Popularity of Sustainable Business MBA Grows
Many MBA programs now offer concentrations and curriculum that focus on sustainable business. Corporations are now required to be more environmentally conscious than ever before. A sustainable business MBA can help professionals gain the knowledge that is needed to operate and create successful environmentally conscious businesses. According to thebestschools.org, “The MBA in Sustainability degree equips business professionals to help companies and organizations achieve profitability while maintaining environmental responsibility.”
These MBA programs, often called “Green MBAs,” teach students the skills necessary for earning profits through methods that reduce harm to the environment and society. Not only do these programs help students learn how to run environmentally sustainable businesses, but many also teach corporate social responsibility.
The Sustainable Business Institute explains that corporate sustainability is important because, “private and public business choices enormously impact the quality of life in our communities.” The Institute also explains that, “Effectively managing our business footprint addresses current market dynamics while ensuring a better quality of life for future generations. The bottom line is sustainable business practices make good business sense. Corporate sustainability offers a compelling return on investment by driving innovation, managing risk, and improving stakeholder relations.”
In 2013, Net Impact, a nonprofit organization for students and professionals in the sustainability field, released a study that found that, “91 percent of 3,300 graduate students reported that social and environmental issues are very important or essential to business’s long-term success, and 85 percent said they wanted to tackle these issues while in graduate school.” The number of students interested in these sustainable business programs has only increased since then.
Giselle Weybrecht, author of the book, “The Sustainable MBA: The Manager’s Guide to Green Business” says, “MBA programs have been slow to integrate sustainability into the core topics but this is increasingly happening.” Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, for example offers MBA students more than a dozen classes on sustainability. The school also has several sustainable programs on campus. In 2010, the University began working with higher-education-focused energy company to assist in creating the first Sustainability Office on campus.
The Stern Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern School of Business focuses on the human rights issues that businesses face while trying to maintain social responsibility. This is the first-ever human rights center based at a business school. According to the Center’s website, its mission is “to equip business leaders with essential knowledge about human rights through our course offerings at Stern, research and our forthcoming textbook.” The School also offers a specialization in Social Innovation and Impact.
Stern is not the only school that has recognized the movement toward the Green MBA. The Stanford Graduate School of Business offers a joint MS in Environment and Resources/MBA program in conjunction with the Stanford School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Science. This program provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to develop a background in science, engineering and technology that underlie environmental problems. This knowledge is integrated with the MBA curriculum to help students to become innovative leaders that can address environmental issues.
The Haas School of Business also offers two areas of emphasis in sustainable business. Students can choose from Energy and Clean Technology and Corporate Responsibility. Students completing the Energy and Clean Technology emphasis work with the Energy Institute at Haas and the UC Energy Institute. The courses for the emphasis prepare students to lead businesses that address market, policy and technological challenges in the energy industry.
The Clean Technology and Corporate Responsibility emphasis is taught in conjunction with the Center for Responsibility. The courses for the emphasis aims to bring students, faculty and companies together to address issues of corporate responsibility and sustainability in order to inspire leaders to redefine good business.
Students at the Penn State Smeal College of Business also have an option to complete a concentration in sustainability and social innovation. Students spend their first year focusing primarily on business fundamentals. During the second semester, students can choose one or more concentrations. The concentration in sustainability and social innovation helps students to learn how to change skills in established organizations and develop new, sustainable business models.
Marsha Willard, executive director of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals and CEO of Axis Performance Advisors says that the value of a sustainability degree is “increasing as each day passes” and GreenBiz.com says, “As sustainability becomes an increasingly prevalent part of the business world, it stands to reason that the value of sustainability degree programs will continue to grow.” Whatever the specific program options, a curriculum concentration in sustainable business can be beneficial to any business leader.
About the Author
Erin Purcell
Staff Writer, covering MetroMBA's news beat for New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.
