• Posted on 6 Jul 2026

UTS Business School continued to build its international profile this year, with Professor Carl Rhodes invited to deliver an opening plenary keynote at the 2026 EFMD Annual Conference in Seville one of the world's leading forums for business school leaders, accreditation bodies and industry to debate the future of management education.

EFMD is a global, non-profit, membership-driven organisation dedicated to management development recognised globally as a top accreditation body for business schools worldwide. 

Professor Rhodes shared the opening plenary with Ana Callol from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, reflecting the conference's emphasis on genuine dialogue between academia and industry on what management education should ultimately be for. With 23 years experience in key global and regional leadership roles in marketing, sales, and sustainability Callol focused her portion of the address on the capacity for graduates to make decisions under pressure and empahsised the importance of pairing judgement with technical knowledge. 

Rhodes argued that business schools can no longer present themselves as politically neutral institutions. Drawing together history, politics, public trust and the future of management education, he asked what it would mean for business schools to become more democratic in their purpose, teaching and public contribution.

What should management education stand for?

Rhodes pointed to recent attacks on universities by US Vice President JD Vance and Australian Senator Pauline Hanson as evidence of a shifting climate, in which institutions once seen as neutral, education and research-focused are increasingly recast as elitist, ideologically driven or disconnected from ordinary people.

Historically, business schools have sought to position themselves as pragmatic and above politics. Rhodes argued that this position is no longer sustainable, and that confronting this fact is central to the challenge now facing management education. His central point was that the question is not whether business schools are political, but how they choose to engage with that reality, a message that resonated strongly across a conference shaped by recurring themes of judgement, responsibility, purpose and the human dimensions of leadership.

A good business school is a democratic business school: one that sustains debate, generates trustworthy knowledge, and educates citizens as well as professionals. The panel called on business schools to think more deeply about democratic responsibility including how they engage students, how democratic values are reflected in curriculum and pedagogy, and who is enabled to enter the classroom.

The central problem facing business schools today is not simply one of academic rigour or managerial relevance. It is political. And unless business schools recognise that reality, we risk becoming increasingly fragile, increasingly mistrusted, and increasingly irrelevant.

Carl Rhodes, Professor of Business and Society

The Good Business School

The keynote drew on themes from The Good Business School: The Political Imperative of Management in the 21st Century, Rhodes's forthcoming book co-authored with Alison Pullen. The book argues that business schools cannot hide behind technocratic or scholarly neutrality, and calls for a democratically engaged business school grounded in public value, intellectual pluralism and shared prosperity.

As business schools navigate questions of public trust, artificial intelligence, climate change, inequality and the role of expertise, the message from Seville was clear: business education can no longer be defined only by employability, rankings or technical skill. It must also help students develop judgement, ethical reasoning and the confidence to make decisions in uncertain conditions.

Left of screen, a large blue graphic reads Welcome to UTS Business School. On the right-hand side of the screen, it shows a brightly lit interior classroom with four students seated facing a male lecturer who is gesturing for them to hold up a post-it note.

Linda Tingey: UTS is amazing. The change that you undergo when you leave is the mindset you have. I came out of UTS a different person to when I went in.

Sara Denize: I’d like to pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of the land on which our Business School stands. I’d like to pay respects to elders past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians for this place.

Welcome to the UTS Business School. We’re a different type of Business School.

We’re focused on developing and sharing knowledge for an innovative, sustainable, prosperous economy in a fairer world. By taking an unconventional approach to business education, we give you a practical foundation for your career that provides the skills and mindset needed to solve the challenges of tomorrow.

Our programmes and research bring intellectual rigour, industry input and creative problem solving together to enable businesses to thrive and shape a better future.

Katie Schlenker: As a globally accredited Business School, we are committed to educating students from Australia and around the world to be career ready, innovative, tech savvy and socially responsible. Students can expect to solve real world challenges, meet industry guest lecturers and get hands on with interactive learning that helps them emerge as resilient and ready for their career in a dynamic business landscape.

Anurag Hingorani: The Bachelor of Business is our most flexible, professionally focused programme yet. Developed and delivered in partnership with business leaders, it will prepare you to become a confident, ethical and highly skilled professional in any sector you choose.

James Wakefield: At UTS you won’t just learn business theory, you also gain practical hands on skills that allow you to navigate complex business challenges and drive innovation across any sector you work in.

Maud Dumont: My name is Maud Dumont. I work at the NSW Department of Climate Change, the Environment, Energy and Water. My background is in neuroscience, and with my MBA I was able to bridge all the finance people with the research teams.

I really wanted to have a positive impact on society and I felt doing business, being maybe in a position with a bit more power, you have a bigger voice and you can make bigger change to society in a good way.

Ester Felez Vinas: UTS helps students align with the latest industry trends and innovation through exposing them to practitioners who are dealing with these issues on a day to day basis.

What’s different with us is we’ve really brought social impact to the very heart of everything we do. Our research is focused on things like Indigenous employment, healthy ageing, climate and disability work to embed a positive impact on society, not just now but also through education for future generations as our graduates leave here and go out into the world of work.

Technology powers your learning. At UTS, our industry shaped programmes have data, AI and innovation at the centre so that you can solve real problems with real tools right here on the doorstep of Tech Central.

An example of this is our partnership with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, which is aiming to transform the foundations of our financial system by using technologies like blockchain to redefine who can invest, what can be traded and how markets operate.

Sara Denize: At the UTS Business School, we have built an intersection of world class education, collaborative research and deep industry partnerships to create graduates who thrive on innovation and who are inspired to make a positive impact on business and society.

Connecting to a global network

Professor Rhodes's participation at the EFMD Annual Conference demonstrates UTS Business School's active engagement with the international business education community. Through participation in global forums, international research collaborations and strategic partnerships, the Faculty contributes to shaping contemporary debates while bringing international perspectives back into its teaching, research and engagement activities.

Rhodes closed his address by noting that public trust is weakening, populism is rising, and universities are increasingly drawn into conflicts over inequality, identity, expertise, democracy and power. Yet many business schools continue to behave as though nothing has changed, remaining focused solely on relevance and academic rigour. He challenged conference attendees to sit with harder questions:

He challenged conference attendees to sit with harder questions:

  • What are we actually for?
  • What kinds of economies do we legitimate?
  • What kinds of leaders do we produce?
  • What responsibilities do we carry at a moment when democracy itself is under growing strain?

Carl Rhodes's role in this global conversation reflects UTS Business School's ongoing commitment to responsible management education and its contribution to shaping the future of business education on the international stage. 

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Carl Rhodes

Carl Rhodes

Professor, Business School

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