COVID-19 as Episodic Shock in Re-defining Purpose in Business Schools

Keywords: Black Swan Effects, Institutional Identities, and Meaning-making of Business Schools

Abstract: Extreme episodic events that rapidly transform society are often defined as Black Swan events. The COVID-19 pandemic as one such example, calls for a greater understanding as to how institutions can create timely interventions in times of crisis. In higher education, there is a demand to understand where business and management education institutional identity fits into this equation, and where it can derive greater meaning and purpose during this unprecedented time. In this roundtable session, we explore three areas of management education impacted: macro-societal implications of COVID-19 on redefining business schools, implications on newer forms of curriculum and delivery, and individual implications in deriving the meaning and purpose of the business school. We link these to three areas of inquiry looking at how COVID-19 has heightened technological dependency, the need to redefine social relationships/networks, and what alternative benchmarks to develop meaning in management education need to be considered.