FBC board member Dr John Fong blogs about the Future of Business Schools

The Future of Business Schools

With business being an ever-evolving landscape, so is education – especially when it comes to business schools.

As the CEO & Head of Campus (Singapore) of S P Jain School of Global Management (SP Jain), Dr John Fong identifies the key trends that are shaping business schools. 

Technology

Recognising that Industrial Revolution 4.0 is at the forefront of how businesses operate, SP Jain understands how this changes the way we live, work and study. With that in mind and being completely aware that students love technology, it is important for business schools to be at the forefront of this digital wave.

For example, SP Jain has recently launched the Engaged Learning Classroom (ELC) and Engaged Learning Online (ELO) curriculum.

Aimed at increasing engagement between faculty and students, the ELC app (installed in tablets in the classroom) allows students to virtually raise their hands to ask questions, message the faculty, participate in quizzes and polls, get into virtual break out rooms, and use advanced note-taking capabilities including recording, drawing and sharing of documents in real time or be saved in the cloud. This minimises the physical disruption in classes, while allowing students to better revise and retain information.

As for the ELO, the comprehensive technology initiative aims to bring a classroom-like learning experience for students to learn online from anywhere. This helps empower professionals who need to balance their time between work, social commitments, and career developments. Students can log in from any part of the world and get all the benefits of an on-campus education – in real time.  They can interact with faculties, share ideas with their peers, collaborate on assignments, and even break out into teams to discuss and debate.

Coding Literacy and Data Science

On the topic of technology, many students still embrace business schools with coding literacy in their curriculum as a pathway to jobs. With the rapid changes in the job market, it is critical that we instil this fundamental knowledge as it acts as a practical approach rather than theoretical when it comes to taking ownership of one’s education.

Demographics of Students

One thing that we actively ensure is the diversity at SP Jain. There is a deliberate mix during the admissions process to ensure such diversity in the classroom. In fact, our current batch of 28 Executive MBA students come from 9 nationalities and are working in 13 different industries.

As an educator, our aim is to ensure that our students not only have what they need to sharpen their IQ and EQ – but also their CQ (cultural quotient). This conscious effort for diversity enhances their respect and understanding of different cultures and how business is done differently across the regions. 

Asia as a Growth Region

Identifying how Asia is a growth region, there is a growing trend of students leaning towards undertaking their MBAs in Asia (as compared to Western countries such as the USA, Europe and Canada).  Hence, SP Jain has strategically set up its campuses in Singapore, Dubai, Sydney and Mumbai.

Dr John Fong, S P Jain School of Global Management