Vision 2030 and Strategic Plan 2021-2025
In November 2020, Bocconi launched its Vision 2030 and the Strategic Plan 2021-2025, outlining its strategic direction for the 2020-2030 decade. This was done amid the global COVID-19 pandemic and widespread uncertainties about the future.
The development of Vision 2030 was a collaborative effort, with data and supporting analyses widely shared with key stakeholders (University Board, International Advisory Council, Faculty and Staff members, student representatives, Bocconi Alumni Community Board, Development Committee).
Their valuable contributions allowed for:
- An outline of the economic and demographic landscape Bocconi will face from 2020 to 2030 focusing on major global trends, labor market prospects and the challenges and opportunities of the increasingly competitive higher education sector. The first part of the document “Vision 2030 & Strategic Plan 2025” presents this analysis.
- The identification of six strategic objectives to shape the future of Bocconi:
Since its foundation, Bocconi University has strongly valued its independence and freedom from any political and economic power. Always proud of its Italian roots, Bocconi is already one of the leading European universities in the social sciences.
Our ambition for the next decade is to consolidate our positioning in Europe and assume a role among the world leaders in our academic domains.
Our vision of the social sciences is expanding and will progressively expand to include those disciplines, such as data science / computer science and cognitive science, which are now fundamental tools for understanding and addressing the great challenges of our times within a multidisciplinary framework
The progress of knowledge, through cutting-edge, rigorous and relevant research, is the primary purpose of any university of excellence.
With the aim of becoming the leading university of social sciences in continental Europe by 2030, Bocconi will integrate research into all its activities, mainly by recognizing the central role of teachers and researchers engaged in advancing knowledge. Consequently, it should continue attracting the best students and important takeholders (companies, donors, etc.), thus contributing to the University's performance in international rankings.
Bocconi intends to proceed with the development of an extraordinary learning experience, from university courses to executive education. The ability to have such a multidimensional offer - undergraduate, graduate, PhD, MBA and Executive -, fueled by rigorous and relevant research, represents a cornerstone of Bocconi's value proposition.
An increasingly solid teaching model, which integrates innovative methods and technologies, will be the goal for the coming years. An objective that will allow students to understand and elaborate theories and, at the same time, to apply knowledge and use critical thinking to solve problems, profitably transferring the knowledge and experiences acquired in the classroom into everyday life.
In a context dominated by the growing competition among universities in attracting the best students / teachers and resources in general, and firmly believing in the mission of guaranteeing the right to study to capable and deserving, regardless of income, universities are increasingly relying on individuals and companies to collect and increase the funds necessary to fulfill their mission: to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the training of future generations of citizens.
In the coming years, Bocconi University will aim to further strengthen the already solid bond with its stakeholders. The world of businesses and institutions, first of all. And then the extraordinary network of over 120,000 Alumni in 158 countries around the world.
Universities are no longer ivory towers: they are, on the contrary, open and dynamic organizations, where people work together to build a better future by nurturing new ideas, acquiring and sharing knowledge and enriching their experiences.
In this context, Bocconi is committed, and will be increasingly so in the future, to pursuing its main research and training objectives in an environment (physical and intellectual) in which everyone - students, teachers, staff - they receive and offer others equal opportunities, dignity and treatment, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, age and economic status.
Being inclusive and sustainable, living in a secure physical and virtual space, will be the commitment of our entire community in the coming years.
Understanding the trends that lead to innovation has become a fundamental requirement for any student in the social sciences.
For the same reasons, developing an entrepreneurial mindset - open to new ideas and challenges, flexible, proactive - is a resource not only for aspiring entrepreneurs, but for anyone approaching the job market now and even more in the years to come.
Consistent with this framework and its expected evolution, by 2030 Bocconi aims to create a fertile ground for innovation and entrepreneurship, developing and matching individual talent with skills.
Following the creation of Vision 2030, working groups were established to define policy guidelines for 2021-2025, including operational objectives, targets, and actions to achieve them.
In 2023, Bocconi's Governance conducted a mid-term evaluation of the Strategic Plan’s implementation to assess progress made and make adjustments in the post-pandemic context. Similar to 2020, this evaluation involved working groups defined on the basis of the strategic objectives.
The evaluation confirmed the relevance of the strategic objectives, as well as most operational objectives and their associated targets. The planned actions were generally executed as intended, and only in a few cases – primarily due to external changes – was it necessary to revise the operational objectives, related actions, and/or timeline, as highlighted in the updated Section 5 of the document “Vision 2030 & Strategic Plan 2025”.
The “monitoring and update” document for the Plan was approved by the University Board at its meeting on 22 April 2024.