Deans & Business Leaders Set the Course for CEMS in Milan

The CEMS Strategic Board convenes once per year and includes rectors and deans of the 29 CEMS academic member schools and senior representatives of CEMS corporate partners, as well as the CEMS Chairman and Executive Director. It defines the vision and mission of CEMS and gives its views and perspectives on categories of activities where CEMS can add value for its members. This years’ meeting was held in Milan at the Università Bocconi.

Deans & Business Meeting in Milan picture

The two-day meeting included discussions in online learning with Coursera’s President Daphne Koller. The mission of Coursera is to “provide universal access to the world’s best education” and in particular for those who wouldn’t otherwise have access. In a time when course content is increasingly becoming a commodity, it is up to all business schools to re-define where they provide value to learners. As CEMS explores collaboration initiatives with Coursera, the organization is beginning to fully realize the complimentary value of the experiential learning the CEMS Master’s in International Management programme provides its students.

Attending the meeting were representatives from CEMS Corporate Partners ABB, A.T. Kearney, L'Oréal, ŠKODA AUTO a.s., and UniCredit. “The presence of partner company representatives is key to ensure that the MIM’s content is continuously updated and relevant for the business world”, says Bocconi Rector and CEMS Chairman Andrea Sironi.

The meeting also welcomed several new deans to the board Daniel Traca, Nova School of Business and Economics; Luiz Artur Ledur Brito, Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo-FGV; and Konstantin Krotov, Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg University, where the CEMS Annual Events will be held this year.

“The power of the CEMS organization comes from the collaboration of its partners. By working together and building upon the knowledge and experiences of others, CEMS stakeholders are together shaping the landscape of business education. Our strength comes from building knowledge bridges from students to companies and deans to senior alumni across the globe,” says Roland Siegers, CEMS Executive Director.

The Strategic Board meeting follows the Academic Director meeting at the London School of Economics and Political Science, in which a comprehensive overview of best practices has been compiled and will be distributed to all CEMS Members. Later this month, CEMS Programme Managers, Corporate Relations Managers as well as Corporate Partners will be meeting to learn from each other at the HKUST Business School Benchmarking in Hong Kong, 15-16 June.