What should Business Schools Do? The Current Crisis: What should Business Schools Do? Professor Kulwant Singh Deputy Dean NUS Business School kulwant@nus.edu.sg

AWSJ, 18 February 2009 Today, 17 February 2009

OUR ROLE IN THE CRISIS Business Schools are not responsible for the crisis But we are not free of blame Have we lost touch with the “real world”? Students not prepared for the profession of management or Have we moved too close to business Application has become our focus, not education

STRATEGY IN CRISIS: OVERVIEW Respond in stages Survive Stabilize Strategize Internal Factors Severity of the situation Rebuild Re-focus Restructure Re-energize External Factors

REBUILDING BUSINESS SCHOOLS Re-focus on basics Educate students for their careers and to be citizens of society Prepare them to be professional managers Appropriate balance for undergraduates and graduates Eliminate the myth that we train CEOs Restructure Emphasize education & conceptual development Research driven focus on core body of knowledge Practical skills are useful complements Discard fads: we are not consultants Re-energize Regain trust, re-assert our values and value Help deal with the crisis Rebuild Re-focus Restructure Re-energize

NUS BUSINESS SCHOOL Educate the public 12 part newspaper series on crisis (October 2008) Second 12 part series on dealing with crisis (January 2009) Third 12 part series on Globalisation (February 2009) Forums to update students and managers Students One-credit course on the crisis Increased financial assistance for students Introduce issues into relevant modules Review programmes to strengthen focus on core Employment Alumni run programmes to prepare students Increased placement efforts Programmes for managers facing transition