Co-creating talents and values

19:08, December 12, 2017

Representatives of business schools, research networks and large companies discussed the creation of joint values and the development of talents in Ekaterinburg

Graduates of modern business schools should clearly understand their career goals, have fundamental knowledge and be ready to continually improve flexible communication skills.

Comparison of existing models in the world's leading business schools with the so-called «Triple Accreditation» (Triple Crown accreditation) and Russian universities training in economics and management denies the possibility of universal methods of integrating education into the corporate environment and vice versa. It is necessary to differentiate the roles of universities and business in the development of competent graduates depending on the position of the business school on the world map. These and other key findings were formulated by the experts of the round table «Value and Talents Co-Creation in Education and Business», which was held as part of the annual economic conference in Ekaterinburg in cooperation with EFMD (The European Foundation for Management Development).

The participants discussed how the requirements for the key competencies of future business leaders are changing, what specifically does not suit employers in the educational agenda of business schools, and what are the opportunities for creating joint values between education and business.

The moderators of the round table were David Asch, Director of Quality of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), and Zhanna Belyaeva, Head of International Economics and International Business programme (one of 104 EPAS-accredited in the world), GSEM UrFU.

Representatives of leading Russian and foreign educational institutions took part in the discussion (GSEM UrFU, NRU HSE, University of Applied Management Studies in Mannheim, Grenoble Ecole de Management, Kedge Business School, Rijeka University), academic networks EFMD and Regional Studies Association, companies (Philip Morris International, PwC, Coca-Cola, UBRR, SKB-Kontur), as well as independent experts.

Director of Graduate School of Economics and Management of UrFU, Dmitry Tolmachev notes that a serious global business school in the world education market should have at least two important qualities: to be recognized by employers (many international rankings do not take into account such studies for some reason) and have international accreditation of their educational programmes. By the way, today there are not so many schools in the world that have at least one accreditation.

The moderators wrapped up the discussion: «An economist with flexible thinking and a high level of cross-cultural adaptivity is the dream of many companies of regional and global level. Companies are not being truthful when they require only "soft skills", demanding the realization of complex tasks from graduates at the initial stage of their career. At the same time, the international accreditation of programmes (for example EPAS by EFMD) is regarded as a continuous improvement of the result, a quality approach to the formation of global thinking, taking into account various career trajectories, guaranteeing the right symbiosis of talent development through the ability to learn to systematically perceive economic trends and creatively interpret related management tasks».

Students from 16 countries of the GSEM autumn school «Sustainable Business Development» took part in the round table. 44 students presented their expectations from the tomorrow’s market in parallel with the discussion of business schools, corporate partners and representatives of the academia.

A student at Grenoble Ecole de Management, Theo Porre noted that the round table was alive and the opportunity to compare the views of employers and universities set new goals for the development of a future career.

A student from Mannheim, Germany, Mike Fickensher decided that he would certainly send his resume to work in Yekaterinburg, as this could be a unique experience for the development of a further career.

Reference

XII International Conference «Russian Regions in the Focus of Changes» (November 16-18, 2017, Ekaterinburg).
Organisers: Ural Federal University, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Analytical Center «Expert», Expert Ural Business Magazine.

For many years the conference has been one of the biggest discussion platforms in the Urals covering issues of regional development and involving representatives of executive authorities, academia, medium and large industrial business leaders from different regions. Every year leading Russian economists take part in the conference.