The current and future role of business school

There has been considerable debate following the global financial crisis on the role and actions of business schools. Researchers and analysts are increasingly questioning what business schools should teach, and how they should teach it. This report summarises the research the authors recently conducted on the current and future role of business schools. Funding constraints and the desire to make a timely contribution to the debate meant that this research was limited in its scale. This is therefore viewed as a scoping study, paving the way for a more detailed investigation and analysis. A detailed literature review of current issues faced by business schools was conducted as part of the research. By far the most significant question arising from this review relates to the focus for business schools: Should business schools be helping business or helping humanity through business? There are many urgent global issues facing humanity and do business school leaders see business schools having any part to play in their resolution? In essence, what is the global responsibility of business schools?