Overcoming uncertainty through the search for new reference points. This is how Jörg Rocholl, Chair of the Steering Committee of the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) and President of ESMT Berlin, summarized the purpose of the 29th GNAM Deans & Directors Meeting, which concluded on Friday, May 15, at SDA Bocconi School of Management.

“The GNAM meeting was not only an opportunity to reconnect with outstanding colleagues, but above all a chance to spend these two days discussing the challenges facing higher education, sharing analyses, opportunities, and risks,” said Stefano Caselli, Dean of SDA Bocconi, at the conclusion of the three-day event.

Geopolitics, AI, and leadership were the themes most frequently addressed in conversations among the approximately 60 delegates. “Developing human capital is the most difficult and, today, the most valuable endeavor, which is why exchanging views with schools from every continent is invaluable,” Caselli added. “In a fragmented world, whose new trajectories have yet to be drawn, business schools can help bring clarity through their ability to look ahead and continuously engage in dialogue.”

GNAM is an association of 33 leading business schools from around the world, aimed at helping them deepen their understanding of differences and commonalities across their economies and increase their effectiveness.

The debates and roundtables, during which delegates discussed how to incorporate emerging topics into business school curricula, helped fulfill the hope expressed during the opening session by one of GNAM’s founders, Camino de Paz, Associate Dean of Global Affairs at the Yale School of Management: to leave the meeting with a major shared idea ready to be put into action.

SDA Bocconi School of Management