COVER STORY
Business schools
VIEW
I
n the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, blame was apportioned in a number of directions. Particular criticism was leveled at the business schools and their MBA alumni. Many commentators argued that the econom- ic downturn had revealed numerous short- comings in business education syllabuses, particularly in areas such as risk management, corporate governance and ethics.
Business schools were also widely criticised for contributing to the downturn by produc- ing MBAs obsessed with creating shareholder value whatever the risk, rather than focusing on sustainable business practices and stake- holder responsibility.
In response, MBA students at Harvard Business School sought to commit themselves to an MBA equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath, promising to safeguard the interests of their co-workers, customers and society. Within weeks, more than half of Harvard’s class of 2009 had signed up, and the graduate who came up with the idea received requests from people at more than 25 schools around the world who were interested in the initiative. Meanwhile, research from the Association of MBAs in partnership with Durham Business School found that more than half of MBAs surveyed agreed to a large, or very large extent, with statements such as “corporate social responsibility should underpin the actions of organisations” and “the MBA should adopt a stakeholder focus concerning all those affected by the actions of an organi- sation, rather than just a shareholder focus”. The same survey found that when business schools were asked to suggest ways in which the MBA could be changed to better prepare students for the post-downturn world and to
ensure the MBA remains relevant, the area mentioned most frequently was sustainability. In other words, there is an argument that business schools need to redefine what they see as the key competences successful execu- tives require as they prepare themselves for leadership in a changed business landscape. Financial acumen alone is no longer sufficient. The MBA of tomorrow needs to nurture rounded individuals with both strong leader- ship skills and the ability to integrate ethical, sustainable and stakeholder thinking into their management decisions.
The very notion of leadership will also need to be defined more broadly. As Sir Adrian Cadbury said some years ago, in a point later reinforced by Lord Myners: Do we really want to equate shareholder value solely with investor opportunism? Surely, the path to sustainable business is to encourage long-term share ownership and to encourage those who stay with the company for the long term. To deal with this and other issues around the sustainable development agenda, the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR) at Nottingham University Business School came up with a novel way to engage students in sustainability issues that encouraged them to apply theory in real-world roles.
In 2009, 120 students on both MA and MBA courses at the school participated in the so-called Paradise Island programme, a joint venture with a UK-based teamwork and lead- ership consultancy. The project was a
Experiential learning activities can develop students’ leadership and teamwork skills, as well as the ability to develop flexible business models that go beyond CSR
30 May 2010 ❘ Sustainab le Business
THE BROADER
MBAs of tomorrow need to nurture rounded individuals with both strong leadership skills and the ability to integrate ethical, sustainable and stakeholder thinking into their management decisions, says Professor Jeremy Moon. He explains how business schools are responding to the financial crisis
resounding success and the concept has been written up as a European Academy for Business in Society project example of innova- tive approaches to CSR education. The experiential learning activity takes the form of a role-play situation in which a tourism developer seeks investment from a bank that is under pressure from the media and non-governmental organisations for its lending policies. The projected development is
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36