March 29, 2024

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Business The Solution

Ethics of gift-giving, what MBA students want

Good afternoon from London. We all like gifts that keep on giving. However, there should be rules on such perks in the workplace to keep us on a moral path. Please share your ideas and we will print the best in the next newsletter.

Thank you for reading our Business School Briefing — Wai Kwen Chan and Andrew Jack.

News round up

Tomorrow’s MBA survey results More than a third of people interested in an MBA would consider by-passing business schools and studying with alternative online providers led by the Power MBA, Coursera and Quantic, according to a survey of over 1,100 prospective students in 25 countries.

The largest proportion said they would still prefer a full-time, two-year MBA, with particular emphasis on general business and financial skills as well expertise in digital and artificial intelligence, according to Tomorrow’s MBA, a survey from the consultancy CarringtonCrisp.

Entrepreneurship course Thunderbird School of Global Management is offering a free online five-course, 15 credit certificate in global management and entrepreneurship. Designed to reach 100m learners in 40 languages, it has been funded by a $25m donation from Francis and Dionne Najafi.

Climate and sustainability teaching cases The best studies help students grasp the complex trade-offs that sustainability requires. Read about our winners.

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Andrew Hill’s management challenge

“Professionalism” may not be all that it is cracked up to be. According to a new study, the greater a manager’s sense of professionalism, the more likely he or she is to accept a gift or bribe. Worse, as I explain in my column, high-minded professionals may be more susceptible to unconscious bias towards gift-givers. Small gifts may also be more influential than we think.

For my management challenge, what would be your ideal gift policy to keep managers on the ethical path? A blanket ban on receipt of any gift or hospitality? A threshold above which such gifts are outlawed? Or something else? Send your concise ideas to [email protected], and if you have experience of the pernicious effects of gift-giving or receiving, do share.

In further reading, Sarah Todd addresses the question of how workplace culture will be affected by remote and hybrid working for Quartz. “There are downsides to working for an organization that places a lot of emphasis on bonding and community in the name of culture,” she points out and if workers feel more detached from their employer, post-pandemic, “that may be good news for people’s lives overall”.

Data line: Environmental, social, and governance teaching

MBA and executive MBA programmes taught in Europe dedicate a larger part of their courses to ESG compared with Masters in Management courses, according to FT rankings data. About a third of MiM programmes, a predominantly European degree, dedicate 10 per cent or below of their curriculum to ESG, write Sam Stephens and Leo Cremonezi.

Chart showing how much do degrees dedicate to ESG? (%)

Further analysis of FT’s European Business Schools ranking can be found here.

Work and careers roundup

What does it take to recruit and keep staff in a tight market? Employers worldwide are deploying pay, perks and training to counter labour shortages.

We will pay for our hybrid work freedoms with more hot-desking A workspace of one’s own provides a sense of belonging, but unused office space is expensive for companies.

Trinny Woodall: from fashion guru to beauty empire founder The former TV presenter learnt crucial lessons after a business failure at the height of the dotcom boom.

Trinny Woodall © Charlie Bibby/FT

Polish your storytelling skills to win a pay rise Use behavioural science to help create a narrative and shape the conversation in your favour.

More stories at ft.com/work-careers.

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Top reads from business schools in the past week

US stocks reverse severe losses as buyers step in Exchanges record most volatile day since October 2020 when vaccine test results were announced and election neared.

Russia plans to target Ukraine capital in ‘lightning war’, UK warns Alarm raised as Nato members put forces on standby while Russian ally Belarus responds with its own deployments.

A map showing the build up of Russian forces on the borders of Ukraine as of January 12 2022

Fed’s Jay Powell refuses to rule out string of aggressive rate rises Hawkish stance from US central bank chair sparks sharp stock market sell-off.

Back issues

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