Cambridge Judge Dean: 3 Areas Of Resolve For 2024

Gishan Dissanaike: “Encouraging multiple and diverse voices is an essential part of our role as business educators to help our students and all our stakeholders get the information they need to make intelligent choices for the good of society.” Courtesy photo

As we all look ahead to 2024, there are three key areas where we should all resolve to find solutions to help ensure a safer, more equitable and just society – revolving around sustainability, artificial intelligence, and diversity in all its forms.

As business educators, Cambridge Judge Business School has been increasingly focused on sustainability issues ranging from circular economy principles to carbon removal technology – and 2024 should see an enhancement of this focus. The recent COP28 summit in the United Arab Emirates brought renewed attention to these matters as 2023 ticked down, reminding us all that there are multiple challenges that we need to tackle urgently in the new year.

Recent sustainability research at Cambridge Judge includes studies linking climate change to GDP, how renewable-energy preferences are tied to individuals’ climate change concerns, and how climate change will impact healthcare around the world. More such research is in the pipeline for the new year. But the key is to link research with practical action to make demonstrable impact, so that should be a sustainability resolution for all of us as 2024 unfolds.

The rapid advance in artificial intelligence, heralded by the arrival of ChatGPT just over a year ago, holds huge promise but also challenges for us as business educators. AI has already been incorporated into some of our learning at the Business School, as faculty tap into AI’s big educational potential including ways to save time on routine tasks while also ensuring that students refine their critical thinking skills.

Yet our faculty are also examining some concerning issues surrounding AI – including built-in biases, how such human-like replies can lead to disinformation, and the copyright implications that companies and business schools alike need to understand better.

Like any new technology, it will take time for AI to settle into a rhythm at business schools and beyond, but like many once-new technologies that are now part of our everyday lives it is surely here to stay.

We as business educators also must resolve to further ensure inclusion and diversity in all its forms, including gender, ethnicity and other backgrounds, as a diverse faculty and diverse student body enriches everyone involved in business education and other stakeholders served by business schools.

Yet such inclusion also encompasses a determination to ensure that diverse viewpoints are welcomed, voiced and heard, as such robust debate helps ensure that new ideas are surfaced and discussed. Encouraging multiple and diverse voices is an essential part of our role as business educators to help our students and all our stakeholders get the information they need to make intelligent choices for the good of society, so we once again resolve to help those vibrant and varied voices emerge.

Gishan Dissanaike is interim dean and Adam Smith professor of corporate governance at Cambridge Judge Business School.