10 Top AACSB Stories From 2019

As an end-of-year tradition, we reflect back on the stories from 2019 that had significant impact on readers and viewers. In 2019, there was lots of contemplation about the current and future state of business schools: questions about their value, societal impact, and sustainability amid constant disruption—particularly in an era of digital transformation.

Business school relationships with business and society are burgeoning, demonstrating a real effort to promote responsibility in business practices as well as social impact worldwide.

Traditional roles are clearly evolving; what it once meant to be dean is shifting, broadening into a role that requires agility and flexibility—just like the educational programs they oversee.

Likewise, what it means to be a learner is different today than it was at the turn of the last decade. Professionals and students are not the distinct categories they once were, and business schools are answering the call to provide the continuous, lifelong learning needed by today’s workforce.

Here is a look at the stories that most capture the global business education happenings of the last year and, in essence, the last decade.

1. The Real Value of Business Schools
   With the relevance of the MBA in peril, business schools must re-evaluate their purpose to ensure they continue to add value to the market.

2. The Business Case for Business Schools in the Year 2039
   We can’t predict exactly how business education will evolve, but we can say that the current methods of doing, and teaching, business will be changed forever. Here are three key ways business schools can survive and thrive in an age of artificial intelligence and automation.

3. What Keeps Deans Up at Night
   Being a business school dean is a challenging job, with many shared pain points among deans. Here we share with you the main issues we heard at a Deans Conference session, as well as participant suggestions for how to address some of those issues.

4. A New Era for Business Research
   The call is growing louder for business schools to measure their faculty’s success less by their number of publications—and more by their real-world impact.

5. An Inside Look at AACSB’s 2020 Business Standards Formation
   The first look at the Business Accreditation Task Force’s work on creating the 2020 standards was revealed, after task force members had collectively led over 40 conversations around the world, with all types of audiences providing input.

6. Lifelong Learning for Long-Term Career Relevance
   Members of AACSB's Business Practices Council discuss factors driving the need for today's employees—and business schools—to embrace a lifetime of learning.

7. What Do Employers Want From Business Schools?
   Providing the right talent for today's workforce is one major deliverable for business schools, but what else should they be doing to meet the needs of business?

8. 5 Transitions for Business School Research
   We need a new approach to business school research that is not only beneficial to business and society but consistent with great policy initiatives happening today. We need to create a shift in what we have traditionally valued and incentivized.

9.  21st-Century Dean
   The role of a business school dean has changed over the years; today’s deans need to be equipped with multiple, new, and widely varying skills to be successful in their roles.

10. The World That We Created
    Business schools helped shape the world order that is now under siege from global tensions and rising populist sentiments. What can they do to save it?

If the activities and insights of past year are any indication of the future of business education, we have a lot to look forward to, and our continued engagement will be a crucial part of continuing the good work we have begun.