Hello. As the dust settles on our EMBA ranking, we invite readers to discuss our latest efforts to analyse more deeply one aspect: academic research. Measuring ultimate impact is almost impossible given the indirect, opaque and complex routes from ideas to practice.

One assessment we have been building, working with the leading publishers, is the contributions by business schools to cases that are widely used by their peers.

There are also growing ways we explore to track academic articles cited by practitioner publications and to see which business schools receive external grants.

We are particularly interested in understanding which publications we should consider to assess writing by academics focused on issues relevant to and read widely by practitioners. Send us your thoughts by hitting reply to this email.

• A new analysis by the consultancy Full Fabric highlights differences in yield to different business degrees. EMBAs may be under pressure, but the fees and likelihood that applicants ultimately take up their places mean they remain highly attractive to business schools.

  
  

Faculty: Check out our latest business school debates and teaching case series.

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From the FT

Degree apprenticeships plateau as employers confront increased hiring costs. Companies blame red tape and increased minimum wage regulation for cutting back on earn-as-you-learn opportunities for young people.

Business school teaching case study: Balancing AI capability and control in cyber defence. OpenAI agent’s escape from a test environment and its hack of Hugging Face are ringing alarm bells for businesses.

Tougher competition for internships strains UK graduate jobs market. Applications for summer internships rise 27 per cent as students face ‘day zero’ fight to get ahead in an increasingly automated recruitment process.

Two economists and professors who transformed crisis management win Nobel Prize. Robert E Hall of Stanford University and Columbia University’s Michael Woodford helped central banks respond to 2008 financial turmoil.

US university offers cut-price British degree for international students. Arizona State University aims to expand to up to 4,000 students in Britain in the coming years.

What if AI prefers CVs written by AI? The signs are that it does and one law firm’s experience is revealing.

Professor insights

Are your clothing labels lying to you? Consumer frustration over misleading product descriptions is growing, with mislabelled fibre content becoming a new source of mistrust.

Ken Pucker, professor at Tufts University and former Timberland chief operating officer, says that the clothing industry is “notoriously ill-equipped to map the details of its supply chain”. These chains are multi-tiered, going from production of the raw materials all the way to the finishing processes. In almost every case, says Pucker, each tier is an independent entity. 

Data line

The increasing influence of AI in different aspects of life is also noticeable in business education research.

Over the past five years, the number of articles published by faculty members from institutions that participated in the FT’s EMBA ranking has nearly tripled and doubled in the last two years alone. This year, eight per cent of the published articles included mentions of AI or related topics in their abstracts.

Research round-up

Global trade growth accelerates. Research by New York University’s Stern School of Business and DHL found that demand for AI-related technology is driving trade growth despite higher tariffs and geopolitical tensions.

Do more women in top jobs affect progress on gender equality? Germany’s WHU — Otto Beisheim School of Management found that female representation in other management roles grew more slowly, on average, after companies appointed women to C-level roles.

The espresso pot test of Italian capitalism. It can be difficult to run companies around the Sunday lunch table.

Business school news

London Interdisciplinary School joins EMLyon. The move reinforces the French school’s ambition to build a global management and tech university.

Emory’s Goizueta in the US launches Center for AI in Finance. The centre aims to advance research, education and industry collaboration, with plans to host an annual conference.

Aalto and Bocconi to launch a double degree in strategic and creative marketing. Starting in 2027, the two-year course will enable students to earn two master's degrees from the Finnish and Italian business schools.

IIM-Lucknow launches MBA in Family Business. The two-year course offered by the Indian school is for business owners and next-generation leaders of family enterprises.

Maryland’s Smith School of Business unveils AI-driven MSc in Marketing. The one-year course will launch in 2027 for early-career professionals interested in creating value for brands and organisations.

FT Live

Money in a new order. Find out how money is safeguarded, transferred and tokenised in a digital financial system in this hybrid event on October 28 in Singapore.

Why isn’t AI delivering ROI in Asia-Pacific? Explore why some organisations derive value from AI investment while others struggle in this webinar on October 29.

Business School Insider is written by Wai Kwen Chan, Sam Stephens, Leo Cremonezi and Andrew Jack, and edited by Jonathan Moules.