The P&Q Interview: New Dean Of GBSB Global On Preparing Students For The Digital Future

Ever since a group of businessmen and educators founded GBSB Global Business School in 2011, it has, by necessity, been agile and adaptive.

It is headquartered in Spain, a country with more than 80 business schools including some that are ranked among the best in Europe and the world. It has adopted an ethos of constant change to set itself apart, focusing on technologies and models that will shape business of the future.

GBSB continues to evolve. This fall, it will enroll the first cohort of its accredited PhD program and has a redesigned MBA meant to stay current with advanced business trends like AI and sustainability. The school also has a brand new dean and executive president, Wiktor Patena.

“We are unique in the sense that we are a very digitally-oriented school. Whether it’s a bachelor’s or master’s program, we always include several courses related to the digital area,” Patena tells Poets&Quants.

“I also believe this school offers value for money. We provide good quality education with a focus on digital areas, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Our programs are highly ranked and accredited, and are reasonably priced. This value for money is what distinguishes us from other similar business schools.”

P&Q INTERVIEW WITH WIKTOR PATENA

Today, GBSB Global offers a full portfolio of undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs all built around an integrated digital ecosystem that connects students in and out of the classroom. In 2017, it became the first business school in Spain to become a Microsoft Showcase School, used as a model for schools that are engaged in the digital transformation in terms of both teaching and learning.

Its three-year Bachelor of Business Administration and Digital Innovation has a modular design which allows students to focus their education while still getting the general business degree. The degree offers concentrations ranging from digital entrepreneurship to finance and fintech to sports and E-sports management.

It offers a 10-month MBA as well as 12 different specialized master’s ranging from Fashion & Luxury to Entrepreneurship to Business Innovation. It also offers a Masters in Management and Master of Science in Management with various fields of concentration.

GBSB Global has campuses in Barcelona, Madrid, and a new campus on the island of Malta which opened in 2021. It also refers to its online offerings as its fourth campus, and most of the degree programs it offers can be taken either on campus or fully online.

Patena brings with him both international and accrediting experience, leading his last business school through the grueling, years-long process of AACSB accreditation – the gold standard in business education. He also brings a long-term vision for GBSB Global that looks to strengthen its position both locally and internationally. This includes embarking on its own AACSB accreditation within the next several years and possibly opening a campus in the Middle East.

Poets&Quants caught up with Patena to talk more about his vision for GBSB Global. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Let’s start with your professional background and your journey to GBSB Global.

I joined GBSB Global in January this year, and I’m still settling down. Prior to this, I was working for HCT (Higher Colleges of Technology) in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the largest educational institution in the United Arab Emirates. I was managing the business school, which was also the largest division within HCT, with about 8,000 students. I started as the director of the MBA program, then became the associate dean, and eventually the Executive Dean. It was an interesting time.

Before that, I was the Provost at a Polish business school (Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu), affiliated with National Louis University from Chicago. We were treated like a branch of NLU Chicago, offering double degrees to students. This was one of the first private business schools in Poland.

I would mention two breakthrough moments in my career. As an academic, I realized at some point that I wanted to practice what I preach. I am a finance guy, basically, specializing in company valuation, so together with my mentor, I decided to open a consulting company focused on company valuations. This change allowed me to look at things from a different perspective. When I talk to my students, I have many real-life cases to share because of my consulting experience. This has helped me a lot in my career. I’m glad I can say I practice what I preach, and I think this resonates with our GBSB Global faculty, many of whom are adjuncts and practitioners, just like I was for a couple of years.

And the other breakthrough moment?

While I was in Poland, I took advantage of Poland joining the European Union by participating in the fantastic Erasmus Exchange Programme which allows faculty to travel to different countries for short lectures, typically lasting a week. I traveled to various countries in Europe through this system.

Then, of course, Dubai was another unique experience in terms of travel. Now, being in Malta is different still.

I like the quote by Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice.” It’s really true. From my perspective, it’s wonderful to travel to many different countries, meet people, and experience different cultures. There are always some differences, but they aren’t barriers. People are just different. If you have an open mind, you can easily adapt to new environments and be successful.

Why did the deanship at GBSB Global interest you?

Well, to be honest, I was about to retire. The highlight of my career at HCT in Dubai was getting them accredited with AACSB. This happened in the year I left, and it was a huge event. As you probably know, it’s quite a journey. It took about five years to start and complete the process. I was really a bit tired after that and thought it might be time to return to Europe.

Then, GBSB Global approached me because they had some AACSB aspirations. They were looking for someone who could help them go through this journey successfully. Given my experience, I thought it might not be such a bad idea. I still feel very active, so I decided it was an interesting project to take on, closer to home. I hope to leverage the networking and contacts I have to help GBSB Global achieve this goal.

So, you went from a five year experience that made you want to retire, and you’re jumping back into the same kind of experience at a new school. That’s interesting. Has that accreditation process started at GBSB Global yet?

Not immediately. When I joined GBSB Global, we were dealing with ACBSP accreditation, which is a different organization, somewhat second rank but similar. We had to complete this process first, which we did successfully some months ago. Now, we have another project, which is local accreditation. As you know, we have three locations: Malta, Barcelona, and Madrid. Barcelona, in particular, because Catalonia feels somewhat separate from Spain, they have some special requirements.

But then, we have already discussed with top management that once this is done, we will revisit the idea of pursuing AACSB accreditation. In fact, I spoke with the head of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at AACSB just yesterday about moving forward with this project.

For our readers who are not familiar, what do you believe sets GBSB Global apart from its competitors?

Well, this is actually a question I asked myself when I joined because each place is different and unique. After a couple of months, I realized that we are unique in the sense that we are a very digitally-oriented school. Whether it’s a bachelor’s or master’s program, we always include several courses related to the digital area. For example, we offer courses on how to start a digital business and on disruptive technologies. These courses are ubiquitous across the different programs we offer.

Additionally, we are very focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. One of our flagship projects is called G-Accelerator, which is like a business incubator but more. It’s a pre-incubation mentorship program that prepares individuals with new venture or startup ideas for the next incubation phase. Every year, we receive over 200 applications, and the applicants are shortlisted to go through the program. This has been very successful.

Finally, I believe this school offers value for money. We provide good quality education with a focus on digital areas, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Our programs are highly ranked and accredited, and are reasonably priced. This value for money is what distinguishes us from other similar business schools.

Beyond the accreditation journey, what are some of your big goals for your first tenure? What is your vision for GBSB Global?

As you said, accreditation is one of the goals. We plan to continue with ACBSP and then start the journey with AACSB, hoping to get accredited within five to six years because that’s what it typically takes.

Quite recently, our PhD program was accredited, so now we offer all three academic levels: bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD. We are launching the first PhD cohort this fall, which is an exciting moment for us.

How many PhDs are starting the program?

Not that many in the first batch, because we only got accredited in April or March, so we didn’t have much time to advertise. It’s going to be a group of about seven or eight people in the PhD program. The program is very demanding, and it’s not designed for profit—the tuition fees are at a break-even level. But it matters to us for different reasons beyond just tuition fees.

We are still focusing heavily on our MBA program, with a newly redesigned version being offered in Madrid for the first time.

Finally, although it’s more of a long-term plan, we are thinking of growing internationally. Apart from our campuses in Malta, Barcelona, and Madrid, we may consider expanding to Dubai one day. My experience there could be helpful.

You mentioned the launch of your revamped MBA. What is new about it, and what do you believe makes it special?

Last year, the MBA was redesigned because the previous one was a typical MBA. By nature, MBAs are offered to people from different walks of life who, for instance, got promoted to a managerial position and suddenly need to know a bit about finance, accounting, marketing, etc. So the previous program was traditional in that sense.

The new MBA still includes all these major components because that’s what MBAs are for—like, say, for a doctor who suddenly became the director of a hospital. They still need this basic knowledge about different functionalities of the business. However, we added a couple of tracks to keep track of current changes in the business world.

For example, we have three new courses: one called Artificial Intelligence in the Future, another on Sustainability and Governance, and one more on Consumer Experience in the Digital Environment. This is our attempt to stay current with what’s happening in the business world.

Additionally, there’s a project management class that functions more like a consulting project done in conjunction with industry partners. This allows students to work directly with companies on real-world projects.

 

NEXT PAGE: What sets the GBSB Global MBA apart? + Plans for executive education and undergrad programs