Between March 19th and 21st, Católica Porto Business School hosted the international conference "MBA under tension: Leading through continuous turmoil" by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). During three days, there was an opportunity to reflect on and debate the current advances and challenges these programs face. And also to discuss topics such as geopolitical tensions, the challenges and opportunities of the GPT Chat, the possible use of the Metaverse, and how the MBA can protect a professional's career, among other topics.

Rui Soucasaux Sousa, director of the Católica Porto Business School, attended the opening session, and Friedemann Schulze-Fielitz, director of Business School Services at EFMD. There was room to hear contributions from companies: the panel "Feedback from the corporate world" was attended by Marta Cunha, director of Transformation at SONAE, and Luis Marques, member of the Board of Directors at Rangel and director of the MBA at Católica Porto Business School. On the last day, the conference was closed by Vanina Farber, professor of Social Innovation and dean of the Executive MBA program at IMD (Executive MBA of the International Institute for Management Development).

For Rui Soucasaux Sousa, director of Católica Porto Business School, "it is essential for Católica Porto Business School to be at the forefront of reflecting on the present and future of MBAs, together with the European Foundation for Management Development." Luís Marques, director of the Executive MBA at Católica Porto Business School, says, "we live in a world in constant change, where issues such as geopolitics and artificial intelligence influence the daily lives of professionals and organizations, so being able to contribute to a possible paradigm shift in MBAs actively is a unique opportunity."

Among the 20 countries represented, the conference had participants from the United States, Japan, Canada, South Africa, Lebanon, Egypt, Finland, Croatia, etc. 

EFMD is the entity that manages the EQUIS system, which is one of the leading international systems for evaluation, improvement and quality accreditation of business schools, a local group to which Católica Porto Business School belongs.