t has been a long time coming,butthose responsible for developing to-d - PDF document

t has been a long time coming,butthose r
t has been a long time coming,butthose responsible for developing to-dayÕs and tomorrowÕs managers arebeginning to wake up to the need toeducate them about sustainability.Even now,only a minority ofbusinessschools are taking sustainable develop-ment seriously.Most are still preoccupiedwith old notions ofÞnance,marketing,strategy and the other traditional sub-jects,without seeing that sustainabledevelopment affects all those subjects.Progress has been painfully slow forreasons that mimic the difÞculties manycompanies have had in dealing with sus-tainable development.First,the nature ofacademia makes ithard to introduce new concepts that arenot subject-speciÞc.It would have beeneasier ifsustainability was clearly locatedin marketing,Þnance or economics.Second,the environmental connec-tion means that for many educators thiswas seen as a matter oftechnology,whichis not high on most business school agen-das.Universities strong in technologyhave taught environmental aspects foryears,but even those that have an excel-lent record in environmental manage-ment (such as LondonÕs Imperial Col-lege) have been slow to integratesustainability.he International Institute for Indus-trial Environment Economics atLund University in Sweden demonstrateshow thinking is changing.It says the de-mand for knowledge and experience hasshifted from production to new systemsand strategies for production and con-sumption:ÒPreventative approachestherefore require new forms ofanalysis,multidisciplinary interaction and inno-vative and creative visions able to expandthe range offuture possibilities.ÓIt is not that educationists have beenblind to the issues.As long ago as 1990,Jean Mayer,then president ofMassa-chusetts-based Tufts University,con-vened 22 university chancellors inTalloires,France,with the aim ofstimu-lating institutions to help create a sus-tainable future.They produced the Tal-loires Declaration,a 10-point plan forsustainable education,and noted the im-portance ofincreasing environmental lit-eracy among specialists in managementas well as engineering,science,econom-ics,social sciences and health.The declaration has since been signedby almost 300 institutions around theworld,ranging from the Universidad deBelgrano in Buenos Aires to the Univer-sity ofZimbabwe in Harare.Interesting-ly,Latin America provides more signato-ries (more than 100) than any othercontinent,although North America isclose behind with just short of100.How-ever,the list does not include any oftheleading business schools in North Amer-ica or Europe.evelopments in sustainability edu-cation have since accelerated.Ac-cording to a joint study by the Aspen In-stitute and the World Resources Institute(WRI),ÒBeyond Grey Pinstripes,Ótherehas been a surge ofactivity since the Þrststudy was done in 1998 to track thegrowth ofsocial and environmental is-sues in management education.For ex-ample,in the US about eight schools haveappointed professors in sustainable en-terprise.They include the University ofMichigan,Cornell University,North-western,MIT and the University ofCali-fornia.In the executive education Þeld,Case Western Reserve University has be-gun an executive program with theWeatherhead Institute for SustainableEnterprise.Several sustainable businesscenters and research programs have alsobeen launched in the last few years:¥ In Costa Rica,the Instituto Centroaugust 2002OF THE GREEDY MANAGERSVisionary business schoolsrealize the importance ofdeveloping a new generationofMBA graduates who careabout sustainability.BYROGERCOWESUSTAINABILITY ATSchool at the University of NorthCarolina has built sustainabilityinto its MBA program because itcore strategy course introducessocial and environmental businessElectives are available in therequired course covers the naturerequires students to developof environmental managementand social performance.Subsequently, students musttake three electives from 21offered by the center and othersavailable from other departments.The options cover environmentalmanagement, urban reinvestment,and nonproÞt marketing as well asbusiness sustainability strategy,Students from Kenan-Flagler BusinessSchool participating in CommunityService Day activities.UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINAÐCHAPEL HILLTHE NEXT GENERATIONaugust 2002august 2002Americano de Administraci—n de Em-presas has launched the Latin AmericanCenter for Competitiveness and Sustain-able Development.¥ The Indonesian Institute for Man-agement and Development has launcheda Center for Corporate Governance andEmpowerment.¥ The Brazilian School ofPublic and Business Ad-ministration at the Fun-daao Getulio Vargas estab-lished the InternationalCenter for Sustainable De-velopment.¥ In France,INSEADÕsCenter for Management ofEnvironmental Resourcesties together global policyand industrial ecology withcorporate strategy and sus-tainable operations man-¥ The Korea AdvancedInstitute ofScience andTe

chnology offers a ÒgreenÓMBA focused o
chnology offers a ÒgreenÓMBA focused on environ-tions,and on negotiationstrategies and internationaltreaty arrangements.Despite the upwardtrend,40 schools that re-sponded to the survey saidthey do virtually nothingon sustainability,while aquarter ofthe rest were un-able to demonstrate thatsocial impact was covered at all in thecore curriculum.he Aspen report commented:ÒTheissues tend to be captured in electivecourses,or in volunteer and philanthrop-ic activities,rather than in central busi-ness disciplines such as accounting,mar-keting and Þnance.ÓJudy Samuelson,director ofthe AspenInitiative for Social Innovation throughBusiness,says there are two discon-nectsÑbetween students and faculty,and between business and students.ÒThere is a strong demonstration ofstudent demand but very real con-straints on business faculty moving thisinto mainstream courses.And whatevercompanies say,in the privacy ofthe in-terview room,social impact manage-ment is not part ofthe decision on whowill work for the company.ÓShe says research funding is a key tograbbing the attention ofstrategy,fi-nance and marketing academics,but shepoints out that this is a good time to betargeting such people,in the wake ofSep-tember 11 and scandals such as Enronand WorldCom.The Aspen/WRI study has identiÞedthree schools that are ahead ofthe gamein integrating sustainability (see sidebaron P.52).They are Kenan-Flagler Business School,University ofNorth Car-olina at Chapel Hill;Schulich School ofBusi-ness,York University,Toronto;and the Asian In-stitute ofManagement(AIM),Manila.Although most oftheleading universities rankedby Aspen/WRI are USones,there are severalpromising institutions inother parts ofthe world,including AIM,HongKong Polytechnic Univer-sity and EGADE in Mexi-co.duardo Morato Jr,dean ofAIM,explainsthe approach that has ledthe school to open theAsian Center for Corpo-rate Social Responsibility:ÒWe have made a commit-ment to integrate sustain-ability and social impactmanagement as part ofourcore Master in BusinessManagement and Master in Manage-ment programs because these considera-arena ofbusiness decision-making.ÓIn Mexico,EGADE offers 40 graduatecourses with social and environmentalcontent,as well as majors in strategy andpublic policy management,plus sustain-ability and corporate strategy,offeredEUROPEAN The European Academy of Busi-INSEADBusiness School intransforming business education.late substantial authoritative re-search on the business case forcorporate social responsibility(CSR) and broader sustainabilityutive programs at businesstion at universities throughout Eu-rope. The Academy aims to recruitEuropeÕs top 250 academic insti-Gilbert Lenssen, a former execu-tive at the British oil group BP,who is now a professor at the Col-lege of Europe in Belgium and Lei-Lenssen dismisses existing re-search as completely inadequatebut says the Academy presents aÒhistoric opportunityÓ to harvestmorrowÕs managers. The Academy has been createdby CSR Europe and the Copen-hagen Centre as a network of aca-and CranÞeld from the UK, Esadefrom Spain, the Belgian manage-the College of Europe, as well asINSEAD. Corporate supporters in-clude Volkswagen, Shell, LeviÕsjointly with the University ofCaliforniain Santa Barbara.Europe was completely unrepresentedamong these leaders,with only one onthe listÑthe University ofJyvŠskylŠ inFinland.But the new European AcademyofBusiness in Society (see right)aims tochange that,and a growing group ofschools are joining the trend.CSR Eu-rope,a Brussels-based business cam-paign for social responsibility,has alreadyidentified morewith some activityin this area.They in-clude Warsaw Busi-ness School and Bu-dapest University aswell as more famil-iar names from theWestern Europeanmanagement scene.usiness schoolshave tended toclaim that compa-nies are not interest-ed in sustainability,but this defense wasshattered at a meet-ing last year be-tween deans andbusiness leaders.Andrew Wilson,direc-tor ofthe Centre for Business and Societyat Ashridge in the UK,said:ÒIfdeanswere not aware ofthe market demand be-fore,that opened their eyes to it.ÓWilson says both companies andMBA students are beginning to realizesustainability is central to what they do.ÒThey are beginning to understand thatyou canÕt do SWOT analysis without anunderstanding ofthe broader themes.Ón a survey for CSR Europe last year,Gilbert Lenssen,professor at the Col-lege ofEurope and Leden University,concludes:ÒFew companies are satisÞedwith the attention and place CSR receivesin the MBA programs overall.ÓHe identi-Þes some key areas lacking from main-stream courses across the board,such asthe awareness and knowledge ofsocialand cultural issues affecting business per-formance;knowledge and skills in de-signing and implementing CSR strate-gies;and the ability to deal withcomplexity,ambiguity and conflictingCompanies sur-veyed were even lesshappy with execu

-tive programs.Theyespecially wantedmore
-tive programs.Theyespecially wantedmore coverage ofpersonal integrityThe place ofethics within thiscontext is tricky.Infact,Lenssen specu-lates that ethics mayhave got in the wayofsustainability.ÒItseems to me thatbusiness schoolswith an ethics pres-ence have had difÞ-culties developing a cross-disciplinary ap-proach.Others such as Warwick andCranÞeld (in the UK) have made muchmore progress.ÓBoth Warwick and Cran-Þeld have developed sustainability ele-ments in their MBA programs that dealwith broad corporate issues rather thanthe narrower concerns ofpersonal andcorporate ethics,which have tended topreoccupy schools in which sustainabilityis located in the ethics area.The World Business Council for Sus-tainable Development (WBCSD) hasstepped in to stimulate the production ofnew material for executive education.ItÒBoth companies and MBA students arebeginning to realizesustainability is centralto what they do.ÓTraditional core subjects in most business schools have not connectedthe dots between sustainability and Þnancial performance.HENRYK T. KAISER/REX INTERSTOCK/IBLTHE NEXT GENERATIONWRIÕs China BELL program aims to ÒgreenÓ ChinaÕs business education.august 2002MEASURING UPaccording to the study Best all-arounders¥Kenan-Flagler Business School,University of North Carolina at ¥Schulich School of Business, York University (Canada)¥Asian Institute of Management Best on social issues¥Harvard Business School (US)¥College of Business Marymount University (US)¥University of Michigan ¥Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at ¥Schulich School of Business, York University (Canada)Best on environment¥School of Business and Public Management, The George Washington University (US)¥School of Business and ¥University of Michigan ¥Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina ¥Yale University School of Source: Aspen Institute/WRIlaunched a new training and educationinitiative in January,with CambridgeUniversityÕs Programme for Industry.They will develop a set oftools that willdemonstrate the importance ofsustain-ability for companies,show how a coher-ent sustainable development strategy cancreate competitive advantage,and illus-trate what a sustainable company mightlook like.The WRI has itselfbeen engaged inpromoting the teaching ofsustainabilitythrough its BELL (Business-Environ-ment Learning and Leadership) pro-gram,which is sponsored by Alcoa Foun-dation.BELL publishes teaching cases,provides staffto help schools develop anapproach to business and environmentissues,and disseminates materialthrough conferences and workshops.Italso organizes the Environmental Enter-prise Corps,which gives business stu-dents the chance to help entrepreneurswho are establishing or expanding envi-ronmental companies in Latin America.Separate BELL organizations have beenset up in Latin America and China.ne vital ingredient in this equation,ofcourse,is the student body.Thecaricature ofthe thrusting young MBAheading for global consultancies or in-vestment banks suggests more interest inhis or her own personal success strategythan strategies for the planet.But the growth ofstudent organiza-tions such as AIESEC and Net Impactcasts doubt on thisstereotype.AIESEC,theworldÕs largest studentorganization,has corpo-rate social responsibility(CSR) as one ofits focusareas.By 2005,it aims tohave at least 5 percent ofits global exchanges di-rectly concerned withCSR,creating a pool of1,000 young people who understand andare committed to the cause.It works withpartners such as the WBCSD and the In-ternational Business Leaders Forum tobuild an understanding ofsustainabilityin the next generation ofleaders.Net Im-pact has more than 5,000 MBA members,has chapters at more than 50 businessschools,and has attracted more than 700delegates to its conference this year.ork by the Aspen Institute,howev-er,suggests the picture is quitecomplex.Tracking students through theMBA course,the research found that theybecame more narrowly focused as thecourse progressed.Initially they said pri-orities were customers and product qual-ity,but this changed to shareholder valueafter all that finance teachingÑand asthey came nearer to looking for a job.But these students also expressed in-terest in social responsibility,saying theywould like business schools to demon-strate how responsibility can be finan-cially beneÞcial.They also demonstrateda need for more clariÞcations and guid-ance.Many MBA students said they werenot sure exactly what Òsocial responsibil-ityÓmeans.That should be a cue for schools to fol-low the example ofthose such as Kenan-Flagler that regard this as a good startingpoint for any MBA course.ROGERCOWEis a regular contributor toTOMORROW,based in London.AIESECÕs Regional Conference in Africa, where membersfrom the region discuss how AIESEC can prepare the futuregeneration to confront Africa's problems.THE NEXT GENERATI