Global Development Specialization
Global Development Specialization
Doctoral Achievement Program
Technological and environmental change is disrupting our economies and changing the nature of our globalized world in ways that are both unpredictable and complex. For example, we will witness more technological change over the next decade than in the past 50 years. For those for whom dealing with this challenge is a passion, the Doctoral Achievement Program has created an innovative specialization titled Global Development. The program has four foundational elements:
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
World Economic Forum Strategic Elements
Research and Practice
Business as an Agent of World Benefit
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
No
Poverty
Zero
Hunger
Good Health
&
Well-Being
Quality Education
Gender
Equality
Clean Water
& Sanitation
Affordable
& Clean Energy
Decent Work &
Economic Growth
Industry,
Innovation,
&
Infrastructure
Reduce
Inequalities
Sustainable
Cities &
Communites
Responsible
Consumption &
Production
Climate
Action
Life Below
Water
Life on Land
Peace,
Justice, & Strong
Institutions
Partnership
For the
Goals
The World Economic Forum Strategic Elements
Candidates pursuing the Global Development specialization will rely on original research and the wealth of available materials from the World Economic Forum (Forum).
The World Economic Forum, located in Geneva, Switzerland, is an international organization for public-private cooperation committed to improving the world in ways that are objective, measurable, and sustainable. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
The Forum believes that the world is an interconnected system straining under the burden of its own complexity. It strives to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Its key elements are:
-
Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution
-
Solving the Problems of the Global Commons
-
Addressing Global Security Issues
Solving the Problems of the Global Commons
Addressing Global
Security Issues
Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Design of the Global Development Specialization - Research & Practice
An example of how this would work in practice with the Doctoral Achievement Program is the following:
First, you would identify a global Issue from those available from the World Economic Forum (WEA). For example, you could identify an issue related to education and skills. As you can see in the illustration below it identifies three elements: the global issue; it’s key areas (and you might add some here as a result of your study); and from a systems perspective the other global issues with which it is interdependent.
Next, you would then use the materials available through the World Economic Forum (See the chart at the end of the universe for Forum Issues) to further define the problem.
Finally, you would generate other materials related to the issue and add these to your literature review.
On the basis of these three steps you would develop a problem statement of the issue you wish to study, then proceed through the Doctoral Achievement Program dissertation approach.
Each of the (60) global issue packages of materials have been created by a world-renowned university or the WEA.
Example of Key area: Education & Skills
Private
Investors
Sustainable
Development
Civic
Participation
Youth
Perspectives
Future of
Computing
Values
Migration
Education
and
Skills
Entrepreneurship
Social
Innovation
Human
Rights
Aging
Gender
Parity
Virtual/
Augmented
Reality
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Behavioral
Sciences
Future of Economic
Progress
Public Finance & Social Protection
Digital Economy & Society
Development
Finance
Innovation
Education
Innovation
Digital Fluency/STEM Skills
Relevant Specialized Education
Lifelong Learning
Pathways
Quality Basic Education
21st Century Curricula
Global Issue
Key Areas
Issues with which it is interdependent
Summary of a Global Issue: Education and Skills
Technological innovation is fundamentally transforming education and updating the skills required for the contemporary workplace. Building future-ready (and pandemic-proof) education systems require designing curricula fit for the 21st century, coupled with the consistent delivery of a basic education for everyone. This builds a solid foundation for a lifetime of adapting and developing new abilities. Specialized education should focus in particular on in-demand skills and address the disconnect between employer needs and existing instruction.
Key Issue: Lifelong Learning Pathways Quality Basic Education21st Century
The Forum website contains a set of materials with which you can begin to do your research in this key area. It includes such specific titles as:
-
Lifelong Learning Pathways
-
Quality Basic Education 21st Century
-
Curricula Relevant Specialized Education
-
Digital, Fluency and STEM Skills Education Innovation
-
Publications, Videos, Data, and Articles.
Business as an Agent of World Benefit
Business as an Agent of World Benefit (BAWB) is a concept initiated by the Fowler Center for Business as an agent of World Benefit at Case Western Reserve University. It seeks to imagine a world in which the primary aim of business is to create wellbeing, happiness, and wholeness. As the founder of the Fowler Center, Chuck Fowler, stated “doing good and doing well are totally and mutually reinforcing, and sustainability provides an overarching ideal and storehouse of leadership tools to make it so” (Fowler Center, n.d., para. 2). Business as an agent of World Benefit redefines the purpose of a company to that of creating shared value. It complements the specialization and the Forum materials
Kendall, Van Esch, and Delbecq (2017) comment: “The lens of meaningful organizations is ontologically different from the normative view of business organizations as an economic entity that primarily serves the fiduciary interests of shareholders. The BAWB concept argues that business should play an integral role as an “agent of world benefit,” to be part of the solution for the betterment of our institutions, our society, and our world.”