What is the aim of the academic world in connection with global trends? – A report from the EFMD conference

The Opening Day was meant to get the international guests acquainted, to help them build connections, and also to provide information about the program of the following two days. At the meeting lasting from Wednesday to Friday, 18 countries represented themselves with 47 invitees, including professors, deans and heads of institutions.

Welcome and opening remarks

The first speaker was Friedemann Schulze-Fielitz, Director of Business School Services at EFMD Global. In his opinion, the mutual task of Business Schools and the organization represented by him is to be a catalyst for change and evolution. This is to be achieved by three means: by building networks between the members of academic life, by establishing transnational communities and by creating forums for debate. Lastly, he added that the goal of the three-day conference is getting institutions together to tackle the societal and economic challenges of the world.

On behalf of Corvinus, Dr. Péter Fehér, Director of International Alliances, welcomed the participants to the conference. In his speech, he pointed out that universities are constantly surrounded by an uncertain environment and in this turbulent world, universities have an increased responsibility to prepare their students. Universities do not have to face these challenges alone, as university networks, university collaborations and the sharing of knowledge and experience help all participants.

The chairman of the conference, Kyryl Lakishyk, the dean of Master Courses at Católica Lisbon Business and Economical University has remarked on the large-scale growth of AI and digitalization. Besides these two factors, the COVID-19 pandemic has also brought difficulties that have contributed to a sudden change in the internalization process (to handle transactions or projects internally instead of paying an outside entity to do so.) Then he stated that the ability to adapt lies in finding novel solutions and putting them into practice.

Internationalizing in a hybridized world

Simon Mercado, the outgoing executive vice president of the ESCP Business School of Paris held a presentation in which he stated his idea that Business Schools are the practitioners of internalization, explaining the need for improvement and development in an ever-changing global context. He enumerated the five global trends one should keep an eye on. These are disruption, polarization, societal division, digitalization, and deglobalization, then he further elaborated on their characterization and impact. He urges the implementation of such new models and practices in master courses that could also offer societal gains, not only individual ones. To showcase a new approach to internalization in an academic environment, he introduced the structure of STRIVE. The expressions behind the letters of the word are sustainable, transnational, responsible, inclusive, virtual and ethical. After explaining the aforementioned terms in detail, he encouraged the participants to incorporate these values into their institutional operations and contribute to the change for the greater good by doing so. At the end of his speech, he was interested in receiving the questions of the audience.