By Nicole Jackson, Linda Dunn-Jensen,  & Annika Steiber.

Buildings across university campuses lay empty as instruction shifted to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, students, parents, and other stakeholders have called into question the relevance and credibility of the university as an institution. For business schools, this is nothing new.

Over the last two decades, the ineffectiveness of business education in its ability to deliver upon the value proposition of employability and relevance has been debated among management scholars. Yet, business schools have been able to hide structural inefficiencies through “myths” and “ceremonies” to keep up a perception of a high value of a business school degree and credentialing. These inefficiencies, however, are now made more explicit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As business school professors, we wonder: Can a Black Swan event, such as COVID-19, lead into a possible rapid deinstitutionalization of business schools? And, if so, how can we respond to ensure long-term sustainability?

We believe an institutional response in the age of COVID-19 calls for business school professors to consider how they can take a driver’s seat in proactively adapting to broader societal change. In order to do this, the faculty need to question the foundations and underlying assumptions that have supported long-standing institutional identities. We believe that business schools must transform their institutional identity paradigm and begin with an “actual impact first” approach. We discuss four possible ways to create and make impact on business schools and programs.

Approach One: Opportunity impact. The economic effects of COVID-19 show gaps in the flow of resources that reflect socioeconomic differences. This is where business schools can leverage an opportunity impact factor (i.e. poverty reduction rates) as a means to resolve conflicts in class structures in society and whereby government funding and national policies can equalize economic inequity in conjunction with the business school (i.e., a Marxist approach).

 Approach Two: Economic relevance impact. Even with the increased emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation, business schools position their relevance on how individuals fit into organizations and how organizations impact profitability and short-term shareholder value. We argue that there needs to be greater differentiation in terms of levels of analysis on impact. As faculty, we need to consider: how do individuals, departments, and types of business affect societal growth measured by resilience, economic recovery, and resourcefulness?

Approach Three: Value differentiation and assimilation impact. As globalization, nationalist arguments, and governmental policies increasingly politicize both resources and access to them, there is a need for business schools to be centered around where and how to reinforce values, not just of countries, but of local and regional communities. We need to move beyond programs of cultural awareness and international business to address local themes of value, based on community action needs, which can make business education more relevant, such as community engaged and service-learning practices – not just internships or international experiences.

 Approach Four: Co-location gaps impact. Finally, as exacerbated by COVID-19, where might we find asymmetry or co-location gaps in information and access to resources within business school programming that need to be effectively redistributed both internally and externally? Where do alternative alliances need to be built – such as moving business programming into crowdsourcing – direct teacher to student platforms or consortia? Where might alumni and the best teachers and researchers across colleges tap into these networks? Today’s digital platforms may provide greater insight as to where the distribution and flow of funding, not just online programming, can be measured and evaluated in this regard.

We argue these four areas of impact provide a roadmap for a longer strategic view of business school survivability and sustainability. An immediate short-term view of replicating business programs to online platforms is simply not enough.