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Print Edition StoriesWednesday, November 18, 2009
How I See It
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Like the skinny neckties, typewriters and questionable ethics seen on the hit show “Mad Men,” on-the-job training, single-skill specialists and static work environments are relics of a bygone era. Today’s graduates need to be ready to bring value the day they start work.
Three forces are simultaneously bearing down on Massachusetts companies as they strive to compete: time, space and complexity.
The speed of business is ever increasing, spurred by technology that makes us always on, always connected. Customers, suppliers and coworkers expect us to be ever available and instantly responsive. And, as time has sped up for business, space has collapsed. Business, transacted globally, is a 24/7 phenomenon. Companies, community and the environment are connected in an interdependent web. Global corporations and local businesses are accountable not only for their actions but also for those of the suppliers of their suppliers. All of this has led to a level of complexity in business that demands a work force with the ability to solve complex problems on day one.
This isn’t just our opinion. We repeatedly hear from business leaders that they need employees who can hit the ground running in the high-speed and complex environment of business. The employees they seek need to have strong technical business skills, coupled with the ability to synthesize those skills in a dynamic work environment. They also need to be ready to apply their skills in ways that are mindful of the impact that their actions will have not just on business, but also on the community and the environment. Businesses are demanding more from the graduates of our colleges and universities. They demand that our graduates hit the ground running in a sprint and expect them to be able to perform for the long term, the equivalent of running the marathon.
At the same time, we hear from students that they face a daunting challenge. How do they distinguish themselves in a global marketplace for labor? How do they demonstrate that they have the skills needed by Bay State businesses for today and tomorrow?
Bentley and Microsoft have partnered to address these issues for more than seven years. Part research, part practice, our joint efforts are helping to develop the graduates that businesses are demanding. And our efforts are defining a new paradigm for corporate/academic partnerships. The impact of this collaboration is particularly evident in Bentley’s Corporate Immersion program. Students at Bentley enter the program with a rich set of skills. They have taken interdisciplinary classes combining arts and sciences with business. They have developed excellent technical and business skills. They have a strong ethical base from which they draw. But most have not had the chance to pull those pieces together at the speed of business.
Corporate Immersion changes that. Teaming with real companies, like Microsoft, students solve real business problems. Students in the program analyze proprietary company information, conduct primary and secondary research, construct financial models, evaluate the impacts of proposed solutions and deliver their business plans to company executives — all using technological tools that allow them to collaborate with their corporate partners anyplace and anytime. Real problems solved for real businesses using “the bleeding edge” of business technology.
An increasingly complex world is creating extremely difficult business problems. Finding solutions that are both responsible and profitable is hard. With its world-renowned colleges and universities, Massachusetts has the intellectual capacity to meet this challenge. But doing so will require a deeper, richer connection between business and academia.
Gloria Larson is the president of Bentley University. Philip DesAutels is director of academic evangelism for Microsoft Corp.
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