Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 9, 2001

Volume 30, Number 10

School of Management hailed for emphasis
on teaching environmental stewardship skills

The Yale School of Management (SOM) was honored on Oct. 31 by The Aspen Institute in New York City and the World Resource Institute (WRI) in Washington, D.C., for its outstanding work training future business leaders in environmental management skills.

SOM was among just five schools cited for its "cutting-edge M.B.A. program" in the survey "Beyond Pinstripes: Preparing MBAs for Social and Environmental Stewardship." This is the only survey that evaluates how well Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) programs are integrating social and environmental coursework, activities and research into business curricula.

Every accredited business school in the United States -- over 300 institutions -- plus over 60 international schools were included in the survey, which is a joint project between the WRI and The Aspen Institute Initiative for Social Innovation Through Business (Aspen ISIB). The survey assessed the content of courses, the caliber of teaching, innovation and the schools' overall commitment to creating a learning environment that has a social and environmental focus and conscience.

"The mission of the School of Management is to educate leaders for business and society. From our mission flows a commitment to integrate environmental impact management as part of our core M.B.A. program," says SOM Dean Jeffrey E. Garten. "We're proud of this award and how we are preparing Yale M.B.A. students to lead in a world where environmental stewardship skills are just as important as management, financial or marketing skills."

SOM and the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies teamed their institutional resources and faculty to create the three-year, joint-degree Program in Management and Environmental Studies. The program is designed to help students develop a range of frameworks for integrating management and environmental decision-making skills through coursework, guest speakers, research symposia and conferences.

"The school is being recognized for its leadership in preparing M.B.A. students for a global marketplace where social and environmental issues are linked to business success," says Jonathan Lash, president of WRI, an environmental think-tank that seeks practical ways to protect the Earth and improve people's lives. "This interdependency necessitates a broadening of the traditional M.B.A. program, and Yale's School of Management is extraordinary in its successful academic integration of environmental, social and sustainability management issues."

"Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2001" reports that a growing number of innovative M.B.A. programs are broadening their curriculum to include sustainability topics, although the overall number remains quite low. While companies need managers with an ability to understand diverse cultural, social and political systems to cope with vastly different infrastructure and resource issues, notes the report, few M.B.A. students are being trained to think about such things, and few have the skills to successfully tackle these issues.

"'Beyond Grey Pinstripes' is really a call to action to schools to close the gape between what business leaders say they need in recruits, what the global marketplace requires and what M.B.A. programs are delivering," says Judith Samuelson, executive director of Aspen ISIB, a program that seeks to increase the number of business leaders who understand and seek to balance the complex relationship between success and social and environmental progress.

The other schools cited by the survey were the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, the George Washington University's School of Business and Public Management, the University of Jyväskla's School of Business and Economics (Finland) and the University of Michigan Business School.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

F&ES launches a $60 million capital campaign

School of Management hailed for emphasis on teaching . . .

Iran is 'buckle' of 'terror belt,' warns exiled crown prince

Yale Books in Brief

For American architects, the sky is still the limit, says Stern

AIA to honor Stern for his contributions to the 'urban landscape'

Ireland's former prime minister to speak at YCIAS

DEA official and New Mexico's governor to discuss war on drugs

Show highlights painter John Singer Sargent's sculptural skills

Panel goes beyond fantasy and crisis to look at richness of Arab civilization

Yale has long history of teaching Arabic language

Conference on 'ideal' Native American school to include play, film . . .

Council on European Studies sponsoring conference . . .

Auction to raise funds to fight hunger and homelessness

Memorial service to honor Levi Jackson, . . .

Rescheduled talks to explore Sept. 11 events, evolution