Creating a New MBA focused on sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship– Deusto Business School

11 March 2013 by Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2013-03-07 at 10.32.52

How do we create an MBA that fully incorporates sustainability and responsible leadership into its programme? How do we embed sustainability across the curriculum? Do we completely change the way that the MBA is structured?

Over the upcoming year I will be providing a range of blogs that explore how different schools have approached this question and the kinds of answers they have proposed. First is Deusto Business School in Spain. They have created a new, one-year programme, starting this April 2013, which embeds sustainability and responsible leadership into all aspects of the programme. I recently had the chance to speak to David Ruiz de Olano, Director of MBA Programmes from Deusto, about their new programme.

1. Why did you decide to create this new programme?

MBA programmes and Business School are at a crossroad right now. Companies, students and society are demanding a review of the objectives, curricula and outcomes of the MBA to really serve business and society. Therefore, we decided to start from scratch and create a programme that tackles the problems companies and executives are facing today and tomorrow.

We turned to the Principles for Responsible Management Education and created an MBA directly based on and inspired by these. We wanted to create an MBA that was both traditional and disruptive in the way that it is designed, providing a unique programme for students to gain solid management skills but also have a solid understanding of the future business agenda and be an integral part of shaping and pushing that agenda forward.

2. Deusto Business School is located in the Basque region. Why is Northern Spain an interesting place in terms of sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship?

Northern Spain has a long tradition of entrepreneurship and industrial companies, with a high level of internationalization. Basque Country has always taken a clear position facilitating the internationalization and investment of its companies: for example an R&D Investment /GDP ratio of 2% that is higher than in Spain (1.2%) and similar to Europe (2.82% in Germany).

In the Basque region, there is also a long tradition of entrepreneurship (actually, the founder of the College was an entrepreneur who went to Las Americas). Our region has created some of the most important companies in Spain (such as banking group BBVA, or energy company Iberdrola). This provides a unique opportunity for students to study in the heart of the Basque country at our campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastian but also at our third campus in Madrid, the center of economic activity in Spain.

 3. Briefly describe the new MBA at Deusto

When designing the programme we decided that there were three elements that were key for future leaders.  These three elements are truly embedded into every class that is offered in the new MBA. This includes:

  • Sustainability: Sustainability is embedded into all areas of business looking at both the collective business and how to embed sustainability into organizational strategy and the global supply chain but also the students’ individual capacity to be sustainability leaders.
  • Digital strategy: The focus here is on the digital and networked world of individuals and organizations, looking at the impact of information technologies on people and companies as well as how to use technology to solve world problems.
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship: The focus here is on developing critical thinking and creative leadership with students, to give them the skills and mindset of an entrepreneur. Students have the chance to work with an innovative start up or to work on an innovative, entrepreneurial project with a company throughout the school year.

The new programme offers both a global and local vision of business with students spending time during the programme studying at one of the University of Deusto’s campuses (Bilbao), a term in New York City in the US as well as time in a developing or emerging country working on a service learning project focused on entrepreneurial activity associated with conflict resolution (including Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, Peru, India, Venezuela or Cambodia).

Also the new programme offers students the opportunity to really get engaged with companies on these topics. There will be a range of high profile events with the Spanish and European business community for students to participate in. In addition, students will have the opportunity to work with companies on specific projects, both short projects as well as a longer, full term project to have the opportunity to put their learnings into practice.

4. What tips would you have for other schools creating new programmes around sustainability or incorporate sustainability into existing programmes?

Engage faculty from the beginning, each institution has its own internal resistance to any change and this is a change. Faculty may be already working on these issues, you just need to give them room. Also, forget the “nice” approach of being sustainable, this is another framework for business that concentrates on the generation of new market opportunities.

5. What’s next?

We are currently accepting students for our first class starting in April 2013 which already contains a good mix of students from around the world. Students also have access to a large number of grants. The response has been very good due to the uniqueness of the programme. It is perhaps the only programme in the world that combines a focus of sustainability with one of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Because Deusto is a very well established university in Spain, students will have access to an excellent range of companies across Spain, Europe and the world for placements and post MBA jobs and we are continuing to work on ensuring that plenty of interesting opportunities exist for our graduating students. Moving forward we will continue to strengthen the programme and develop our growing network of partnerships with the business sector in this area.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, Spain, Western Europe Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Energy and Sustainability in Business Schools – Business School response (Part 3)

25 February 2013 by Leave a comment

clean_energy

Energy and Climate Change are two very important issues for the business sector. Companies of all shapes and sizes are working both independently and together to reach various carbon reduction goals set by themselves or by the international community (see Part 1).

Business schools are also increasingly active with more and more schools reporting on their energy and carbon reduction activities. In Part 2 we looked at a series of measures that business schools are taking to raise awareness about and reduce their carbon footprints. Here we look at how schools are getting more deeply engaged in these issues through partnerships, curriculum and research.

Partnerships

Several schools are partnering with businesses, NGOs or governments to help them with their carbon reduction goals. Universidad del Pacifico in Peru collaborated with the Fundacion Ecologia y Desarrollo in Spain to create their carbon strategy. The project included an awareness raising campaign, a project to calculate the emissions on campus and work with the different parts of the campus to ensure that these efforts continue into the future. At Fordham University, they measured and implemented methods to reduce their carbon footprint, working to meet the City of New York’s program for carbon reduction of 30 percent by the year 2017. An energy and greenhouse gas emission study was completed as part of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s challenge to institutes of higher education to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by the year 2017. The University of Dubai in the UAE, invited the Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) to campus to conduct a workshop on conservation and present the latest developments in the fields of water and energy for students, faculty and staff. On February 16, 2012, the University was given the ‘Conservation Award – For a Better Tomorrow’ from DEWA for its reduction of water consumption by 9%, electricity by 23%. At Copenhagen Business School green technology are showcased regularly on campus to demonstrate new green IT solutions, electric vehicles or paperless systems to raise awareness among students and faculty. Companies such as IBM and Velux were the first corporate partners to showcase green technology at CBS.

Courses

A range of businesses are providing elective courses focused on the topic of energy. Babson has a course called The Norwegian Experience, an off shore course that explores the drivers of opportunities in the energy domain and examines ways new ventures are applying technologies in wind, water, solar and alternative fuel.

A growing number of schools have gone beyond providing single courses around energy related topics to creating whole MBA’s focused on Energy. Both Warwick Business School in the UK and Centrum in Peru have MBA programmes focused on Energy. The Energy MBA at Centrum was created to understand how to generate value in the energy field. The program focuses on the application of knowledge, techniques and best practices in order to ensure the management of hydrocarbon resources in different industries. In Switzerland the University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur has a Master of Advanced Studies in Energy Economics. Escuela de Organizacion Industrial in Spain provides an executive programme focused on carbon training. St. Gallen in Switzerland has a Diploma Program in Renewable Energy Management which provides training for future leaders in tomorrow’s energy markets.

Centres and Research

Many schools in all regions of the world have centres focused on the topic of energy and climate change or tackle these issues within their sustainability and other related centres. At the Rotterdam School of management the Erasmus Centre for Future Energy Business develops the business foundation for tomorrow’s energy markets. Their research focuses on bringing together energy practitioners, policy makers, and researchers from Economics, Computer Science, Behavioural Sciences, and Management Sciences to guide and to shape the transformation of the energy sector. The school will be hosting their second annual Erasmus Energy Forum in May 2013 focused on exploring the future of the energy business. In the US the University of California at Davis has an Energy Efficiency Centre which works to accelerate the development and commercialization of energy efficiency technologies, and to train future leaders in energy efficiency. University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur in Switzerland has a similar centre and also hosts the Swiss Alpine Laboratory for Testing of Energy Efficiency where they conduct measurements in the area of energy efficiency in line with established Swiss and international norms and practices.

- This is part of a series of blogs in 2013 focused on business schools and energy - 

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Denmark, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, North America, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, UK, United Arab Emirates, United States, Western Europe

Energy and Sustainability in Business Schools – Business School response (part 2)

30 January 2013 by Leave a comment

clean_energyEnergy and Climate Change are two very important issues for the business sector. Companies of all shapes and sizes are working both independently and together to reach various carbon reduction goals set by themselves or by the international community (see Part 1).

Business schools are also increasingly active with more and more schools reporting on their energy and carbon reduction activities. In the next couple of parts of this series we will look at some of these schools and what they are doing.

Reducing Energy Use on Campus

In 2012, Cotsakos College of Business  was named a finalist in the 2012 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards competition, which recognizes the most innovative climate leaders in the US. The university has embarked on several energy saving initiatives. In October 2010, the university opened what was then the largest solar energy facility on any university campus in the US. The initiative is projected to save an estimated $4.3 million in energy costs over the next 15 years, while also reducing the university’s carbon footprint.In the Netherlands, Rotterdam School of Management’s ‘Campus under Construction’ project, which is being implemented until 2028, focuses on modernizing the campus to make it more energy efficient. The university administration has been collaborating closely with both the city of Rotterdam and sustainability faculty concerning city planning and environmentally sustainable considerations. In 2013 a 15‐story building for international student housing, the Erasmus Plaza; a vibrant green esplanade; pedestrian‐avenue with underground parking; and the energy-neutral Erasmus Pavilion will be completed. Ashridge Business School in the UK switched in 2011 to a 100% renewable electricity supply contract.

Measuring the Carbon Footprint

One of the main efforts on campuses around energy is measuring and reducing their carbon footprint. Winchester Business School has a commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per square meter by 30% below the 2006 levels by 2015. In 2011, the university set a target for carbon reduction of 43% by 2012. A growing number of schools are looking not just to reduce but to become carbon neutral. Pacific Lutheran University has a goal of carbon neutrality by 2020. In 2010 the university dropped its total energy costs by 10% by changing out light fixtures, adding motion sensors for lighting, and installing better insulation and window seals. Bentley University has made a commitment to become carbon neutral by the year 2030. The office of sustainability provides a website with information on Bentley’s current carbon footprint and an overview of their plans to reach this goal through energy system upgrades, green building and electronics recycling among other things. They have also constructed a 3,000 square foot solar thermal wall as part of the Athletic Center which traps heat from the sun. When the heating, ventilation and air conditioning is turned on, the air is pulled through the solar walls and is heated in the process requiring less energy to warm the air in a room.

Educating the campus about efforts

A large part of reducing energy use on campus is raising awareness of the issues with students and staff. In India, the Institute of Productivity and Management Green Initiative works to make its campus greener. They created ‘Save Energy’ guidelines which include conservation of water and electricity, which are widely distributed amongst staff and students. In Slovenia, the Faculty of Economics Eco Team encourages employees and students to get engaged by organizing and implementing a wide range of energy reduction activities. In Korea, Kyung Hee University ‘s Green Team also conducts a range of awareness raising activities and projects around Energy management and lighting efficiency across campus.

Taking part in International and National Initiatives

Another way that schools are raising awareness about these issues on campus is by participating in international energy related events. The University of Dubai takes part in Earth Hour every year on March 22nd. Students, faculty, and staff at UD signed up to participate in the world earth hour and participated by switching off the lights for one hour. Schulich School of Business also celebrate Earth Hour with their event ‘Earth Hour Every Hour’ in collaboration with IRIS, and the Ecologically Conscious Organization aims to provide environmental knowledge, and to inspire the creation of a future where waste and energy reduction are daily considerations. In France, Clean Tuesdays began as an association in 2008 to promote the development of Cleantech throughout France. On the first Tuesday of every month, an event or mini-conference is organized in a different location in France bringing together participants to share their expertise, their activities and their best practices in the field. Grenoble Ecole de Management is affiliated with this project and has hosted several Clean Tuesday events on campus.

Getting students engaged

Several schools, such as EADA in Spain, have student clubs focused on energy issues. At EADA, the Green Society is a voluntary student club for individuals who have an interest in Climate Change. Throughout the year the club organizes interactive seminars on the topics of Carbon Politics, New Sources of Energy, Creating a Low-Carbon Economy, and more. Grenoble Ecole de Management has a student engineer specialized in Quality, Security & Environmental analysis who is currently carrying out a comprehensive study of the School carbon footprint. The University of Victoria in Canada has instituted voluntary carbon-offset programs for students travelling as part of their exchange program.

- This is part of a series of blogs in 2013 focused on business schools and energy - 

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Canada, France, India, Korea, Netherlands, North America, Slovenia, Spain, UK, United Arab Emirates, United States

2012 International Year of Cooperatives and Management Education – Business Examples from Around the World (Part 2)

10 December 2012 by Leave a comment

Each year the United Nations identifies an issue of global importance and raises awareness about it in the international community. The 2012 International Year of Cooperatives recognizes the diversity of the cooperative movement around the world and its contribution to socio-economic developments, such as poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration.

The World Co-operative Monitor launched in October 2012 ranks the 300 largest co-operative and mutual enterprises by turnover and provides a list of these organized by industry. The official website for the Year also provides a list of national cooperative associations organized by region. A few PRME professors shared their thoughts on top cooperative practices with us:

Leo Wang, Assistant Professor, School of Business, McEwan University, Canada: Mountain Equipment Co-op in Canada is a great example of an alternative business model that is built around leaving the world a better place than when we arrived. As both a cooperative and a business engaging in sustainable practices, it tries to champion sustainability in many different aspects (supply chain, internal processes, communications with consumers, etc.). For just $5 you can get a lifetime membership which gives you the right to vote. They now have over 3.3 million members.

Elizabeth Franklin-Johnson, Euromed Management, France & CEREFIGE, France: Sol à Sol is playing an important part in constructing the social economy as well as preserving nature. Selling organic fair-trade “Maté”, a traditional Argentinean drink, this cooperative offers rural workers in Argentina a chance to develop sustainably, have access to training and have a fair price for their products. From Sol à Sol’s base in Marseille, France, goods are packaged by employees in an environment which helps the social and professional integration of adults with disabilities. Sol à Sol has managed to combine the social, economic and environmental pillars into their business model, as well as having the additional ethical angle, all of which confirm their implication is sustainability, and in my mind ticks all the boxes!

Other examples recommended by faculty and students include;

  • Mondragon in the Basque region of Spain is a cooperative movement of workers that began in 1956 which has more than 83,000 employees and 9,000 students. 85% of its industrial workers are members.
  • Rabobank in the Netherlands was founded as a cooperative over 100 years ago by enterprising rural people who had virtually no access to capital markets. It has since grown in into an international financial service provider with a wide range of products. Its focus on sustainability revolves around four themes: safe and sustainable food supply, renewable energy and cleaner production, economic participation and access to finance for all and community involvement.
  • Unimed do Brasil is the largest private healthcare operator in the world. It also has the largest number of coops – 370 – which include 109,000 doctors and 3,029 accredited hospitals that provide care for more than 18 million customers.
  • Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Cooperative Union in Japan is an organization that started in 1965.  Initially, a single Tokyo housewife organized 200 women to buy 300 bottles of milk in order to reduce the price. It has since grown and now places an emphasis on direct producer/consumer links and is dedicated to the environment, empowerment of women and improvement of workers condition. Today, there are 600 consumer co-operatives with over 22 million members (almost a fifth of the country’s total population of 127 million) who buy a wide range of food products, clothing, publications and daily goods.

What other examples of cooperatives can you think of? Share them in the comments box below.

- This is part of a three part series on the International Year of Cooperatives. Part 3 will feature the response from business schools.

 

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Asia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Latin America, Netherlands, North America, Spain, Western Europe Tagged with , , , , , ,

The Buying in Argument – Engaging your Faculty

27 August 2012 by 1 Comment

Regardless of whether you are just starting out to mainstream sustainability into your school and curriculum or have been doing so for some time already, one of the major challenges is how to engage your faculty. The experience by many schools has been that, at the beginning, these topics are usually accepted by a few actors. The challenge is both how to turn these first few interested individuals into active participants and how to get all staff more engaged.

Launched atPRME’s 3rd Global Forum at Rio+20 in June, the Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME: Placing sustainability at the heart of management education provides a range of case studies showing how schools are embedding sustainability into their schools and curricula, including how to actively engage faculty.

Bentley University in the US began by preaching to the choir, starting with those faculty across the institutions who were already committed to sustainability and responsible leadership. The basic strategy employed began with one-on-one conversations with key players across campus and gradually built to one-on-two, one-on-three, two-on-two, and so forth. Finally, the school focused on developing and supporting faculty with the intent of “seeding” every department on campus with faculty who would develop material for their courses and encourage their colleagues to do the same.

At Deusto Business School in Spain, the dean brought all faculty together to discuss the importance of these issues for the school moving forward and to provide them with a space to voice any concerns, opinions, or interest in these topics. From there, they were provided with a range of faculty development programmes and seminars on the topics of sustainability, organised by department, to provide them with the tools and knowledge to be able to incorporate sustainability and responsible leadership into their individual courses.

The University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur in Switzerland noted in their case study that a major step for them in the serious implementation of these topics was the installation of an open group of committed faculty and staff. Around twelve members, representing all University departments in equal measure, elected a steering committee consisting of four faculty members. This team has since gained formal appreciation from the University’s board, including the necessary financial resources for the next three years to continue to roll out PRME-related activities.

Ashridge Business School in the UK recognised the need to connect interested faculty and wider staff into an informal learning network, which includes guest speakers and sharing each other’s experiences of innovation. This informal work has been possible because of the recruitment and development of faculty and staff sustainability specialists and designing their roles to give them time to develop and coach others.

The University of Dubai in the UAE created awareness among students and staff by posting permanent posters with the Six Principles of PRME in the reception lobby of both of their campuses. This is part of an awareness campaign conducted every semester with their students and faculty to ensure not only their awareness of PRME but the importance of these issues to the schools.

The advice from Consuelo Garcíía de la Torre, Professor of Management and Marketing, at EGADE in Mexico is to, “show both professors and students how responsible and ethical management can create value for business and can make them achieve sustainability. If you can achieve that, the students and the faculty will believe in the management principles, not just as an ethical behavior, but as an enhancer for performance.”

The Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME: Placing sustainability at the heart of management education, is available online.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, UK, United Arab Emirates, United States Tagged with , , , , ,

Creating Teaching Cases around Sustainability

16 April 2012 by 1 Comment

Management related academic institutions play an important role in training the current and future generations of leaders. Part of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative is to encourage research on sustainable development issues, in particular leading up to Rio+20.

In an earlier blog, we looked at a selection of business schools that are developing teaching cases focused on sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). There have been a growing number of schools writing case studies around these topics, and here we look at a few more examples from the US, UK, Spain and China.

San Francisco State University College of Business has an initiative to develop a series of case studies of local businesses in the Bay Area on their journey to sustainability. The initiative will include a variety of efforts to promote and support the development of business sustainability case studies by 1) fostering collaboration among leading sustainability case writers who teach at business schools in the Bay Area; 2) providing incentives and support to help faculty develop and apply case writing skills in the area of business sustainability; and 3) distributing and promoting cases. The initiative is sponsoring a forum to create a community of case writers from the area and is offering workshops to assist faculty in the development of case writing skills.

Cranfield School of Management, through a partnership with the Pears Foundation, which involves a collaboration between Cranfield School of Management, London Business School and the Said Business School at Oxford University have been developing a series of 27 case studies on themes such as sustainability, corporate governance and ethical decision making on companies.

There are also several examples of schools involving students in the writing of new case studies focused on responsible leadership. Columbia Case Works at Columbia Business School pairs second year students with faculty to write new cases around sustainability topics. Students also work with faculty to write introductory papers, which are distributed to all entering students on the topics of CSR, governance and values based leadership. Each summer, IESE Business School sponsors positions for research assistants with the aim of writing cases involving responsible management. The School’s professors are invited to identify and discuss situations (with colleagues and students, during and after class) that they have experienced during their professional activity and may be useful for developing a case study.

In May 2010, Hong Kong Baptist University School of Business organised the Symposium on Social Enterprises in China to provide a platform for discussion on the business models and success factors of social enterprises in China. Case studies were mainly developed by students of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme after visiting different social enterprises in Hong Kong and several cities in Mainland China, including Anhui, Beijing, Shanghai, Shanxi, and Qinghai. Subsequent to the Symposium, a casebook entitled “Social Enterprises of the New Age: Case Studies in China” was published by Chinese Businesses Case Research Center and DBA students in May 2011.

Are you working on an initiative to create case studies around corporate sustainability or responsible leadership in your region? Share your experiences in the comments area below this blog.

Filed under 3-Method, 4-Research, Asia, China, North America, Spain, Teaching, UK, United States, Western Europe Tagged with , ,

Online and connected: Bringing Sustainability courses online

5 December 2011 by Leave a comment

More and more business schools are exploring the wide range of ways that they can use the Internet to not just promote their programmes, but to enhance them. This is the first of a series of blogs looking at how business schools are using the Internet to communicate and engage with not just students but the wider community regarding sustainability issues.

One of the ways is by providing programme online content for students. There are already a number of schools offering degree progammes online, such as Marlboro College in the USA with their MBA in Managing for Sustainability. Antioch University also in the USA has a new Sustainable MBA which held a virtual open house on their website last March to introduce prospective students to their programme.
A growing number of business schools are using the web to provide the public with a range of free online courses on topics relating to sustainability and responsible leadership. The Open University Business School in the UK provides a range of individual courses and programs focused on sustainable business via distance and online learning. Their OpenLearn website gives free access to course materials and Learning Space, including many free study units, each with a discussion forum. Sample lectures from many of their courses are also available from iTunes U, a database of thousands of free lectures from all around the world. MIT in the US has an Opencourseware platform which provides over 2000 courses online free of charge, including a range of courses from the business school, covering topics relating to responsible management.

FGV-EAESP, in collaboration with Walmart Brazil, has developed three free online courses about sustainability. The first course, “Sustainability in everyday life: guidelines for citizens” launched on February 1 in Portuguese and addresses the importance of responsible consumption. The course is offered through the OpenCourseWare Consortium, a collaboration of higher education institutions and associated organisations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model.

The Escuela de organizacion industrial in Spain, also a member of the OpenCourseWare Consortium has a programme called Salvia. Salvia is an institutional repository of books, case studies, projects, research etc. produced by the school on the topic of sustainability available to the public. EOI also has a wide range of blogs on the topics of commons, sustainability and responsible innovation and is active on a wide range of social media platforms.

Grenoble Ecole de Management in France created OPEN RIM – Responsible Innovation and Management, an online knowledge sharing and learning platform financed by the Rhône-Alpes region.  It is kept up to date by students and faculty who develop online content including courses and educational materials, student initiatives and projects. The web platform will be available to the general public during the 2010-2011 academic year with several online courses, including responsibility in the global economy, acting on sustainable development, and business ethics, among others.

The Innovation School at EUROMED in France is an online learning platform that acts as a knowledge database and provides a range of online course modules. Each student can use the platform to personalise his/her own learning path by choosing which areas he/she wants to learn about. Students can browse through this global tool, which is accessible from anywhere in the world, and check his/her own level of understanding and acquisition of these concepts, look for internships, access a specific module etc.

Is your university exploring using the Internet to provide online courses to students or to the wider community? Share your experiences in the comments area below.

Filed under 3-Method, Brazil, France, Online and Connected, Spain, UK, United States Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,350 other followers

%d bloggers like this: