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PLAYER PHOTOS: ©AFP 2001 Fantasy baseball leagues allow millions of participants to become fiction- al owners of a baseball team. At the start of each season, the "owner" assembles his best squad by bidding against others in the league for real major league players. As play progresses through the season, the owner wheels and deals, making changes in his roster. All owners play with the same bankroll, which is usually 260 units to spend on 23 players. Standings are based on the cumulative statistics of each team's players in eight categories, such as RBIs and ERA. At the end of the season, winners are crowned. By John Fernandes leisure time has been devoted to managing a fantasy baseball team. It has occurred to me that parallels exist between the two, and that managing the future of business schools may have some uncanny relevance to the lessons of baseball. Like effective business schools, winning baseball teams are I n some circles, ERAs and RBIs might seem leagues away from GMATs and MBAs. During the past months, however, at the same time I've explored and reflected on the future of business schools and AACSB's role in shaping that future, some of my trends. In fact, the ability to make strategic assessments with regard to what's going to happen next and what the implications might be—plus knowing when and how to act on that appraisal —may be the nucleus of baseball and business school success. built on much more than intuition. High achievement requires an understanding of the intricacies of the game; knowledge of the competitive environment; and anticipation of needs and Predicting the Future Imagining the future based only on what we personally observe and experience is dangerous and unreliable. We need to find ways to tap into other sources. One of the strengths of AACSB International is the collec- tive power and knowledge of our membership. Valuable data from our schools, along with information and insights from an array of other sources, help to illuminate the future and lead BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 49 Barry Bonds Ichiro Suzuki Derek Jeter