B
4
L
E
A
D
Karthik Ramanna, guest speaker at the launch of Oxfordshire Voice at Blavatnik School of Government
The Blavatnik School of Government’s MPP (Master in Public Policy) ‘The MPP is our flagship programme here at the Blavatnik School, and I think there are three things that make this programme distinctive. The first is that the 120 individuals that are part of the MPP each year represent approximately 60 different countries, so this is a programme that is tremendously diverse geographically. The students have very different experiences and they come with very different cultural perspectives. That creates an incredible opportunity for teaching and learning. ‘The second point is that we made a very deliberate decision not to segment the programme by experience. This means that we have individuals that are at the early part of their careers, perhaps in their early 20’s, and we have individuals that are ‘deeply seasoned’…they might be ministers in their home countries, senior civil servants, or leaders from the private or not-for-profit sectors. We think there is great value in this inter-generational learning, not just for people early in their careers to learn from those who are seasoned, but also vice-versa. ‘The third point of distinction is that, although we are part of a nine-hundred-year-old institution, we are one of the newest parts of the University, so we like to think that we have an entrepreneurial or ‘start up’ mind set. One of the things we do is put the students in the driving seat and allow them to play a huge part in determining what their teaching and learning experience looks like. The kinds
of individuals that self-select and thrive in an environment like the Oxford MPP are those who are committed to rolling up their sleeves and solving problems – that entrepreneurial mind set, the sort that your members would very much empathise with and appreciate.’
Aspirations for the school, Oxford and Oxfordshire and the wider world? ‘The number one thing that I would hope that we as a school and, of course, the world as a whole is able to achieve in five years is restoring a sense of civility to public life. We talked about the erosion of trust between elites and the governed over the course of the last four decades. The lack of civility in public discourse is certainly not going to help us solve that problem. So, although we might not come up with the grand solutions to issues like structural migration, income inequality or climate change within five years, what we must do is restore a sense of civility in public life, because with that, anything is possible.’
careers@bsg.ox.ac.uk 01865 614 343 www.bsg.ox.ac.uk
To see the Karthik Ramanna and Richard Rosser interview video, scan the QR with your mobile or see: www.youtube.com/ user/b4businesstv/videos
WWW.B4-BUSINESS.COM
ABOUT KARTHIK RAMANNA Karthik Ramanna is Professor of Business & Public Policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and a fellow of St. John’s College. An expert on corporate-government relations, sustainable capitalism, and corporate reporting, Professor Ramanna has studied how organizations build trust with stakeholders and the role of business in designing sensible and responsible “rules of the game.” He has authored dozens of research articles and case studies on non-market strategies in Africa, China, the EU, India, and the US, and he has consulted with several leading professional-service organizations worldwide. His scholarship has won numerous awards, including the Journal of Accounting & Economics Best Paper Prize and the international Case Centre’s Outstanding Case-Writer prize, dubbed by the Financial Times as “the business school Oscars.” At Oxford, Professor Ramanna is director of the Master in Public Policy programme, the Case Centre for Public Leadership, and the Transformational Leadership Fellowship (a bespoke, by-invitation, part-time programme for senior corporate executives considering a second career in public service). Previously, Professor Ramanna taught leadership, corporate governance, and accounting at the Harvard Business School. He has a doctorate from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
23