University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Capstone Projects Capstones 2017 Building Resilience in MBA Students: Bouncing Back and Forward through Challenges Denitsa Marinova University of Pennsylvania,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Training and Development Commons, and the University Extension Commons Marinova, Denitsa, "Building Resilience in MBA Students: Bouncing Back and Forward through Challenges" (2017). Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Capstone Projects. 119. https://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/119 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/119 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Building Resilience in MBA Students: Bouncing Back and Forward through Challenges Abstract The raison d'être for MBA programs is to prepare students to lead and manage effectively in the real world. An overview of the unique challenges awaiting MBAs, however, reveals a blind spot in business education: It doesn’t necessarily prepare MBA students to operate effectively in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world of today. This paper suggests that resilience training can help fill the oidv by enhancing the capacity of MBAs to bounce back and forward through and despite adversity. The objective of the paper is to propose a conceptual design of an evidence-based, relevant, and applicable Resilience Training Program for MBA students, building on research and practice in positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship. The proposed program seeks to enhance MBAs’ individual resilience from a 3-dimensional perspective of protecting, promoting, and sustaining mental health and well-being.