MBA: Business Leadership After COVID
Several economic trends have roiled the business world landscape post-COVID-19. While businesses continue to deal with pre-pandemic issues such as disruptive technology and increased global competition, a series of events have stacked their managerial plates with even more.
For example, business managers and leaders today must develop skills and strategies that address the increased competition in hiring talent, trim costs in response to inflationary pressures, manage a remote workforce, and brace for a possible recession.
It’s a tall order. That’s why boards and top executives often give more consideration to candidates with a Master of Business Administration degree for top leadership positions. They know these prospects have a strong foundation in proven business strategies and management techniques.
The Evolution of Business Leadership After COVID
Business leaders post-COVID must deal with a “new business normal.” The components of this new normal include the pandemic’s impact on the traditional organizational structures upon which businesses are built.
The Harvard Business Review recently compiled a list of changes to the business world that organizations must navigate in the coming years. One of the chief business leadership challenges is “quiet hiring,” the antithesis of the “quiet quitting” trend of 2022. The latter involves employees only doing enough to meet the minimum requirements for their job. The former involves management placing people into the areas of biggest organizational need where they will have the most impact.
In this way, managers can “acquire new skills and capabilities without adding new full-time employees,” according to HBR. Companies compensate people for the extra work with one-time bonuses, raises, additional time off, promotions, and greater job flexibility.
Flexibility will remain an issue as people continue to enjoy remote and hybrid work models. Some of the industries with the most remote or hybrid workers include information, professional business services, educational services, wholesale trade, and financial activities.
Efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion will continue, although HBR noted that employee pushback will force employers to improve their DEI efforts. Other trends include the continued shift to online business models as consumers increasingly make purchasing decisions online and use app-based delivery systems.
Managing these trends requires a new recipe for modern business leadership skills.
Skills Needed for Business Leadership After COVID
In a rapidly evolving environment, business leadership after COVID encompasses a range of skills needed to successfully handle unprecedented business challenges.
- Adaptability. The ability to lead in a constantly changing and evolving workplace.
- Emotional intelligence. Understanding and empathizing with employees and their wants and worries.
- Strategic thinking. The ability to think strategically and make data-driven decisions.
- Technological proficiency. Understanding how technology enhances corporate processes and promotes innovation.
- Collaboration and networking. Working well with others and creating strong networks.
- Continuous learning. Developing skills over the course of a career to meet changing business needs.
Resilience is also crucial, particularly during challenging times. The ability to bounce back and overcome obstacles is more highly valued than ever, as are leaders who maintain a positive attitude while focusing on goals and finding creative solutions to challenges.
The Touro University Worldwide MBA Programs
The MBA program at Touro University Worldwide teaches students the skills they need to lead organizations through demanding times. The 100% online MBA program provides working professionals the flexibility to earn their graduate degree while working a full-time job. The program does not require applicants to take the GRE.
Scholar-practitioners created the curriculum and teach the courses. The program covers essential topics like professional communications, management across cultures, ethics, strategy and planning, and organizational behavior.
The MBA program offers students 11 tracks to choose from, including accounting, artificial intelligence (AI) management, cybersecurity management, finance, global management, health administration management, human resources management, information technology (IT) management, marketing, nonprofit management, and physicians and healthcare executives.