IE Business School Hosts 2021 EFMD Conference for Deans

IE Business School hosted the 2021 EFMD Conference for Deans and Directors General, with Dean Martin Boehm chairing the three-day conference that focused on the theme of Finding Balance.

“At this conference, we will strike a balance between the past and the future.”
Martin Boehm, Dean of IE Business School

“This conference theme is fitting in three very different ways. At this conference, we will strike a balance between the past and the future. We will be looking to learn from the current crisis, find emerging trends from the new normal and discuss the importance of drafting a vision for management education of tomorrow,” Boehm explained in his opening remarks.

Each year, more than 350 deans and directors general from around the world meet to exchange ideas about the future of business education, share best practices and get an update on new trends. EFMD is the leading accreditation body for business schools and is a global, non-profit, membership-driven organisation dedicated to management development.

For the first time, the event was held online enabling participants to attend who otherwise may not have travelled to Madrid for the conference.

Boehm highlighted how the current world climate demands business school leadership properly prepare students for the future.

“Our graduates must address the challenges of our times such as social inequality, climate change or the technological revolution with their wit and ingenuity. This calls upon us to create the right breeding ground for these leaders to blossom.”
Martin Boehm, Dean of IE Business School

Business school leaders from around the world discussed pursuing opportunities and meeting expectations in different regions of the world as well as managing an ever-growing array of stakeholders.

Former Unilever CEO and Imagine Co-founder Paul Polman and Said Business School Dean Peter Tufano opened the first day’s plenary panel with a discussion on Leading in a Time of Crisis, discussing the global response to the Covid crisis, how to equip students for addressing stakeholders’ needs and the role of business schools in creating leaders.

The conference agenda also looked at how business schools manage space in the post-Covid era and how the purpose of management education has shifted in light of ongoing global challenges. The conference also dedicated a portion of the agenda to examining the role of well-being in the business school environment.

Harvard Business School’s Rebecca Henderson closed the event with a keynote on Reimagining Capitalism, and questioned how to reset capitalism and what are the implications for business schools.