The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to propose a new metaphor, student‐as‐aspirant, which captures well the educational role of students, professors, and business schools. Second, to develop the strategic implications of this metaphor for the management of business schools.
A thorough review of relevant literature is conducted and the underlying assumptions of previously suggested metaphors are exposed and challenged. The new metaphor has subsequently been developed based on a broader typology of business offerings.
The paper shows that the extant metaphors are inappropriate for they misrepresent the nature of learning as the core of business schools' offerings to their students. It concludes with the advantages of the student‐as‐aspirant metaphor.
Limitations are centred on the difficulties faced by students, professors, and business schools in adopting the metaphor.
The metaphor has strategic implications ranging from stakeholders' expectations, to governance, structure, and strategy of business schools.
The paper is the first to use a typology of four distinct business offerings to propose a new metaphor that sensibly flows from the nature of the transformative learning as the core offering of business schools.
