Business School Dean urges CEMS students to act on global concerns

Professor Greg Whitwell, who is also chair of the CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education, was speaking at a recent CEMS graduation ceremony in Vienna.

Professor Whitwell said CEMS students were "privileged people who have benefited from an educational experience that is the envy of so many others."

"CEMS students have acquired skills and capabilities that give then the opportunity to lead; to be change agents; to question assumptions; to challenge norms; to create something new and better," Professor Whitwell said.

"With privilege comes responsibility to contribute to a more open, stable and inclusive world," he said.

"The world doesn't need any more rhetoric," Professor Whitwell added. "It needs positive and concrete action. It needs the imagination, the optimism, the inspiration and creative initiatives of CEMS graduates."  

With the addition of the University of Cape Town, the CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education now has 33 member schools on five continents accredited to deliver the exclusive Master of Management (CEMS) program.

The University of Sydney Business School is Australia's only CEMS member.

More than thirteen hundred students graduate each year from the Master of Management (CEMS) program, with 96 per cent of them employed or continuing their studies within three months of graduation.

More than 90 per cent of graduates have worked in two or more countries; 75 per cent work for multinational companies and 73 per cent are fluent in three or more languages.

Welcoming the University of Cape Town as the Alliance's latest academic member, Professor Whitwell said that CEMS was pleased to be working with UCT to meet the enormous challenges facing the people of Southern Africa.

"Founded as a boys' college more than 170 years ago, UCT today shares with CEMS a strong commitment to tolerance, diversity and inclusion," Professor Whitwell said.

"Over the past three years, the Alliance has welcomed a number of elite business schools to its exclusive family, including Cornell in the US and the American University of Cairo. UCT's membership continues this tradition of excellence and underlines the truly global nature of the Alliance."

The Alliance is supported by more than 70 corporate partners, including 7 NGOs. The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company recently joined the as a corporate partner.

Welcoming the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company's decision, Professor Whitwell said the move would be of enormous benefit to the Alliance and its students.