The Business School Broadcast - 10th November 2017

In this week’s Business School Broadcast we look at the continued impact Brexit is having on business school recruitment in the UK, discover how fintech disruption is gathering pace at various institutions, and celebrate the official launch of King’s Business School in London.

Brexit hitting business school recruitment of EU students and staff – Chartered ABS Annual Survey results

The results reveal that 40% of UK business schools have seen a decline in applicants from the EU to their undergraduate business courses. One in five schools reported an increase in the number of successful applicants from the EU failing to turn up at the start of this academic year. Professor Simon Collinson, chair of the Chartered ABS, is concerned that the trends in student recruitment could prove a tipping point for university finances. “The high numbers of business students are a key source of revenue for universities and business schools produce research vital to unlocking Britain’s productivity.”

Official launch of King's Business School

At the official launch of the King’s Business School, executive dean professor Stephen Bach said the new school aims to meet employers’ demand for younger, more agile and innovative graduates in such unpredictable times. The school aims to become the premier undergraduate business school and has said it will focus upon UG and specialist masters courses including marketing, entrepreneurship, finance and talent management, addressing the changing needs of the economy and a demand for lifelong learning.

Officially launching the new school with a talk on sustainable and ethical business, the governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney said, “King's College London's Business School, with its deep-rooted sense of social justice and a recognition of the value in diversity will develop the responsible leaders of tomorrow who can help shape an inclusive and sustainable future.”

Fintech disruption slowly building momentum in business school curriculum

The Globe and Mail published, ‘Fintech disruption slowly building momentum in business school curriculum’ this week. The article discusses how Canadian business schools have begun to embrace fintech, but in most cases is happening slower than south of the border. In the United States, spurred on by student demand, Stanford and Georgetown universities began offering fintech courses for MBA students this fall, while Columbia, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have all launched similar programs in recent years.

Learn more on TopMBA.com about how ‘Business Schools Master Financial Technology’.

Wharton MBA: Blockchain course set for Spring 2018

Continuing on this the theme, the MBA at Wharton School of Business has added a course outlining blockchain technologies and the power of a distributed ledger. The FNCE-885 course on Fintech outlines the link between financial techniques and new technologies, and one of the major points is "blockchain and distributed ledgers". The course at Wharton is taught by Shimon Kogan, PhD, and will be taught to MBA students in the spring of 2018. The course has also been a part of the undergraduate curriculum in 2016. 

HKUST partners with SKOLKOVO Business School to launch dual degree executive MBA program for Eurasia

The School of Business and Management of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST Business School) has teamed up with the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO (SKOLKOVO) to launch a dual degree Executive MBA program (EMBA) for Eurasia.

With a commencement target of winter 2018, the partnership program entitled “HKUST-SKOLKOVO Executive MBA Program for Eurasia” will focus on business in Eurasia within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The language of instruction is English, and the program will encompass six international modules in the US, China, Israel, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and Russia.

Find out more here.

Harvard Business School: Career choices for the class of 2017

Harvard Business School (HBS) released their data for the class of 2017 this week. Students continue to focus on opportunities where they can make an immediate impact, whether at a large multinational or an early stage start-up. Find out the direction students of the Harvard MBA are taking upon graduation.

When disaster strikes at home for Stanford students

Finally this week we take a look at how institutions, such as Stanford, help their students in their greatest time of need. In the last several months, Stanford students were personally affected by hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires. Chris Griffith, associate vice provost for student affairs, explains how the university responded to students in need.