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In 2019 I saw Professor Thomas Debass present on strategic foresight when he presented as a guest speaker for the Business & Society course Privatization, Nationalization & Public Private Partnerships. Immediately following the presentation my classmate and I turned to one another and discussed with enthusiasm how we thought an entire course on strategic foresight would be an instrumental topic for inclusion in the MBA curriculum. Fast-forward to this summer, having taken such a course, I can say the class exceeded my lofty expectations. 

This Business & Society course began with reading assignments on futurism and two online pre-program sessions designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic and course, followed by four full days of lectures and guest speakers, culminating with a written group project and oral presentation. This format requires a sizable time commitment for students to prepare ahead of the daylong classes. While intense, the structure forces you to fully immerse yourself in the content. Professor Debass invited speakers to discuss and present their ideas regarding the future of their respective fields:  aerospace, retail, education, and corporate innovation, to name a few. I was initially worried that taking such an intense course virtually would prove difficult (four days online 9am – 5pm). But I can honestly say the topics, class, and speakers engaged with the class in a way that I hardly noticed we were not in person.

More specifically, the class changed my mindset for identifying signals that could shed light on potential future pathways. My job, like many others, requires anticipation of problems or issues that might lie around the corner and those that might be in the medium-term. Other strategic management models and tools are useful, but the futurist mindset has been instrumental in just the last few weeks since completing the course. Another main takeaway from the course is the ability to interact with the impressive line-up of guest speakers. Each speaker’s command of the subject matter showed the class the direct application of course concepts in action. The very first speaker told a story on the needs for prison reform, but in the context of two peoples’ lives in a way that was both emotional and captivating. The ability for the speaker to convey his message in this way was not only impactful, but also taught us how important the skill is in developing scenarios, pathways, and “pretotypes” of a potential future state.

The summation of the class was the creation of a comprehensive group project. My team employed the tools provided from the readings, lectures, and guest speaker discussions to apply a futurist model to determine what might be “probable, plausible, and possible” futures for education. From there, we assessed and brainstormed potential future pathways for education. More importantly, we zeroed on the signals that could help forecast the future, which solidified the potential scenarios. This process allowed us to provide a proof of concept from our learnings. Overall, this class transformed my mindset to think forward leaning and to directly apply the knowledge and experience gained from the class directly to day-to-day life, both personally and professionally. 

Chris Lembesis is a ‘20 MBA candidate at The George Washington University School of Business. He is a Senior Financial Institution and Policy Analyst II at the Federal Reserve Board. 

To read more Business & Society Series reflections on our blog, click here.

To learn more about the Business & Society Series, click here.

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A brief background:
My name is Ditte-Marie and I had the pleasure of being part of the George Washington School of Business (GWSB) exchange program for the fall 2019 semester.  This graduate exchange counted towards my master’s in Political Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), which I completed in the Spring 2020.Prior to my master’s program, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Communication at The Danish School of Media and Journalism, and since 2018 I have worked as a political assistant of a member of the Danish Parliament. When applying for graduate programs in Denmark, I looked for one that had an established exchange program in Washington, D.C., for I knew what opportunities studying in the U.S. could provide.  I was looking for a program that would widen my horizons, as well as challenge me personally and academically. The exchange program with the GWSB was the perfect fit.

A Semester of Memories
Dozens of memories run through my mind as I think about my exchange semester at GWSB! The location of the school is unbeatable. Everything from going on runs through the U.S. capital on sunny days, to exploring all the beautiful neighborhoods, like Georgetown and Alexandria. It is honestly a chapter in my life that I will forever cherish. 

While the location was important to the experience, the people I met along the way truly made it unforgettable. One memory of mine that stands out is of a Sunday afternoon when I visited a local winery out in Virginia. I met up with a bunch of classmates from my leadership class and we indulged in the beautiful fall weather until sunset, all the while appreciating the beauty of our surroundings in the vineyards. Overall, we were a diverse group. Our nationalities included everything from Danish to Puerto Rican, Brazilian, Chinese and Americans. While we all came from different parts of the world, we all shared the desire and curiosity to learn and explore. We also were united by our interest in studying at GWSB, the leadership course, and desire to meet new people. I do not take that memory or experience for granted. In that moment, I remember thinking that if I previously thought that I had experienced cultural diversity, then I had the full experience this time.

A Semester of New Opportunities
While I am appreciative of the memories I made during my exchange at GWSB, I am also grateful for the opportunities it provided. My exchange semester at GWSB offered me lots of new opportunities; most importantly, the opportunity to explore new courses not available at CBS. The courses that impacted me the most were those with a more practical approach, taught by dedicated professors with actual experience within the professional arena in which they teach. This allowed me to translate a lot of the theoretical perspectives that I had learned at CBS into actual scenarios provided by my GWSB faculty. This experience was very useful for me and actually ended up helping me navigate and find a path in which I wish to pursue a career. Somehow, being able to apply knowledge to reality allowed me to view my professional preferences in a new perspective.

Overall, my classes at GWSB focused highly on reflective skills, which both allowed for and encouraged active self-reflection of my own academic, personal, and business-thinking ability. While at CBS, we study different phenomena theoretically, GWSB allowed me to study myself in order to improve both personally and academically. 

Participate in a semester exchange… you will never regret it!
Whenever I am asked why I would recommend others to participate in the GWSB exchange program, my answer is rather simple: “You will not regret it! The experiences, challenges, and skills will shape and impact you for the rest of your life personally, academically and professionally.  I am thankful for my opportunity to study at GWSB, and you will be too!”’

Ditte-Marie Rye Jenson is a 2020 graduate from the Copenhagen School of Business. During the Fall 2019 semester, Ditte-Marie spent a semester on exchange at the GW School of Business.

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The Business & Society course Strategic Foresight taught by Professor Thomas Debass took place June 17-20. Due to the university shifting to distance learning in response to COVID-19, this course adapted to an online format with the support of Student Administrative Assistant Fatoumata Zahara Savane. Below is Fatoumata’s reflection on her experience.

Welcome to the future!

Foresight is critical in all areas of our lives. Whether you are interested in education, healthcare, energy, food and agriculture, or even space, this course was designed to provide students with a set of new methods, tools and practices that allows them to build robust scenario-driven strategies.

Strategic Foresight truly helped students understand how organizations invent the future, how to create a strategy to take action on a trend, and how to develop recommendations and action plans for the “future of x” for an individual, organization, or even a nation. The involvement of distinguished guest-speakers, each evolving in different sectors as foresight strategists provided students with invaluable insights. Indeed, our class had the chance to virtually engage with a strategist writer, the policy analyst and lead for Strategic Foresight for the Center for Space Policy, a former NASA astronaut, the Vice President of Walmart’s Customer Product (eCommerce) division, the Executive Vice President of the Uncommon Partners Lab at Singularity University, the Global Managing Director at Cambridge Industries Ltd., the Leader of Deloitte Health Innovation and Informatics, and the Chair & Professor at the Department of Emerging Technology in Business & Design of Miami University. 

 

Strategic Foresight students worked in teams to map the future of different industries. The above image features part of the “Future of Healthcare” team’s final project. 

As all summer courses shifted online due to COVID-19, I worked closely with the Global Experiential Education (G&EE) program staff and Professor Debass to ensure students received the best possible educational experience that exceeded their expectations. It was meaningful to see the program’s commitment to providing their students with the necessary support in achieving their academic goals given new constraints. I also received specialized training from GWSB’s talented Instructional Design team to prepare me for managing the video conference technology needed to facilitate online lectures and virtual guest speaker discussions.

It was an honor to work with Thomas Debass, a respected economist who currently serves as Managing Director of the Office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State. He has a genuine passion for the future and his students truly had the best instructor to provide a unique foresight experience.

Fatoumata Zahara Savane is a ‘20 MA Applied Economics Candidate at The George Washington University Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

To read more Business & Society Series reflections on our blog, click here.

To learn more about the Business & Society Series, click here.

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Christophe De Montille served as a Student Administrative Assistant for Global Business Project: Impact Investments in Rwanda course, taught by Dr. Reid Click, Associate Professor of International Business. Due to the university’s restriction of international travel in response to COVID-19, this course was adapted to an online format just days before the program was set to depart for Kigali, Rwanda.

Below is Christophe’s reflection on the course’s continuation.

About a week before our planned departure to Kigali, Rwanda, GW announced the decision to cancel international travel for faculty, staff and students due to COVID-19. At the time of the decision, there was unexpected disbelief and frustration that the short-term study away program (STAP) would not be as planned. Over the next week, international flights would be cancelled, and country-wide lockdowns would be instituted across the globe. Little did we know (at the time) that the unexpected disbelief and frustration would give way to unprecedented understanding and relief as faculty, staff, and students accepted the new realities of the global pandemic.

Kayonza Rice Production, Ltd. One of the Rwandan companies the students researched for investment.

In spite of this setback, faculty and students cleared their mindset and came together to continue the examination of small and medium-sized enterprises in Rwanda for potential community and financial investment. Although the class was no longer able to travel to Kigali, Rwanda, the students would still have a unique opportunity to work with an experienced client, Ashlye A. Stewart, Founder of ASER Capital LLC. After careful consultation with G&EE,   Dr. Reid Click, , and myself ., the decision was made to continue the project. The class would continue to be conducted  virtually, and the students would finish the semester by virtually delivering Investment Memoranda to Ashlye and her Investment Committee. 

As both the United States and Rwanda entered lock down, the transition to a virtual impact investing course took place. Unable to visit the Rwandan companies, the course pivoted to focus more intently on the impact investing process and specifically how to conduct due diligence. Our student-consultants were provided extensive financial, business, and industry-specific documents in a virtual data room. After the students were able to analyze the documents, Ashlye, Dr. Click, and I met with each student group to provide direction on what should be included in each investment memorandum.

A screenshot of one of the classes virtual sessions.

Class-wide and group-specific sessions were held, and each group was able to refine and hone their final deliverables. The students were encouraged to think outside the box to develop questions that could be taken back to each Rwandan company as part of future due diligence. In addition, students were encouraged to cross-collaborate between teams to have an understanding of how different businesses are structured within Rwanda. The students diligently solved unanswered challenges and developed future questions that would need to be discussed with each business Rwanda. At the final investment presentation, each student was able to discuss their findings and answer the question, “With what you know today, would you invest in this company?” While the students weren’t able to examine the companies in-person, the project still allowed each student to gain significant insight and experience into company due diligence in emerging markets and make an actionable recommendation.

 

 

 

Christophe De Montille is a ’20 Global MBA Candidate at the George Washington University School of Business

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