IMD Injects Special "Navigating the Future" Focus into its MBA Program

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

IMD, the top-ranked business school in Switzerland, is introducing a new element to its MBA program called "Navigating the Future." The concept aims to go beyond business fundamentals, already included in the program, by bringing relevant and evolving business trends into MBA course work.

"Navigating the Future" starts by polling senior executives and decision makers, as well as the MBA participants, all who bring work experience to the program, on the trends they see shaping tomorrow's business environment. Once established from polling, participants carry out extensive research and interaction with companies facing issues around the trends in order to present findings at a "Navigating the Future" conference, a free of charge event entirely open to the business community. The conference will take place every June at IMD and will go on the road to address business executives in Dubai, Kyoto, Monterey (Mexico), San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.  

Piloted for the first time in 2014 under IMD's new MBA Director Ralf Boscheck, "Navigating the Future" explores 15 larger issues and trends. Some trends to be researched this year include the impact of digitalization, market-driven regulatory reform and sources of energy constraints. The underlying aim of the new "Navigating the Future" focus is to bring MBA participants closer to business leaders and ensure they have a sustainable grasp on their capabilities to lead.

"For business to progress we cannot close our eyes to fundamental challenges that exist across industries," said Boscheck. "By keeping abreast of topical issues, 'Navigating the Future' ensures that our MBA graduates will be ready for tomorrow and that they will develop invaluable strategic skills that will allow them to export analytical business thinking into any sector. "

Going beyond exploring situations and the prognostic outlook of trends, "Navigating the Future" also examines the current business response to them and analyzes the impact of chosen actions.

"It is not enough to advance business by figuring out how to address customer demands. Only by understanding why business does what it does, and at which value and costs to whom, will we be able to obtain the big picture view needed to pave the way for real progress," Boscheck said.  

Boscheck, who has been teaching at IMD since 1990, is well known for his philosophy of learning from the worst-case scenario and is implementing "Navigating the Future" as an extension of this mind-set. In studying the issues and trends that pose questions for the future, MBAs will come face to face with detrimental outcomes that will provide a conduit for innovation.

"When we back business leaders into a corner with no way out, it creates an opportunity to change their way of thinking," Boscheck said. "Striving for a world that is more resource efficient, that is open to development opportunities and that seriously tackles issue surrounding unemployment and waste is striving for a world that will be more beneficial to us all. Business must mean progress and our MBAs are ready to navigate the necessary changes."  

Learn more about IMD's MBA program

Register now for the next Navigating the Future conference June 18 & 19, 2015

ABOUT IMD 

IMD is a top-ranked business school that is 100% focused on real-world, high impact executive development. (http://www.imd.org)

Contact:
Matthew Mortellaro
+41-21-618-03-52
Matthew.Mortellaro@imd.org