The GBSN has partnered with African institutions in seven countries, including South Africa.
Tuck hosts Global Business School Network Academic Advisory council meeting
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 17, 2006
CONTACT: Kim Keating - 603-646-2733, or Ludi Joseph, International Finance Corporation/GBSN - 202-473-7700
HANOVER, N.H.—On April 28, the Center for International Business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth will host a meeting of the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Global Business School Network (GBSN) Academic Advisory Council. Representatives from more than 20 of the world's leading business schools—including Tuck, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, HEC Paris, IESE, and IMD—will participate. IFC's GBSN aims to strengthen the skills of managers in emerging markets by expanding opportunities for management education and training in these countries. GBSN's Academic Advisory Council was created to provide input and feedback about related activities and programs.
"By sharing their research-based knowledge and long experience in teaching and practice, leading business schools in the developed world can materially assist their colleagues in emerging economies to develop the institutions, programs, methods, and best practices by which the teaching of key business skills becomes a strong and positive force for economic and social development," said Joseph Massey, director of Tuck's Center for International Business.
Acting as a facilitator, the GBSN identifies needs at a local level and forges links between emerging market business schools and appropriate partner schools, structuring projects and creating an ongoing network for the sharing of best practices. The GBSN also links schools in emerging markets with each other. Enabling communication and sharing of experience between these schools can bring substantial benefits to the institutions, their students, and their local communities.
The GBSN is initially focusing its efforts on Africa, where it has partnered with ten African institutions in seven countries—including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa—on programs such as teacher training, case study development, and entrepreneurial management training.
"GBSN offers an opportunity to begin broadening and deepening the group of competent managers for businesses, NGOs, health providers and others in some of the poorest countries," said Guy Pfeffermann, director of the GBSN. "Concrete results in Africa after the first two years of work there are impressive. Our innovative networking approach has proved quite effective in these capacity-building efforts. Governments, aid agencies, and indeed the development literature of the past 50 years virtually ignore management as a crucial factor in employment-creation. We hope our effort will put management education squarely on the development agenda."
The April meeting in Hanover will be a day-long working meeting, during which attendees will receive an overview and update on the GBSN and share ideas on how to best pursue opportunities in developing countries. Participants will assess their experiences in developing country initiatives, and representatives from the GBSN's Africa Advisory Group will share perspectives from the business community on challenges and opportunities for business education in Africa. Additional activities will include a brainstorming session on building sustainable programs and a concluding discussion focused on best practices for moving forward with business education initiatives in developing countries.
Special guests from the developing world—including the chairman of the recently established Association of African business Schools and several governing board members—will attend and share their first-hand perspectives. Representatives of companies active in target countries will also attend the meeting.
For more information about IFC and GBSN, visit www.ifc.org and www.ifc.org/gbsn.
For more information about Tuck's international activities and commitment to the developing world, contact the Center for International Business at 603-646-0556.
Founded in 1900, Tuck is the first graduate school of management and consistently ranks among the top business schools worldwide. Information about the Tuck School is available at www.tuck.dartmouth.edu.
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