Business as UNusual: Net Impact’s Guide to Green MBA Programs 2011
The fifth annual report from Net Impact offers extensive profiles of 106 MBA programs, developed with input from the more than 2,500 students that are part of the Net Impact network. The report chronicles the rise of corporate social responsibility themes in MBA curricula, as more and more students go to business school to learn how to do well by doing good.
Download the free report here.
From the introduction to the report:
At Net Impact, we know future leaders want to use their business skills for positive world impact. In our 2011 member survey, 95% of graduate Net Impact members said that having a career that makes a positive social or environmental impact on the world was important to them—and they are looking to their MBA programs for help. While gradu- ate programs are making progress in helping their students reach this goal through increasing support for students interested in sustainability-related careers, subsidizing nonprofit internships, and building alumni networks in these fields, it is still not enough. Students, while fairly satisfied with the social and environmental issues reflected in their programs, express the need to increase support for career-related services. Net Impact chapters have endeavored to help their members take their careers to the next level through enacting curriculum change, leading career treks, and more, in order to make a positive world impact.
In the past year, Net Impact launched 16 new graduate chapters, while existing chapters continued to push for the in- clusion of even more social and environmental themes in their programs. With 29 new programs profiled this year, Net Impact is also seeing more traditional graduate programs join the social and environmental movement, spearheaded by proactive student bodies.
Even though social and environmental themes have not yet been universally integrated into core curricula, business programs are working to offer even more to their students, and Net Impact chapters continue to lead curriculum change in their respective schools. Last year, students took courses on topics such as The Business Case for Sustainability at North Carolina State University and Leadership for Sustainable Management at Presidio Graduate School; worked through complex case studies on real-world sustainability issues; and developed pro bono consulting services to local businesses and nonprofits.
Net Impact encourages graduate programs to examine the best practices in this guide to better attract the growing demographic of students who desire social and environmental change. We also hope that Business as UNusual will help prospective students find graduate programs that best suit their interests. This year’s edition features 106 graduate pro- grams from all over the world through the lens of the students themselves.
