AMBA & BGA Global Deans and Directors Conference 2024
AMBA & BGA chose the city of Budapest as the venue for the annual Global Conference for Deans and Directors.
The conference brought together world-leading deans and directors to discuss the most prevalent issues in business education strategy, while also networking in some of the most iconic venues in the host city.
- 13–15 May 2024
- Budapest, Hungary
Over three days, the conference presented, discussed, and debated the key issues that impacted business schools. At the previous year’s event in Seville, themes explored included:
- Brand new technology, including ChatGPT
- Sustainability and climate change
- Best practice in major markets
- How to foster global connections
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Entrepreneurship in 2023
- How to make hybrid work in a digital world
- –Registration and networking lunch
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Conference Welcome
- Andrew Main Wilson (CEO, AMBA & BGA)
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Keynote 1: Is long-term investment forever? Value and values in a changing world
The ambition of every School of Management is to ignite discussions about the future – and key to that is reflecting on the two simple concepts of ‘school’ and ‘management’. This session examines the concept of ‘school’ as community and continuous improvement, and both value and values. Where education is often seen as an act of short-term consumption, the concept of ‘school’ stands in stark contrast, championing sustained learning and values beyond mere disposable tools. The concept of ‘management’ embodies responsibility—guiding individuals, resources, and organisations based, again, on principles of value and values.Finally, in today's landscape, knowledge and management are not confined to predefined vertical silos such as ‘marketing’, ‘finance’, or ‘technology’. The task of a School of Management is to destroy these silos with the force of creativity and to push beyond comfort zones.
- Stefano Caselli (Dean, SDA Bocconi School of Management)
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Keynote 2: The five essential reputation management strategies for business schools
Hosted by the co-founder of some of the most popular business school platforms of the past 25 years, Matt Symonds is the S of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, and co-Founder of BlueSky Education, Fortuna Admissions and the CentreCourt Festival with Poets & Quants. In this session, Matt guides business school leaders through the key strategies they must grasp in order to gain a strategic edge for their institution. With his deep industry knowledge, Matt shares insights and action steps for effective and impactful communications – positioning Deans and Directors as effective storytellers; resonating with key stakeholders from alumni to institutional partners; using data and rankings wisely; implementing action steps at your own institutions, and more. The session will also address global events, and how a business school and its leadership team can navigate conflict, crisis and celebration.
- Matt Symonds (CEO, BlueSky Education)
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Breakout 1: Amplifying Student Voice with Feedback Analytics and AI
In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, empowering students and amplifying their voices is paramount for creating an inclusive and effective learning environment. With next-generation feedback analytics, Explorance empowers institutions to continuously collect and measure student feedback across the academic lifecycle. Technology is the backbone to unlocking the power of feedback and providing a holistic view of the student experience to develop data-driven strategies for student success. Join this session to learn how: • Explorance Blue can be the foundation of your feedback culture. • Institutions can unlock student voice and drive engagement with a continuous listening strategy • Explorance MLY can inform student experience and retention strategies by completing the student feedback picture – distilling valuable insights into student needs and expectations from open-text comments.
- Samer Jaffar (GM, EMEA, Explorance)
Meet the speakers
Aarti Bhasin
HR and Employer Relations Manager
Andrew Taylor
VP Sales EMEA & APAC, Ready Education
Andrew Main Wilson
CEO, AMBA & BGA
Ann Olazábal
Interim Dean Miami, Herbert Business School
Dr Matt Offord
Leadership Scholar, Associate Director Learning and Teaching (SoTL), Adam Smith Business School, Glasgow University
Hassan Abu Bakar
Professor / Dean, Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Ellen Buchan
Insight, Content & PR Manager
George Iliev
Director of Strategic Projects & Innovation; Accreditation & China Director
Horacio Arredondo
Dean, EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Dr. Ignacio Bartesaghi
Director of the International Office of the UCU Business School, Uruguay
Isabel Miller
Business Development Manager, Perlego
Jérôme Barthélemy
Jorg Bley
Dean International Business School Suzhou, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
José Manuel Esteves de Sousa
Dean, Porto Business School
Josep Franch Bullich
Director of Executive Education, ESADE Business School
Leila Guerra
Associate Provost, Digital Lifelong Learning, Imperial College London; and ViceDean (Education), Imperial College Business School
Leonora Clement
Head of Marketing and Communications
Linus Wellén
Government & Academics Lead, Emerging Markets, LinkedIn Talent Solutions, LinkedIn
Luke Pennington
Regional Sales Lead, Perlego
Mari Lizuka
Vice Dean, Director of the Global Business and Management Studies Programme, and the Head of International Accreditation, Director, Doshisha University Well-being Research Center, Doshisha Business School
Mark Stoddard
Director of Accreditation & Director of BGA Services
Martin Sixsmith
Writer, Presenter and Journalist
Matt Symonds
CEO, BlueSky Education
Mauricio Jucá de Queiroz
Dean, FIA Business School
Nalisha Patel
Regional Director, Europe, GMAC
Nathalie Madsen
Sales Account Executive, Ready Education
Naveed Shah
Head of Technical Services EMEA, Echo360
Nick Snowden
Director of MBA and Digital Learning, The University of Bradford
Paul Herdman
Head of EMEA, Echo360
Péter Fehér
Vice President for International Relations, Corvinus University of Budapest
Prof. Tihamér Margitay
Dean, ELTE Faculty of Economics
Professor Dr Amanda Shantz
Professor of Management and MBA Director, University of St. Gallen
Peter Rodgers
MBA Director Southampton Business School, University of Southampton
Professor Sarah Kelly OAM
Head of School, QUT Graduate School of Business
Raul Villamarin Rodriguez
Vice President, Woxsen University
Samer Atallah
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research
The American University in Cairo
Sandro Alberto Sánchez Paredes
Director of MBA Programmes / Director of Positive Impact, CENTRUM PUCP Business School
Sara Strafino
Sara Strafino, Director, Market Development, Europe, Graduate Management Admission Council
Sara Kells
Director of Operations & Course Management, IE University Digital Learning & Online Solutions
Shuai Yang
Associate Dean at the Glorious Sun School of Business & Management, Donghua University
Steef van de Velde
Former Dean and Professor of Operations Management and Technology, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM)
Stefano Caselli
Dean, SDA Bocconi School of Management
Stephan Fortier
Regional Director
Instructure UK/IE
Veijo Kyosti
CEO, Cesim Business Simulations
Victor Hedenberg
Membership Director
Wendy Loretto
Professor of Organisational Behaviour and former Dean, University of Edinburgh Business School, AMBA & BGA Chair
Wensheng He
Dean of School of Management and Dean of School of Economics, Lanzhou University
Dr. Yangao Xiao
Associate dean, Management & Economics School, Electronic University of Science & Technology of China
Young Joon Park
Associate Dean and Associate Professor, Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS), China
Zhongming Wang
International Advisor for China, AMBA & BGA, Zhejiang University, China
John Atherton
VP Sales, EMEA, Explorance
InterContinental Budapest
Our venue is situated on the Danube Promenade with stunning views over the Danube River and the historic castle district. Delegates can enjoy the comforts associated with a luxury conference and hotel venue but also enjoy the best the capital city has to offer.
Due to high demand, we would encourage delegates to book your stay at the InterContinental Budapest as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. AMBA & BGA has negotiated preferential room rates for all our conference delegates at the conference venue for the duration of the event. For more information and to book your stay, please contact Anita Galea.
Please note the preferential room rate is valid until 10 April 2024 which is subject to availability.