Business education faces a challenging future

Von am 26. Dezember 2014

Traditional business education models are being disrupted by technology, the introduction of MOOCs, market competition, university fees and increasingly demanding employer and employee needs, finds a wide-ranging new report called See the Future.

The report gathers views from Deans or Directors at business schools and also employers – CEOs and chairman – from 63 countries.
It reveals that business education providers face four main challenges – costs, staffing issues, technology and market competition.

They are being forced to reconsider the content of their degrees, with a growing shift towards a multidisciplinary approach to meet the demands of students and corporate business. Lifelong learning will remain important, but lifestyle learning will come to the fore because of technology developments. Key findings show that:

  • 70 per cent of business school respondents agree or strongly agree that “technological innovation will bring new entrants to the business education market”
  • Just over 90 per cent said “technology will promote the growth of new business models for business education.”
  • 90 per cent agree that “business schools will develop flexible degrees that allow students to mix study and work
  • 75 per cent agree that business schools will develop new products to help younger and older workers who no or only limited experience of higher education.
  • Only 50 per cent of employers are aware of MOOCs, but 70 per cent agree that “more training and development in our organization will be delivered online in the next five years.”
  • The view from employers is that they want value for money, with quicker, cheaper and more substantial impact from training and development. They have a growing acceptance of online learning as it removes travel and accommodation costs. However, while online learning is popular, the majority, at 80 per cent, agree that “Executive education for senior managers and directors will remain face to face.”
Foto Bärbel Schwertfeger, MBA Journal

Über Bärbel Schwertfeger

Bärbel Schwertfeger ist Diplom-Psychologin und seit 1985 als freie Journalistin im Bereich Management, Weiterbildung und Personalentwicklung tätig.