The Founder and President, Zurich Elite Business School (ZEBS), Prof Adonis-Emmanouil Fragkakis and the Africa Director Zurich Elite Business School, Dr Akanimo Odon, in his interview with ADEOLA OGUNLADE, they speak on how businesses can survive the post COVID-19 pandemic.
The emergence of business schools, a failure of the education system in producing entrepreneurs?
Business Schools around the world have been mainly focusing on knowledge being transferred to the students through theoritical concepts. No direct interlink with real corporate life has existed, and accordingly students have been prepared in a totally wrong way about the challenges they would face later on in the real-world as entrepreneurs.
Additionally, the solely monetary-oriented values that were being transferred to business school graduates over decades. Accordingly big scandals like Enron in the US or Wirecard, as one of the biggest fiascos in European Stock exchange history that took place this summer should not surprise us. Africa has to learn from the failures of the atheistic societies and systems of the Western world that were driven by shareholder value concepts and greed, focusing only on short-term financial goals and not taking ethical and sustainable aspects at all into account.
In the middle of the challenges facing business in the post-Covid-19, what cutting edge strategies is Zurich Elite Business School (ZEBS) bringing onboard?
Every crisis can be used as an opportunity for change. Innovations, the use of new technologies and the strategic mindset to do things differently than competitors is the only way to overcome current challenges. This is where we see our contribution to African leadership & entrepreneurship. We work with this differentiation mindset, train students using practical techniques, equip our students with state-of-the-art practical real-world knowledge about management and emerging technologies, which will lead to new business models and create innovations in Nigeria and other African countries. We have additionally developed the unique ZEBS African Entrepreneurship Fellowship, a first of its kind start-up training dedicated to our students and designed to help Nigerian and African entrepreneurs to maximize their chances of success through mentorship, providing access to industry experts and seed capital. And finally not to forget that we are developing the biggest network that has ever been created with no boarders in Africa. Our Real-World Skills MBA students will meet, exchange business ideas and network not only in regional but also in transnational communities with other executives and entrepreneurs in the entire African continent which will hugely enhance entrepreneurship and innovations in Nigeria and other African countries as well.
Why is your Business School concerns about enhancing skill sets and encouraging volunteerism?
US Tech Giants are hiring candidates who don’t have the traditional degrees but are looking primarily for job-related skills sets and not just theoretical knowledge. Additionally, a US survey showed that the majority of the 750 HR leaders undertake effort to de-emphasize degrees and prioritize skills. There is a big change currently taking place in the global job market. This is one of the uniqueness’s of the Real-World Skills MBA for the Future of Africa. We equip African managers and entrepreneurs with real-world skills and we train them with exactly the same job-training business modules, we have been using for almost two decades to train managers and consultants working for big companies such as US Tech Giants, Swiss Financial Institutions, German Premium Segment Automobile Manufacturers, Swiss and German Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, Energy Leaders and many more.
Business leaders or start-up had to go through a lot during this COVID-19 pandemic, what lessons is there to learn for business leaders in today’s world?
For me, it is important to always question your existing business models and never feel secured about what might happen tomorrow. This is because tomorrow could come with big surprises, that’s for sure. The more you train your organisations to live with a competitive advantage culture and continuous questioning of existing business models, the better you will be prepared for future challenges and the less these „next-day-surprises“ will impact your business.
For me, COVID-19 in as much as it has fractured global economies and affected many business leaders, it also provided an opportunity for business leaders to consider more innovative ways to sustain their businesses. The trouble would be when business leaders don’t learn from the COVID experience and continue like nothing happened. At the ZEBS Real World Skills MBA, we hope to instill this ethic and culture in our students.
Globalisation has changed the landscape of businesses in the world, what are the opportunities globalization offers business leaders in today’s world?
Globalization has offered many chances to businesses, e.g. to reach new customers in new markets and to expand the business portfolio, access to knowledge etc. On the other side , globalisation enabled business „diseases“ to get spread globally. If we want to be honest, globalisation not necessarily enhanced economic and social welfare. If we look for example in Europe, we realise that the middle-class that was traditionally one of the main societies’ economic stability columns, has been dangerously shrinking in last decades.
As the current biggest challenge for businesses I consider the emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain that are changing our world in a way that we still haven’t realised yet the entire power and impact they will have on our private and business life’s in the future. Only entrepreneurs and managers who get acquainted with these innovative technologies and understand deeply the resulting impact and changes in our society, will be able to use them effectively and drive their business to success.
Business in this part of the world does not live up to 100 years, why and how can business school help to make a difference?
Business are supposed to be built on providing solutions to existing problems. Most business start with an idea but over time they do not spend time to re-strategise their business offers in response to market needs. Coca-Cola started as a beverage drinks company with juice and few drinks but now the company has over 3,000 beverage drinks and 500 brands in the business portfolio. That is substantial, but it is as a result of continuous innovation. In the era we live, which is the fourth industrial revolution, Africa has incredible opportunities of thriving in the digitization space driven through innovation. This cannot be theoretical in approach but practical and this is what the Zurich Elite Business School is founded on.
I remember speaking with our Africa Director, Dr. Akanimo Odon, who is a top Nigerian international education consultant and entrepreneur and he tells me that another big issue is the lack of succession plans in most businesses. If the boss or CEO leave the business, everything crumbles because the business is built around one man or woman. This is a wrong strategy always and many international businesses have shown this premise.
Your business school transverse three continents are there similar models that can be adopted for business to thrive and succeed its founders.
This is a really good question and for me, a great follow up to the last question. Indeed, our business school boasts of faculty and alumni from three continents – America, Europe and Asia and now we are wanting to work in Africa and to support African entrepreneurs who we believe are the future of the continent. There is a great lesson here in that strategic partnerships are a fundamental measure of a truly international business school. If successful global businesses thrive through operating in different locations, engaging the expertise of an international staff, understanding international markets and providing goods and services which meet societal needs in these different jurisdictions, why should a business school be different? We ensure we teach what we practice. All of our business experts have been successful managers and entrepreneurs so we know what is needed to succeed in our global world. Africans are so talented and from my experience, when they come overseas, they perform much better than their contemporaries. It is time to invest in these talents for businesses to thrive and to encourage succession. This is something that founders of businesses must realise. There is a huge gap between many business schools and industry. So, you find MBA graduates with business qualifications but cannot set up a business or adequately manage one. It is the same way you find many business professors who don’t know the first thing, or don’t know and understand the simplest procedures about managing businesses. While that is okay in certain geographies, it is not what Africa needs. There are too many challenges in the continent and we believe that only Africans can truly provide solutions to their own challenges. We at the Zurich Elite Business School are wanting to support with this process of real change using real world skills from the Real-World Skills MBA
And African managers seem to trust us on this common journey. We already have more than 1000 RWS MBA students from 11 African countries including Nigeria who have already registered for the Real-World Skills MBA for the Future of Africa starting at the beginning of April 2021.
What has been your success stories since you started?
As aforementioned business schools around the world were mainly focusing on knowledge being transferred to the students through theory. No direct interlink with real corporate life existed. Quite contrary to this theoretical approach of business education, Zurich Elite Business School, being the inventor of practical On-the-Job and Off-the-Job Skills Development within MBA programmes, was the 1st Business School worldwide, which has been developing for almost two decades. The Business School trains on the hard- and soft-skills that students need not only on-campus but also within business through simulation games and in real corporate life through specific real-world skills development modules!
This innovative approach extended the scope of worldwide business education from just theory to practical and hands-on business education. It also led us into industry partnerships and innovative technology and business projects with leading companies in diverse industries such as Tech, Financial Sector, Management & Technology Consulting, Automotive, Energy, Pharmaceuticals, Telco, Aerospace and many more. With these real-world skills concept and practical approach, some of our MBA programmes in Switzerland and Germany costs about 180’000 USD and are considered to be the most expensive MBA programmes worldwide. It is a clear evidence of the value of the MBA which implies that companies see a big value in the educational model that Zurich Elite Business School showcases.