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Perspectives on Asia Pacific business education

Business School leaders from across Asia Pacific talk exclusively about the challenges and opportunities facing them. Interviews by Jack Villanueva and Kevin Lee-Simion

Yang Yang, CEO and co-founder of iPIN

Can you introduce yourself?

I am a founder of an AI company in China, which is developing a platform that will allow people to make applications to help college and high-school students in their personal career development plans, and also help students complete applications for Schools. 

A big challenge of AI is that machines cannot understand highly abstract words such as the US or AMBA. However, all the business areas people need AI to understand, relate to these words.

In order to overcome that, we built a social-economic graph and used it to model the whole economic development of China. This way, machines can understand highly abstract words such as ‘companies’, ‘Schools’, ‘majors’, ‘occupations’, and ‘cities’. Because of this, we can provide some applications to help people plan their career path or help recruiters to recruit people by quickly finding the best candidates among millions of applicants.

How can AI help foster innovation and entrepreneurship in tomorrow’s leaders?

AI gives innovators a lot of new tools. For example, there were a lot of people who wanted to do something before, but they couldn’t because they were lacking AI technology. Now, because of things like deep learning, machines can do many different kinds of work, especially classification work, better than human beings. This has created many new opportunities in many business areas.

How has the use of AI changed the business landscape in China?

AI in China is growing very fast. Many companies in China are using AI to solve different kinds of problems in areas such as finance, education, manufacturing and e-commerce. China has a huge population and can generate large quantities of data, especially data around personal behaviour, and this can help businesses and entrepreneurs in China. This can also help machines better understand people’s behaviour in many different dimensions.

Suresh Mony, Director of the Bangalore Campus of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)

In your mind, what does a ‘great’ Business School programme look like?

Educators have a big role to play in creating jobs in society. With the advent of AI, jobs are really being threatened. World Bank research finds 69% of the jobs in India and more than 70% of the jobs in China will disappear within the coming decade. So we must do something drastic. It is SMEs that will create the most jobs per unit of capital invested. The world before 1820 was known as an entrepreneurial society, but everyone had small businesses. With the advent of the large-scale enterprises, it became a society of employees. If jobs are going to become scarce, we need more enterprises and Business Schools should be more instrumental in that. 

The great programmes generate graduates who are analytical, who can synthesise ideas and manage businesses. They are probably not the best at creating businesses.

Entrepreneurship requires people who have critical thinking skills, tolerate ambiguity, and can create. The curricula and pedagogy will have to be tuned to help students create value.

Pedagogy is still classroom orientated. We’ll have to have less of the classroom and more action in terms of enabling students to observe, be apprentices, go out in the market, make their own studies, and make their own decisions. This will help them create a value proposition for the customer.

Do you think today’s students and subsequent graduates are being taught the skills they need to succeed?

Sadly, no. A recent US survey found only 11% of Business School graduates set up their enterprise and of those, only 7% raised capital. 

The mind set for Business Schools is to train students for industry and capture low-hanging fruit. This makes students more job orientated. And the fact that Schools are able to land students good jobs in industry means the hunger is missing in students. 

Business Schools have to have a different structure for entrepreneurship and education, and for faculty. They should not be judged by the workloads or research output, but by how they can create entrepreneurs.

How can Business Schools work to support students’ development of knowledge of entrepreneurship?

A Masters in Entrepreneurship Education, would be a distinct programme and Business Schools should develop it as a two-year long programme with sufficient focus on the action learning part of it; action learning for innovation, and action learning for entrepreneurship.

It would need to be seperate to the conventional MBA, which supplies talent to industry so graduates can become executives. You have to have a different pool of students for entrepreneurship. If you have a creative outlook and innovative ability, I think you will go for entrepreneurship education.

Those who come from business families, even if they do an MBA, after one or two years go back to their businesses, or they go and set up their own enterprise.

Sherry Fu, Director, University of Manchester China Centre

How can Business Schools better support students to participate actively in their own futures?

Business Schools need to provide systematic business knowledge which should build a solid foundation for students. This requires curricula to be continually updated so they keep up with social and economic developments.

Schools need to pay more attention to extra-curricular activities that support students’ career aspirations. The extra-curricular activities and career support are vital. 

In terms of career development, we need the right people to be career advisors. These people don’t have to be academically strong, but should be practical, have real industry experience, and insight into specific sectors that they can share.

We should manage students’ career expectations. Career support doesn’t mean holding the student’s hand; it’s about giving the right advice. We don’t guarantee students a job, secure a job for them, or find a job for them. However, some students will have those expectations that when they sign up to the MBA programme; they will get their ideal job, a promotion in their company, or a better paid role. Students need to take ownership of their own career development.

What we do as Business School educators is support, give advice and make sure we work with students to help make things happen so they can achieve their career goals.

Do you think it’s also about pushing students to become entrepreneurs rather than just employees?

Entrepreneurship is a trend in China because society is encouraging young people to run start-ups and the government has policies to support start-up companies.

We encourage students to have an entrepreneurial spirit so they can be more passionate, but I think Business Schools also provide career support so that students can become more senior within big organisations. 

On the one hand, we encourage students to move forward to gain senior roles, but for those people who want to run their own companies, we can give them more ideas or more education on innovation
and entrepreneurship.

At Manchester Business School, we have an enterprise centre and an incubator for students who want to set up their own companies. The School will invest in them, financially support them, and give them an education in entrepreneurship and innovation.

How can Business Schools nurture the skill sets employees need to succeed?

There are four key areas around which we nurture our students’ skills. The first area is about core skills and the core employability sessions that we deliver via webinars. These webinars are about careers and are given
by industry speakers, practitioners, and our professors. 

Second, we make sure each centre has dedicated staff to tailor sessions to our students with the right information to fit in the local market. 

Third, we provide tailored one-to-one sessions and employ career advisors to provide consulting to students. We ensure the people working for us have real business knowledge and an understanding of the jobs market.

The fourth way in which we nurture our students’ skills is by running events to which we invite industry speakers and we make sure our current students and alumni attend. This means students can learn and get opportunities from their peers, get the right skills sets for career development, and build networks.

We don’t want students just to master the main theories of business. The key is whether they can use these theories to
handle the challenges in the workplace and make a contribution.

As a Business School, we should make sure our students are socially responsible. They shouldn’t just care about making money, they should contribute to their organisation and the wider community.

Robert Yu, Head of China, Lego Education

What’s the concept of Lego Education?

Lego Education believes in learning through play. We empower students and teachers to become lifelong learners through playful learning experiences with our digital and physical education solutions.

Education is about empowerment. At Lego Education we’re very fortunate that we started a journey of this empowerment in 1980. Over the past 37 years, we have learned a lot, experimented a lot, and gained a lot.

Delivering playful experiences at Lego Education is about four things. These are encouraging cultivation of computational thinking; encouraging the building of STEM curriculums; helping and investing in the professional development of teachers globally; and investing in the ecosystem
with global partners.

How does playful learning fit into the Business School?

A playful learning experience should be joyful and socially engaing so that, students find meaning in it. That’s how we define ‘playful’. 

We feel Business School students are facing too many challenges in finding a job, stepping into a career, and solving real-life business problems.  

Can you explain some of your work in encouraging students to be more creative?

We help teachers learn what it means to be a lifelong learner, to be creative, and actively engaged in the classroom. Only when teachers are empowered to deliver a creative classroom can any of type learning happen and that kind of study habit can be cultivated through the teaching process.

We encourage teachers to design a lesson plan, promote different solutions in the classroom, and encourage them to ask students to come up with different solutions and communicate them and in the process, evaluate and reconsider options. Through these processes, students develop computational thinking. They learn to deconstruct tasks, to generalise, and come up with solutions which they will evaluate. At the end, they learn to look objectively at their conclusions which is what we want out of a creative experience.

Does learning in a more creative and playful way lead to innovation?

We have research showing that playful experiences induce deep learning. It’s not just about engaging or creating learning spaces to encourage creativity, it’s about the playful experience itself that includes deep learning which will help learners develop different kinds of skill sets.

Why do you think it’s important for MBAs to collaborate and be lifelong learners?

We live in a world of change and we adapt to this by continuing to learn, being curious, being innovative in the process of solving problems, and coming up with solutions that can help build abstractions. These are all things we are trying to promote, and encouraging learners and teachers to develop throughout the learning experience. 

I feel Business School leaders realise that learning is an experience, and this can be enhanced through different approaches; whether that’s action learning, playful learning, case studies or internships. Once we look at holistic learning in this way, students can benefit immensely.

Why is it important to have that balance between the digital and physical approach to creative and playful learning?

We integrate a digital experience into our entire solution because we know that students are using digital technologies every day, and they will face more digital options in the future.

We believe it is important to give them an understanding and a framework blending physical and digital experiences in a leaning scenario, early on.

Peter Helis, CEO, Helis & Associates

Why is it important for Business Schools to collaborate and build partnerships?

The difference between partnerships and competition is that one is positive and the other is negative. Partnerships are about talking with each other and competition is more about organisations assuming, or not knowing, what is going on in their markets, and not dealing directly with each other.

I would always prefer a partnership because one plus one becomes a lot more than two. We’ve seen that in China, where corporates are very keen to have partnerships with the Western world. Sometimes this is viewed as a joke because people in the West still see China as a competitor, instead of a place for potential partnerships.

In terms of China and Asia Pacific, do you have any examples of exciting and interesting partnerships that you’ve worked on or are working on?

Think of our company as a platform. We don’t build the partnerships directly, we build a platform where people can meet and exchange ideas.

We organise conferences, matchmaking and delegation trips for both sides. We’ve organised very large conferences in southern China and western China. We’ve also organised conferences in Munich and Berlin.

Through these conferences, or platforms, people meet. And then once they meet we can follow up on this. 

When we look at APAC, Vietnam and Myanmar are doing very well, but China is really like a continent, and there are so many untapped areas with huge potential. We can basically copy and paste some of the principles that you’ve already applied in the region in which you’re based.

If you venture to central, western, or southern China, you still have a lot to do before you go to the other APAC countries.

How can a Business School begin to work out a partnership?

Start by doing some research at home and see what areas are interesting. Then, if you don’t have a plan for China in motion, engage with a company such as ours and explore how you can approach potential customers or business partners. If you already have a business in China, take the next step. 

Look beyond your current surroundings and try to set up businesses in southern or western China.

Martin Lockett, Dean of the Nottingham University Business School in Ningbo, China

What are the main elements of evolution for the MBA?

It’s about improving the skills of people who come as students onto the MBA. Some of that will be about deepening knowledge, but a lot of MBAs spend too much time on knowledge and not enough on attitude.

You can give people learning experiences that enable them to experiment safely with new ideas, so they learn the skills needed.

At a Business School where I used to work, we asked students to develop a new business idea. Then we reflected afterwards to get people to think about questions such as ‘what did this mean for me?’ and ‘what can I learn from this?’

In our MBA we ask students to develop a business plan, and we hope they will take that forward. They can experiment and learn in a safe environment and develop their skills as a leader – whether that’s for their own business, developing innovate ideas in an organisation, or for a more general role in an established business.

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Japan’s age of the MBA

To drive Japan’s business success in the 21st century, young people may need to embrace the MBA over traditional linear career progression within Japanese organisations. Leonard Leiser reports

It may surprise you how few Japanese professionals know the answer to the question: ‘What is an MBA?’ 

Despite Japan having the third-largest economy in the world and being home to the Toyota production system, lean manufacturing, Sanpo-Yoshi, Gemba Gembutsu and Ho-ren-so, the idea of enrolling at a post-graduate institution that teaches business practices is far from mainstream. 

Japan is home to operations management guru Taichii Ohno who penned Seven Wastes and Ten Precepts, and whose ideas continue to be adopted by some of the top global executives of manufacturing companies. However, service firms and financial institutions, which make up a significant proportion of businesses in Japan, do not connect success with business administration and management leadership in an academic context. Despite being among the most commercially advanced countries in East Asia, Japan is not considered a destination for post-graduate studies in business. Searches for any Forbes or Financial Times Top 100 ranking for a Japanese Business School will prove fruitless. ‘Cool Japan’ fails to include the MBA. How many MBA students around the world have come across a case study of a Japanese company? 

Galápagos syndrome

Japan is a country of hidden champions but ‘Galápagos syndrome’ (a term of Japanese origin, referring to an isolated development branch of a globally available product) permeates failed business ventures. It is widely believed that ‘what works in Japan, will only work in Japan’. 

It is also believed that a lack of fluency in English and communication skills among traditional Japanese managers is the primary reason for the dearth of international success. 

There are a handful of well-written business cases being employed in MBA courses around the world that support this theory. One impressive company that bucks this trend is Rakuten, led by founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani (a Harvard MBA). Despite the success of Toyota and electronics manufacturers in the past, one need only read the business section of any global newspaper to understand the troubles of Toshiba, Sharp, Nissan, Mitsubishi – and even Sony until recently. 

The management processes and operational excellence that made Japan a winner in the past are no longer a competitive advantage and the development of soft skills is sorely lacking. So how can Japan begin to win again? 

The Japanese way

Before talking about post-graduate qualifications, let’s wind back the tape of the typical academic journey of students in Japan to provide context for the MBA. From junior high school-level, schools in Japan are selective. 

In order to get into good schools, students must take entrance exams as elementary school students. At junior high, there are preparations for senior high school entrance exams and these are followed by college entrance exams. What matters most tends to be your undergraduate institution. Once a student has got into college they may already be set for lifetime’s employment within a system of regulation that makes it incredibly difficult for companies to fire employees. 

I have personally heard from many colleagues and professionals that the purpose of the Japanese education and university system is to prepare young people for company life; in other words, to prepare them for the uniquely Japanese culture of harmonisation and the development of the communal mindset and group mentality that lies at the heart of the Japanese corporate machine and Japanese society as a whole. 

And it’s a system that works very well, overall, in Japan. Big companies recruit directly from undergraduate schools, taking the best talent from the big schools. Furthermore, most companies have their own ‘way’ of doing things. Most readers will be familiar with the ‘Toyota Way’ and the ‘Honda Way’ of management, and on-the-job traning and in-house development helps instil these ‘ways’ into the employee’s psyche. 

Many companies are set up to develop generalists within their ranks and those on the executive track have exposure to all sides of the business at some point in their careers. I know of one high-level executive with a degree in engineering who ended up in financial accounting, as well as Toyota engineers who became hospital administrators and directors.  

Enter the MBA…

Beginning with the value proposition of the MBA, many students see MBA programmes as a chance for personal development and life-long learning. However, in Japan, companies are structured internally to promote employees according to seniority rather than merit. With lifetime employment, few Japanese professionals feel compelled to enrol in an MBA or post-graduate programme for the purpose of career switching. 

In the past, prospective students in Japan may have felt it necessary to develop their English and to move to the US or Europe to enrol in a top-flight MBA programme. This would be a difficult barrier to overcome. However, over the past 10-15 years, domestic Japanese language-based MBA programmes, offered as weekend or part-time courses, have started to gain traction. Those that gain international accreditation from organisations such as AMBA, signal to students that their programmes meet the highest quality standards, and are on par with the best international alternatives. While the average age of MBA students at top Business Schools in the US is 27 or 28, the average age of MBA students at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (NUCB) is mid-30s. Roughly 40% of executive MBA students are over 40, and some are in their late 60s. 

How does the MBA fit in the Japanese market?

Potential MBA students in Japan no longer have to cross the world to study for an MBA; a short hop to a domestic institution offering weekend courses is now available. The power of the MBA is rising in Japan and it is a growing trend.

In the summer of 2017, The Japan Times ran an article that projected the latest findings from the QS World University Rankings Report of 2015-16 and 2016-17. The title of the article summarised its findings: ‘[The] MBA provides better salaries and opportunities.’ 

While the overall salary compensation package for MBAs in the Asia Pacific region had dropped, by contrast Japanese companies were now willing and able to offer higher salaries and bonuses to those with an MBA. The rate at which MBAs are being hired in Japan is on the rise. While the fastest-growing countries in the Asia Pacific region, China and India have Schools listed in the top rankings tables, only one Japanese institute is currently accredited by AMBA. From this, three major trends reflect the demographics and demands of the Japanese employment pool. The increase in MBA students is top-down – executive education courses, including the EMBA, have emerged as the most popular choice, and specialised tracks have been well-received by the market.

When I say that the increase in MBA students is ‘top-down’, I am referring to company presidents, CEOs, directors, founders, and top-level executives enrolling in MBA programmes. 

From this, either during the programme or on their completion of the programme, they establish pathways for their employees to take MBA courses. Although in some cases, a Japanese company may pay for, or subsidise, the occasional non-degree course, they tend to simply recommend or suggest that employees undertake the MBA as a full degree programme. In most cases, students pay for the degree out of their own pocket. Few Japan-based companies cover an employee’s EMBA tuition fees. So, top company executives are dipping their toes into the MBA pool and encouraging their employees to follow them in.

As an extension of the previous trend, in recent years we have also seen the biggest spike in the number of students enrolled in executive education. Executive programmes require extensive work experience, and the market in Japan is drawing on experienced employees who can realistically only attend short intensive courses at weekends or on weeknights. This trend seems to be a natural consequence of the Japanese market.

Specialised courses offered as certificate-bearing tracks are receiving a lot of attention. At NUCB we have just launched two specialised degree pathways: the global MBA and the healthcare MBA. The former includes courses offered only in English and will include a mix of degree and non-degree students, while the latter is focused solely on management in the healthcare industry. 

One of the key aspects, and key value proposition of both, is that they are certificate-bearing. One trend that is certainly not new in Japan is the appeal of official licences, certificates and degrees to Japanese people. 

This specialised track, we hope, will be a way to introduce our university to a larger target audience and define the meaning of the MBA to Japanese employees.

The outlook for the MBA in Japan

There are three changes which I hope to see over the next five to 10 years in Japan. 

First, an increase in the number of younger people taking MBAs, and people increasingly taking more generalised Master degrees. I am hopeful that young entrepreneurs will find Business Schools in Japan an attractive alternative to a lifetime’s employment with a specific organisation. Business Schools could provide the avenue for them to express their creativity and innovation in a way that will generate profits, create jobs and increase personal satisfaction, while fostering a
better society.

This is not a recommendation for all, or even most, Japanese people, but many young people would be well-suited to undertaking a post-graduate programme before turning 30, rather than sticking with one of the ageing business giants of Japan. 

Some of the biggest success stories – and most popular business cases – involve the founders of Apple, Dell, Google and Facebook dropping out of college to pursue the growth of their own companies. 

While I am not advocating that Japan needs young entrepreneurs to follow this route, I am saying that the inflexible educational structure that begins at elementary school age, and continued adherence to rote learning, is in stark contrast to the global teaching methodologies of the 21st century, and the development of soft skills necessary in the modern workplace. Being in a college setting provides a unique sense of ambition, freedom and confidence, allowing students to explore new ideas and develop a business model with resources and opportunities all in one place.

In addition, Business Schools need to attract more women into post-graduate programmes. Japan faces the double threat of an ageing and decreasing population. Women should be able to access the workforce, and leadership roles, irrespective of this, but it is an added reason for the workforce to draw on all available members of the labour pool. 

Women have been vastly under-represented at management and executive level and the MBA could prove a vital resource for women to develop skills and a quantifiable advantage, to help them secure the top spots across all industries and companies in Japan. The MBA alone will not achieve this progression, but it could provide an important step forward and a push in the right direction.

Finally, I am interested to see how the purpose of the MBA in Japan changes. In other words, how will the factors motivating students to take MBAs evolve over time? 

In a conversation I had with President Dr Hiroshi Kurimoto of the NUCB Business School regarding the role of the Asian economy in the next 20 years, he shared with me that the Asian Development Bank has reported that, currently, some 20% of global GDP stems from the Asia-Pacific region; by 2040 that contribution is expected to rise to almost 50%. 

How will this realisation impact on the value and delivery of the MBA in Japan? Will local programmes launch more domestic-orientated courses and specialised pathways, focused on Japanese business or will programmes begin to cater for an influx of international MBA seekers choosing Japan as their MBA destination of choice within the Asian-Pacific market? 

Will Japanese MBA seekers’ aspirations come into line with those of Western-based MBAs, or will international MBA seekers elect to enroll in Japanese programmes to gain an understanding of the group mentality necessary for success in the traditional Japanese corporate environment?

Only time will tell, but for now, it is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the challenge of the MBA in Japan

Leonard Leiser is Coordinator for International Development at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (NUCB) Business School

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Meeting India’s demand for business education with responsibility

How Mumbai’s Athena School of Management aims to change the parameters of traditional management education in India

India’s burgeoning young and aspirational population ensures an ‘insatiable’ demand for quality business education, according to Aditya Singh, Director of Athena School of Management in Mumbai.

This underlines the importance of the place held by the country’s Business Schools in society, their responsibility towards it, and their potential to make an impact.

‘A good business programme is not only about a qualification,’ says Singh, cautioning   against the ‘commoditisation of business education’.

In the following interview, with Business Impact’s Content Editor Tim Dhoul, Singh outlines the approach and ambitions of Athena School of Management, encompassing the importance it attaches to internships and experiential learning as well as the value of community work.   

Demand for places at top Business Schools in India is high. Are there any particular qualities Athena looks for among its applicants?   

The phrase we use constantly is ‘marks don’t make a business leader!’. While we do give weightage to academics and scores, we follow a profile-based admissions process.

We evaluate applicants equally on the basis of their extra-curricular achievements, including achievements in sport, social impact projects and volunteering activities, as well as their work experience and any prior international exposure. Most importantly, we evaluate their desire and hunger to succeed in making a positive and sustainable impact both in business and society.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing Business Schools in India and the surrounding region, in your opinion?

Indian Business Schools have to be extremely careful to avoid commoditisation of business education. A good business programme is not only about a qualification!

With a huge young and aspirational population below the age of 25, there is an insatiable demand for good education [in India]. However, it is critical that Business Schools keep their eye on the ball and realise that the final measure of our success is going to be borne out by the number of our graduates that excel in the corporate world and the world of business.

How many entrepreneurs are we truly able to create?! Business Schools have to create actual and tangible management and leadership skills among their students.

What do you think makes Athena’s Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM) programme stand out from others that are available in India?

The Athena PGPM is designed to be an experiential-based pedagogy with a focus on real-world and practical learning. Our goal is to ‘positively impact the world through our students’.

The programme’s key features include: multiple internships with some of India’s top companies and startups; international immersion programmes across Europe, Asia and Canada; a faculty that includes top corporate leaders at CEO, Director and VP levels; a campus in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India; and small class sizes to ensure quality teaching and a keen focus on the students’ personality and soft skills.

Can you tell me how internships are incorporated into Athena’s PGPM programme and why the School places so much importance in them?

Internships are an integral and important part of the Athena PGPM. The programme includes a two-month long internship in each semester, which works out at a total of six to seven months of internships during the whole programme.

Interns are expected to implement their learnings from class, and to improvise and execute on a real-time basis. Each intern has a mentor attached from the company who guides them.

Alternatively, some students choose to pursue an international internship where they work with organisations in different geographies, along with understanding and appreciating different cultures and societies. Athena students have interned in different countries in Europe and Asia, including Italy, Turkey, Germany and Nepal.

Aside from internships, how else does the School facilitate experiential learning?

Experiential learning is a constant form of learning where the student is the ‘centre of gravity’ and the faculty are enablers and facilitators of learning rather disseminators of information. In order to facilitate, we include design thinking, action learning and project-based learning. 

Students pursue live projects with companies and NGOs, case study competitions, multiple internships along with consulting assignments. Students also have to work with projects in the social sector and with non-profits in order to truly understand business impact at all levels of society.

Do you think that PGPM/MBA curricula should be developed in collaboration with employers?

At Athena, we believe that potential employers have an extremely important role to play in the design and implementation of our programme. We follow the end-user process of curriculum design in order to keep our modules relevant and at the cutting edge of business practice and innovation.

Inputs and guidance are taken from senior stakeholders representing potential recruiters along with roundtables and conclaves that are held to discuss the changing and rapidly evolving business environment.

Can you tell me a little bit about Athena’s international immersion modules?

Global exposure and cross-border learning experiences go a long way towards creating future global leaders. While the international immersions are not mandatory, an increasing number of students are embracing the opportunity.

This year, we have students travelling to Singapore, Germany, Canada and the US for modules on topics ranging from leadership and entrepreneurship to analytics and Industrial Revolution 4.0. The experience of studying at these global institutions as well as interacting and living with students from across the world is a truly life-enhancing experience.

I note that community service and personal development initiatives are actively encouraged at the School. Can you tell me of any programme requirements here and/or what options are available to students during the programme?

While prior experience in community and/or social development is not mandatory, it is preferred. At the School itself, we actively partner with organisations such as Rotary International, AIESEC, Rotaract and other NGOs to make a positive impact on society.

Athena is also an academic partner of the United Nations Global Compact which reinforces our vision to contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It is mandatory for all Athena students to complete at least one live project towards community/social development.

What are your hopes for the School in the next five years – what do you want to see happen?

Our vision is to challenge the limits and change the parameters of what traditional management education has been in India. We see trending areas in business education that include entrepreneurship, analytics and design thinking, and we wish to establish a centre of excellence in each of these.

We also hope to increase the trend of international students studying with us in Mumbai. The hope is that, in the next five years, an Athena business graduate can create value for their organisations or create their own venture anywhere in the world equipped with experiential and innovative learning, international exposure, and a desire to excel and contribute to society.

Is there anything you’d like to see change among Business Schools both in India and in the rest of the world?

In a rapidly changing socioeconomic context, we have to become nimbler and more flexible in delivering solutions to our students which are relevant to the business environment.

We need to be able to predict change effectively and stay ahead of the curve rather than playing catch up. Business Schools also need to shift focus from extremely theory-centric learning to practical and real-world learning while encouraging students to become change agents in their future organisations. We have to harness new technologies so that they can complement and, in some cases, supplement current learning methodologies.

Aditya Singh is the Director of Athena School of Management in Mumbai, where he currently teaches leadership and differential thinking. He has more than 15 years of experience across the corporate sector, consulting, entrepreneurship and academia. Aditya is a graduate of the Wharton School’s Accelerated Development Program (ADP) and holds an MBA (PGP-FMB) from the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai.