Global Megatrends and the Business School 2.0

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Authors: Boris Bartikowski, Associate Professor of Marketing at Euromed Management and Nitish Singh, Assistant Professor of International Business, St Louis University

In recent research that we conducted in this field we argued that three interrelated Global Megatrends, namely Globalization, Rise of Networks and Open Innovation, are facilitated by the global expansion of the Web. Looking at these three Global Megatrends can help anticipating some challenges that business schools may face in the future.

Globalization comes along with convergence and integration. Globalization leads in many instances to increased standardization of social and economic interrelationships. Coincidentally, globalization leads to increased cultural flow, cultural multipolarity and growing global workforce. Business schools are at the crossroad of this development. They strive to establish global market presence, and to strengthen their position through international partnerships. One of the challenges they are facing is to create economies of scale through standardization in an environment that requires culturally sensitive dialogues and that values offerings that are adapted to the local needs of diverse stakeholders.

The Rise of Networks. Upcoming Web 2.0 technologies and new ways of communicating will revolutionize the functioning of business schools. Increased connectivity as well as the push and proliferation of new technologies (e.g. GRID computing, ubiquitous computing) will increase social networking and peer-to-peer collaborations among students, professors, and administrations. These technologies will create new forms of collective intelligence which are assets beyond the walls of classrooms, owned by the network of the collaborators of innovative business schools.

Open Innovation: Web driven globalization is accelerating this trend by providing easy and fast access to global pools of ideas, expertise, and technologies. Open innovation reunites like minded networking partners working toward co-creating and innovating products, services and research output. Enabling collective intelligence is a powerful means for business schools to pursue innovation, and benefit from this trend.