Strathclyde Business School hosted its annual MBA Conference jointly with the University of Edinburgh Business School and Glasgow University's Adam Smith Business School at Strathclyde University's Technology & Innovation Centre on Friday, February 24.
Over 200 students came together from the three business schools alongside over 30 representatives from business and industry for the day long event.
Featuring a number of industry-specific panels and keynote speakers, the conference aimed to build a dialogue and exchange of information between participants, creating an understanding of the challenges companies face and the skills required to meet these challenges both now and in the future.
Camila Zrein, MBA External Engagement Officer at Strathclyde Business School, said, "The conference's overarching theme was employability and the focus was to help students understand how to make themselves employable as an MBA graduate and how to pivot into work in new industries. We constructed the conference to cater for some specific, topical themes - sustainability; environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG); and corporate social responsibility - and how companies are implementing and ensuring these initiatives are being implemented within their businesses.
"The conference provided an excellent forum for the sharing of business insights and topical discussion, and we received excellent feedback from students, speakers and panelists.”
Each panel provided perspectives and insights into different industries with reference to the panelists' individual experiences. Question and answer sessions followed each panel for further discussion and networking, and a networking reception concluded the day's panel discussions.
The Conference was opened by Fran van Dijk, founding partner of One Stone Advisors Ltd, a global communications and strategy team which helps companies become more successful sustainability leaders. Fran is Deputy Chair of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), chair of the Macaulay Development Trust and served on the board of Montaro Asset Management.
The keynote speech was given by Rory Lawson, former Rugby International and Executive Leadership Coach. Rory is now an executive consultant with leadership consultancy Ceannas. Having retired from professional sport with a career-ending injury in 2013, Rory launched a start up, taking a drinks and snacking brand from concept to a successful business with domestic and international reach. As a result, he brings significant leadership and entrepreneurial experience to his current role.
Panelist Pablo Levi said, “It was fabulous to interact with students, [they were] so energetic and really keen to engage with the speakers.”
MBA student Taranjot Chopra wrote a blog about his experience of the MBA event – you can read it on the SBS Blog webpage