How do you see your GSB student composition changing this year?
The biggest difference we expect to see is in the globalisation of our students. For the last 20 years, Stanford and many other business schools have worked to attract students from all over the world and we typically have 40 per cent international students in a batch. Students represent more than 60 countries, which offers a broad set of perspectives and rich educational experience. However, that is going to be difficult this year.
But, in general, our entire curriculum has been made available virtually. What was already a fast-growing trend in education was accelerated with Covid-19.
What is the primary goal behind Stanford Rebuild? What are you hoping to achieve and why now?
Stanford Rebuild is our answer to the pandemic. It was created in order to address the many challenges that have presented themselves now. Our goal is to bring together people with different perspectives and innovative minds and support their efforts to create solutions, products or services that address these challenges and help accelerate recovery from the pandemic.
As many states and countries have begun rolling out their plans for reopening, this is a critical time where people and organisations are thinking about what approaches and products will need to be designed for our new “normal”. Rapid innovation is, and will continue to be, necessary due to the upheaval of the pandemic, which is where Stanford Rebuild comes in.
Some of the challenges we are already seeing from Covid-19 that participants can consider addressing through Rebuild include implementing scalable and socially responsible testing and contact tracing; redesigning childcare and early education; addressing the mental health impact of social distancing; and supporting small businesses as they recover and, in many cases, reinvent themselves. Open and free to everyone across the globe, we hope Stanford Rebuild can encourage and inspire people to develop ideas and solutions that solve the challenges we have seen emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Do you in general see a shift towards more sustainable businesses and solutions as the world moves forward?
Businesses have been shifting towards more sustainable solutions for years now, with more than 90 per cent of CEOs stating that sustainability is important to the success of their company due to a growing sense of corporate social responsibility.
Do you see any fundamental shifts occurring as far as people's pursuit towards materialism goes as a result of this crisis?
There were some significant shifts towards the beginning of the crisis. In many places, people simply no longer had the option to spend their money in the same ways that they did before Covid-19 because shops, restaurants, theatres and gyms were closed down. However, there was an increase in spending on groceries and home entertainment as families sheltered in place.
This period of time as businesses begin to reopen will be telling of how and if consumers are choosing to spend again, especially since we have officially entered into a recession. As states in the US continue to roll out their phased reopening plans, spending will surely increase, but only time will tell how much and in what sectors.
Will social impact become the key matrix for virtually all new businesses going forward?
Within our own community at the GSB, one-fifth of the MBA class of 2019 went into social impact careers, and 15 per cent of entrepreneurs went into the non-profit/social innovation industry. Social impact is definitely a growing matrix; however, businesses seem to still be working out how to create actionable plans. With the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become very clear that consumers are not satisfied with empty promises and want to see how businesses are actually making an impact.
When people join forces for a common cause, whether for social justice issues, in the workplace, or at home, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
To read the full story, Subscribe Now at just Rs 249 a month
Already a subscriber? Log in
Subscribe To BS Premium
₹249
Renews automatically
₹1699₹1999
Opt for auto renewal and save Rs. 300 Renews automatically
₹1999
What you get on BS Premium?
-
Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app.
-
Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them.
Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006.
Preferential invites to Business Standard events.
Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more.
Need More Information - write to us at assist@bsmail.in