of Management at Politecnico di Milano has received AMBA re-accreditation. This is a School which is constantly innovating and increasing the standard of business education. I look forward to continuing to work with this School to further these endeavours.’

A fertile environment for ideas

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Fermenting brains multiplies the results of the efforts: this is the most surprising of my many expectations of the International Part-Time MBA program.Despite the many challenges brought by today’s disrupted normality, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, my colleagues and I continue to work hard. Our class was shaped by MIP from among the many applications, choosing who could bring forth proactivity and the ability to innovate with curiosity: this attitude is decisive to carry on building the future and setting ambitious targets. To carve out the space for self-realization and professional fulfilment. To create a fertile environment for ideas.

We have each other. We are neither shy nor jealous of what pops into our minds because we know we can find active support or advice from our colleagues. We have established a positive atmosphere where we know that a thought or a comment shared is not intended to be a personal showcase, but rather an occasion to share understandings or knowledge.

The team-building activities during the first ice-breaking International Week at EADA Business School set the foundations for this positive mindset. We empowered engagement during our monthly face-to-face appointments at MIP and at the many networking events: the opportunities to gather and to cooperate, analysing and finding solutions to the business cases are a great chance to appreciate each other’s most distinctive traits and work together to achieve quality outcomes.

We have established a great environment, a fertile soil where ideas can be nurtured and grow organically and sustainably. Raw concepts get shaped through suggestions, observations and comments. This cross-contamination occurs in multiple audiences, thanks also to the team-swapping during the entire duration of the course, where everybody can experience the potentiality that lies in diversity.

Contamination is nurtured by diversity: the class’s variety of backgrounds in terms of culture, education and professional experience could be perceived as an obstacle but it is, in fact, an opportunity for growth. A mix of STEM and humanities graduates, employed in very different industries internationally, coming from the Far East to South America, could have created a tinderbox but instead, becomes a trigger for development.

After 12 months on our International Part-Time MBA path, we are starting on the Project Works. This fertile environment and these great synergies have led us to burst with potential business ideas, which are currently being developed. Most of these projects came about exactly as explained, from an informal chat which gained momentum and group-wide contributions.

Naturally proactive mindsets transform diversity into opportunities to capture an unexpected point of view and broaden the horizon to more suitable implementations. Whoever agrees to play the game stresses the ability to generate links and shifts his or her perspective and propensity to change.

Our professors tirelessly push us to focus on innovation and a propensity towards transformation. In our groups, we experience essential training in open-mindedness and creative thinking, entailing an enrichment of the shared background of our experiences.

Lastly, mutual esteem is the key to steering people who aim to do their best into a positive and cooperative environment. We are keen to improve our ability to work in teams, and we learn leadership while we find the best time to embody the role of the promoter or to step back and leave the scene to whomever is more capable of being an effective driving force.

At the very beginning, it was difficult to understand the real reason why the Career Development Office was focusing on the essential role of soft skills for achieving success in our career strategy. From my perspective, it was the technical skills which were the key to success, but I can now appreciate the change of perspective that has been generated in my propensity to openness.

We are unconsciously learning how to think agilely, in an entertaining way that improves our personal attitude towards both our knowledge and the unknown leveraging of the relationships we are building with a group of talented peers.

 

About the author
 Fabrizio Liponi

My name is Fabrizio and I work as a tunnel engineer in the construction of Underground Line 4 of Milan. Born, raised, studied, living and working in Milan: I love my city and I’m proud to take part in building its future. Travel addicted, I love to meet people and different cultures.

 

 

Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano graduate Daniele Pes wins MBA Startup of the Year award at AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2021

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano graduate Daniele Pes wins MBA Startup of the Year award at AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2021

Daniele Pes, a graduate from Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano, has won the coveted MBA Startup of the Year award for his company Grycle.

He received this accolade at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards, which were held virtually on 29 January 2021.

The ceremony had 365 people registered to attend including Business School leaders, as well as category finalists, judges and members of the media.

Daniele Pes left his role as Director of Open Innovation and Digital Transformation in a multinational fair-trade company to dedicate himself to his new venture, Grycle.

Grycle performs small-scale industrial waste treatment, allowing the transformation of undifferentiated waste back into raw materials upstream of the supply chain, thus dramatically reducing costs and impacts.

The patented technology transforms waste sustainably into flakes of raw materials that are automatically separated and ready for industrial reuse. There is no more need for manual sorting. Garbage is turned from waste into valuable resources, which are recyclable indefinitely.

“On behalf of Grycle team I want to thank MIP and make an appeal to the companies in the waste and mechatronics industries, as long as the investors out there. We do the R&D you might have done in the past. If we’ve not done enough so far, this is the perfect moment to fill the gap between talking about the environment and concretely change. And evolve. Let’s talk, let’s collaborate, let’s make it real, together”, said Daniele Pes.

Andrew Main Wilson, Chief Executive of the Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association (AMBA & BGA), said: ‘On behalf of the AMBA and Business Graduates Association (BGA) team, I would like to congratulate the Finalists and Winners of this year’s Excellence Awards.

‘This was our largest-ever AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards, featuring 11 categories. We have had a record number of entries, representing all six continents, and the competition was stronger than ever. The entries who made the final shortlist in each category should feel proud of their achievements.

‘I also want to take the opportunity to thank our headline sponsor, Blue Prism, and its Chairman and CEO, Jason Kingdon, as well as our award sponsors – Advent Group, Barco and Studious Digital Education. Their support for our awards – and the business education sector – is greatly appreciated.’

ENDS

 

For more information or interviews, please contact:

 

Awards selection process

The Finalists list was shortlisted by AMBA & BGA’s senior management team. Our judges reviewed more than 100 shortlisted entries, selecting a winner (‘gold’) and, if appropriate, a ‘silver’ and ‘bronze’ for each award. Our judging panel is made up of AMBA board members, business experts, deans, and management leaders. Judges decided the winners based on written submissions for all categories, as well as interviews with all finalists for all student and graduate categories. Judges then scored all finalists confidentially with the scores added up to decide the winners.

All of our judges were selected based on their experience and qualifications.

More information about the categories and complete list of the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners and Finalists

 

Best Innovation Strategy, sponsored by Barco

The Best Innovation Strategy award is a celebration of innovation and radical thinking in business education delivery across all areas of the Business School and has been developed to recognise and reward game-changing new practices, risks and creativity around AMBA-accredited and BGA member programmes. It promotes the value of taking risks in pursuit of the new across a number of different areas such as teaching, learning, recruitment and alumni relations.

Gold

  • TBS Business School (formerly known as Toulouse Business School) (France) for ‘Teaching through comedy: injecting humour into educational videos’

Silver

  • Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano (Italy) for ‘Immersive learning with simulations and virtual reality’

Bronze

  • Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow (UK) for ‘Decision making under uncertainty: making a drama out of a crisis – transitioning a core MBA course into an online format using the Covid-19 pandemic as an integrated case study’

Finalists

  • Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London (UK) for ‘A three-stage strategic response to the disruption in teaching provision due to the Covid-19 pandemic: stabilise, enhance and innovate’
  • School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) (China) for ‘Fintech MBA programme’

 

Best Lifelong Learning Initiative, sponsored by Studious Digital Education

The Best Lifelong Learning Initiative is a new award which recognises the efforts of AMBA & BGA member Schools that are reinventing teaching and learning among students, graduates, alumni networks, and in their custom and executive education offerings.

The finalists showcase the impact and success these initiatives have had not only to students, but also to the Business School.

Gold

  • Mannheim Business School, University of Mannheim (Germany)

Silver

  • Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University (Thailand)

Bronze

  • Hult International Business School (US)

Finalists

  • EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico)
  • Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad Anáhuac México (Mexico)
  • International Institute of Business (IIB) (Ukraine)

 

Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative

The Best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative award honours AMBA-accredited and BGA member, validated and accredited Business Schools that share AMBA & BGA’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and that are passionate about making a difference to communities and societies.

The award recognises Business Schools that are taking the initiative in creating a sustainable future and teaching students about social values; as well as making a positive impact in practical and measurable ways.

Gold

  • Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University (Nigeria) for ‘LBS Sustainability Centre (LBSSC)’

Silver

  • Glorious Sun School of Business and Management, Donghua University (China) for ‘Social Responsibility Leadership Programme’

Bronze

  • CENTRUM PUCP Business School, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru) for ‘Improving My Store’

Finalists

  • Hanken School of Economics (Finland) for ‘Business Lead’
  • IPADE Business School, Universidad Panamericana (Mexico) for ‘IPADE Social Challenge’
  • Shantou University Business School, Shantou University (China) for ‘Leiling Honey Project, Fenghuangshan Mountain Tea Promotion Project, Recycling Project of China’

 

Best Business School Partnership, sponsored by Blue Prism

The Best Business School Partnership recognises organisations that share AMBA & BGA’s passion for building networks and have adopted a proactive, innovative approach to strategic collaboration.

This award is designed to celebrate Business Schools working strategically and collaboratively with (for example) another Business School / group of Schools, an employer, consultant, education partner or technology provider, social impact group, individual, charity, or other organisation.

Gold

  • Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University (UK) with Transnational Academic Group

Silver

  • CENTRUM PUCP Business School, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru) with Industrias San Miguel

Bronze

  • School of Business, Jiangnan University (China) with Jiangsu JD-Link International Logistics

Finalists

  • Graduate Business School, NUCB Business School (Japan) with Toyota Motor Corporation
  • Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano (Italy) with Prada

 

Best Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, sponsored by Advent Group

The Best Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative is a new award which has been introduced in 2021, which recognises Business Schools and the work they have been doing to create, incorporate and develop culture, diversity and inclusion practices into their Business School, while balancing and involving fair working environments.

Gold

  • Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London for ‘Working in diverse organisations’

Silver

  • IE Business School (Spain) for ‘LGBT+@Work’
  • Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA) (Venezuela) for ‘Women entrepreneurs programme – Grupo Cisneros’
  • Monash Business School, Monash University (Australia) for ‘Queering accounting’

 

BGA Business School Impact Award

The BGA Business School Impact Award is a newly created award in 2021, open to BGA member, validated, and accredited Schools which demonstrate their impact on all stakeholders, alongside BGA’s vision and Charter. It also promotes the values of positive impact, innovation, responsible management and lifelong learning across areas such as programme design, social outreach programmes, alumni relations, careers services and other areas where the Business School is demonstrating an impact.

Gold

  • School of Business, Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina)

Silver

  • Athena School of Management (India)

Finalists

  • Brunel Business School, Brunel University London (UK)
  • Collegium Humanum-Warsaw Management University (Poland)
  • International Management Institute (MIM-Kyiv) (Ukraine)
  • Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands)

 

BGA Future Leaders Case Competition

The BGA Future Leaders Case Competition provides BGA student and graduate members with an opportunity to showcase their business acumen by solving a time-relevant global business problem with a focus on ensuring sustainability and responsible management practices are at the forefront of proposed solutions.

Gold

  • Nicolas Sauviat, Aston Business School, Aston University (UK)

Finalists

  • Ahmed Youssef Ahmed Aly, Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
  • Hari Chandan Patnaik, Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham (UK)
  • Racquella Laurel Parris, Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, The University of the West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago)

 

MBA Startup of the Year

The MBA Startup of the Year is a new award which celebrates the achievements of successful MBA students and alumni in innovative world-class business strategy. It also showcases Business Schools that are nurturing a spirit of enterprise and ambition.

This award highlights the success of AMBA-accredited Business Schools that promote entrepreneurship in their MBA cohorts.

Gold

  • Daniele Pes, Graduate School of Management, MIP Politecnico di Milano (Italy) for Grycle

Silver

  • Yann Le Guillou, Rennes School of Business (France) for Biosency

Bronze

  • Aku Wilenius, School of Business, Aalto University (Finland) for Caidio

Finalists

  • Codilia Gapare, Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) for C-Lash
  • Laura Judith Ramírez Guevara, EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico) for Dereum Labs
  • Tatiana Flores Burbano, ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University (Spain) for Exponencial

 

MBA Entrepreneur of the Year

The MBA Entrepreneur of the Year award celebrates the achievements of successful alumni in innovative world-class business strategy, but also showcases Business Schools that are nurturing a spirit of enterprise and ambition.

The MBA Entrepreneur of the Year award is one of the most distinguished awards in the industry. AMBA has developed the MBA Entrepreneur of the Year award to encourage and promote the value of entrepreneurship in the current competitive climate and to highlight its importance in the global market.

Gold

  • Oluwatobi Ajayi, Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University (Nigeria) for Nord Automobiles

Silver

  • Daniel Burns, TUM School of Management, Technische Universität München (Germany) for Testifi

Bronze

  • Daniel George, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University (UK) for StepEx

Finalists

  • Francisco Santolo, Universidad del CEMA (Argentina) for Scalabl
  • Ramil Khantimirov, Graduate School of Management, Saint Petersburg State University (Russia) for StormWall
  • Sarah Martin, Kent Business School, University of Kent (UK) for Nourish Zero Waste

 

MBA Leadership Award

The MBA Leadership Award is a new award for 2021 which honours alumni from AMBA-accredited Business Schools who have been making an impact in the business world following their graduation.

The award recognises the work of these alumni through their achievements, performance and recognition.

Gold

  • Oare Ehiemua, ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University (Spain)

Silver

  • Alforde Charumbira, UCT Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town (South Africa)

Bronze

  • Vyacheslav Klimov, International Institute of Business (IIB) (Ukraine)

Finalists

  • Ashwanth Gnanavelu, Kent Business School, University of Kent (UK)
  • Ivan Syreyshchikov, Graduate School of Management, Saint Petersburg State University (Russia)
  • Shivanku Misra, IMI New Delhi (India)

 

MBA Student of the Year

AMBA’s MBA Student of the Year award plays a pivotal role in supporting AMBA’s pledge to promote the MBA degree as the leading international business qualification.

The MBA Student of the Year award recognises students who have shown exceptional career potential and who AMBA believes can act as ambassadors for the high quality of accredited MBAs and the opportunities these programmes provide for students from a wide range of different personal and professional backgrounds.

Gold

  • Mital Thanki, School of Business, University of Leicester (UK)

Silver

  • Kayee Au, AUC School of Business, The American University in Cairo (Egypt)

Bronze

  • Leon Lloyd, Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK)

Finalists

  • Ciara Close, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (Ireland)
  • Koshy Alexander, IE Business School (Spain)
  • Ramiro Agustin Costa, Universidad del CEMA (Argentina)

 

Find a list of all AMBA accredited Schools here.

FLEXA, the “digital mentor” of MIP Politecnico di Milano and developed in collaboration with Microsoft, is now accessible to everyone free of charge

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on FLEXA, the “digital mentor” of MIP Politecnico di Milano and developed in collaboration with Microsoft, is now accessible to everyone free of charge

The ongoing and customised training platform has been operational since last year and has been recognised as one of the most innovative projects in the world.

MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business announces that it has made FLEXA the ongoing and customised training platform created in collaboration with Microsoft and BlueIT, accessible to everyone free of charge. FLEXA also promotes networking between students, alumni and companies, to which it provides support in recruiting campaigns through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms that facilitate the matching of job supply and demand.

The project, which has already been recognised by the international association AMBA – which certifies the best MBA programmes of business schools around the world – as one of the most innovative promoted by a business school, has been running for just over a year and has so far been aimed exclusively at business school students and alumni.

FLEXA is based on the Azure cloud platform and Microsoft’s artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities. It acts as a digital mentor with access to an ecosystem of some 800,000 pieces of content, including self-guided digital courses, webinars, podcasts, articles and case studies, some of which remain restricted to MIP students and alumni. The platform creates and suggests customised training paths for each user, starting with an assessment phase that evaluates the skills gaps to be filled in order to achieve professional goals. The method of use is based on a “smart” approach, i.e. it can be adapted to the time available to each individual for professional development.

Federico Frattini, Dean of MIP Politecnico di Milano: “After one year, we have managed to meet the learning and lifelong learning needs of an increasing number of students and alumni of our school by using FLEXA. We now aim to contribute to the development and updating of the skills of anyone who wants to get involved and continuously develop their professional skills over time, by opening FLEXA free of charge to anyone interested in using it.  We strongly believe that there is a need for a very broad re-skilling process in our country and beyond, to ensure that managers, entrepreneurs and professionals stay up-to-date and develop their skills through an effective and rigorous tool such as FLEXA. This is why we have decided to make our platform available to anyone interested, free of charge”.

Sustainability and companies: towards a hybrid model

Posted on | by Angela Leone | Leave a Comment on Sustainability and companies: towards a hybrid model

 

In recent years, the issue of sustainability, also thanks to the agendas of economic and financial institutions at European level, has increasingly been brought to the centre of the debate.
This is why we asked Raffaella Cagliano, Professor of People Management and Organisation at the School of Management of the Politecnico and Director of the Master in Sustainability Management and Corporate Social Responsibility at MIP, how sustainable behaviour by managers and businesses can have an impact on society.

Let’s start from the basics: when we talk about sustainability in business, what exactly do we mean?

Today, companies should no longer be focussing exclusively on achieving profit  ̶  and therefore solely on shareholder satisfaction  ̶  but must act for the benefit of a wider set of stakeholders, who also have different objectives, such as the sustainable development of our society, both from an environmental and social point of view.
It is, however, difficult for companies to achieve these goals by themselves. In order to make a significant contribution, it is important that several players work together: businesses, the non-profit world, public administrations and civil society. The issue of partnerships is essential in this area: only by joining forces can we make a significant impact.

But what is driving companies to take this path right now?

It has been a long-term process, although we are now seeing an increasing awareness of these issues, especially on the part of the younger generation, who are more attentive and who are no longer willing to work for realities that are not perceived as sustainable. It is therefore important for companies that want to continue to attract talent and sell to these segments of the population to move in a new, more sustainable direction.
Not to be underestimated is the growing emphasis on these issues at the level of European public institutions, through a series of policies that encourage sustainable development. I am thinking of the Green New Deal, to name just one.

Finally, there is also the feeling that this pandemic has somehow revitalised consciences, raising people’s awareness of broader issues than was the case in the past. But this is only a further push to an already well-established phenomenon.

So something has already changed.…

Yes, indeed it has. It is precisely this growing focus on social and environmental challenges that is bringing companies closer to some of the logic of the non-profit world.

We are facing a sort of hybridisation: while on the one hand, “traditional” companies are becoming increasingly aware of their impact on society, non-profit concerns are using business models typical of the world of enterprise to make themselves economically sustainable and reinvest profits in the goals – social or environmental – for which they were created.

It is precisely this convergence between the two sectors that leads us to explain why MIP does not include specific programmes dedicated to the non-profit world in its educational portfolio.

Rather, the school decided to address the issue of sustainability by thinking about the business function concerned. While it is indeed true that all managers should have expertise on the subject, given the central role of sustainability in creating value, there are also some areas that deserve a more specific approach.

So, while we have created the International Master in Sustainability Management and Corporate Social Responsibility for those who need to set a company’s strategy with a view to sustainability, for those who want to apply it to the productive core business of industrial companies, there is the Master in Sustainable Industrial Management.

Then there are the International Master in Circular Economy & Green Management, which focuses on environmental objectives, and the International Master in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which discusses how companies and start-ups can address and overcome major social challenges.

Finally, specific attention is paid to the financial world, with the International Master in Sustainable Finance. In fact, dealing with sustainability in this particular area involves two different tiers. On the one hand, more and more financial institutions are including sustainability in their parameters for evaluating and choosing investments; on the other, companies must both manage their financial assets by including a logic of sustainability, and know how to interface correctly with the financing bodies, which are changing perspective.

Such a wide range of courses shows a definite interest in the topic. After all, MIP is the only Business School in Europe to have received B Corp certification, which attests to its commitment to combining profit, the search for well-being for society and attention to the environment…

I don’t believe that we can teach sustainability if we are not putting it into practice ourselves. MIP is a company, which first has to apply those principles that it then teaches in the classroom.
For example, we have always demonstrated a strong interest in the social aspects of sustainability, such as inclusion, equal opportunities, and access to training. Just look at the Gianluca Spina Association, which, with its scholarships, guarantees access to the Masters to deserving young people who might otherwise have difficulty in obtaining such a place.
In recent years, however, we have also committed ourselves to embracing other aspects of sustainability, such as reducing food waste, the use of paper and plastic and the proper disposal of waste.
For these efforts, we have also been awarded B Corp certification. Being the only Business School in Europe to have received this certification must not be an end in itself, but a starting point on a path of continuous growth. Precisely for this reason, the School is developing a strategic plan aimed at improving those aspects of sustainability that still need a further push.
The idea is to become one of the world’s leading business schools in transmitting this message  ̶  as well as obviously wanting to build a better future for everyone.