Business Schools Respond to New Global Realities, According to Survey by World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute; Stanford University's MBA Program Ranks #1 in Beyond Grey Pinstripes Survey

Business Wire, Oct 19, 2005

NEW YORK -- A biennial report - Beyond Grey Pinstripes, released jointly today at Citigroup by World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute - finds that more business schools are doing a better job preparing students for the reality of tomorrow's markets, equipping them with an understanding of the social, environmental, and economic perspectives required for business success in a competitive global economy.

The 2005 survey finds that an increasing number of business schools are offering courses in ethics, corporate social responsibility, or environmental sustainability.

"In today's global business environment, there is tremendous opportunity to create social and environmental value while doing what is right for the business," said Scott Johnson, vice president, Global Environmental and Safety Actions, SC Johnson. "More and more corporations will demand leaders who understand these opportunities and can deliver results. So it is critical that business schools meet this demand by stressing a focus on global stakeholders, not simply shareholders."

In the survey, changes in coursework proved noticeable. Of the 91 business schools surveyed on six continents, 54 percent require a course in ethics, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, or business and society, up from 45 percent in 2003 and 34 percent in 2001. Additionally, the report finds that some leading schools are launching innovative courses on such topics as exploring private-sector approaches for addressing problems in low-income markets. The number of these courses offered has increased dramatically since 2003.

As a clear indication of the importance of these issues globally, three of the top five ranked schools, and 12 of the top 30, are located outside the United States.

Jonathan Lash, president, World Resources Institute, added, "To be competitive, corporations need to recast social and environmental problems as business growth opportunities. These schools are leading the way in providing students with the skills that are becoming increasingly valuable to the bottom line. Such skills are needed to meet the emerging challenges of climate change, water scarcity, labor issues, and poverty alleviation with innovative technologies and entrepreneurship."

Although the business schools surveyed are making important progress, the report's authors note that teaching and research on these topics often remain limited to disconnected pockets of innovation. While students at schools ranked in the top 30 were exposed to ethical, social, and environmental issues in an average of 25 percent of their required coursework, other students saw these issues only 8 percent of the time. Only 4 percent of faculty at the surveyed schools published research on related issues in top, peer-reviewed journals during the survey period.

"MBA programs still have a silo mentality when it comes to teaching business ethics as well as social and environmental stewardship," added Judith Samuelson, executive director of the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program. "For MBA students to be truly prepared for the challenges they will face as executives after graduation, these topics need to be integrated across the business-school curriculum and in other required courses such as accounting, economics, finance, information technology, marketing, operations, and strategy."

The Beyond Grey Pinstripes report identified the Top 30 MBA programs by inviting nearly 600 MBA programs to report on their coursework and research; 1,842 courses and 828 journal articles from leading peer-reviewed business publications were analyzed.

The MBA program at Stanford University distinguished itself not only by offering a large number of courses that addressed social and environmental issues in business, but also by the relatively large proportion of students who actually took those classes.

The top 30 programs as ranked by Beyond Grey Pinstripes are:

1. Stanford, USA

2. ESADE, Spain

3. York (Schulich), Canada

4. ITESM, Mexico

5. Notre Dame (Mendoza), USA

6. George Washington, USA

7. Michigan (Ross), USA

8. North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler), USA

9. Cornell (Johnson), USA

10. Wake Forest (Babcock), USA

11. UC Berkeley (Haas), USA

12. Nottingham, UK

13. Virginia (Darden), USA

14. Western Ontario (Ivey), Canada

15. Boston College, USA

16. Erasmus (Rotterdam), The Netherlands

17. Colorado (Leeds), USA

18. New Mexico (Anderson), USA

19. Asian Institute of Management (SyCip), The Philippines

20. Portland State, USA

21. Yale, USA

22. McGill, Canada

23. Case Western (Weatherhead), USA

24. INSEAD, France

25. Calgary, Canada

26. Jyvaskyla, Finland

27. Navarra (IESE), Spain

28. Wisconsin-Madison, USA

29. Minnesota (Carlson), USA

30. Georgetown (McDonough), USA

The report is the only global survey that evaluates MBA programs for their efforts to prepare graduates on social and environmental stewardship in business. A full description of the report, its methodology, and MBA program rankings are available at www.BeyondGreyPinstripes.org.

In addition to rating leading MBA programs, Beyond Grey Pinstripes also identifies Faculty Pioneers. These individuals are exceptional scholars and excellent teachers who are leading the way in incorporating social and environmental issues into their teaching and research. The six 2005 Faculty Pioneers named in the report are: