Customer Reviews

The Aspen Institute Guide to Socially Responsible MBA

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise at the undergraduate level at The New School, I'm delighted that there are so many schools offering socially responsible MBA programs and that there is a one stop resource for students to compare these schools. I may sound Pollyannaish, but I believe that entrepreneurship can have a major impact on addressing many of the world's social (such as hunger, poverty and education) and environmental problems. The guide is well organized and provides useful information in identifying schools that meet students' requirements.

The Aspen Institute has put together a terrific resource for students and professional seeking to pursue an MBA degree that also incorporates a strong focus on ethical, environmental, and/or sustainability issues. This is the most comprehensive guide that I have found to programs world-wide.

The school profiles are useful and provide detailed information on the relative strengths of each program. The field of socially responsible business practice is rapidly expanding and many companies are now actively recruiting students who are strong managers combined with the ability to carry out a triple bottom line business (people, profits and planet).

I would encourage anyone considering an MBA to obtain a copy of the guide.

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How does a corporation become a responsible global enterprise? Can a competitive business be both financially profitable and responsive to its societal and environmental impacts? What is the role of the business community in a sustainable global society? Ask a recent MBA graduate. The Aspen Institute summarizes corporate social responsibility (CSR) aspects of MBA Programs from 111 universities on 5 continents engaged in training global corporate leaders. The Guide contains specific information about which MBA Program sponsors an annual CSR film festival and the many programs that hold annual conferences, and provides details of class offerings at each institution in environmental management, microlending, social and environmental impacts of supply chains, responsible management of consumer data, entrepreneurship for NGOs, and other cutting-edge CSR topics. The book also lists MBA concentrations at each university related to sustainability issues and relevant joint degree programs available.

While reading the book, I was struck by the global nature of today's MBA education and the degree to which a number of excellent programs have integrated CSR issues and concerns into their curricula. I recommend the book to all interested in the education of business leaders, including not only future students, but also employers, MBA graduates of an earlier era, and those involved in design and implementation of business education.

The Aspen Institute Guide will be an exceptionally useful tool for students who are serious about getting a business education supported by access to high caliber instruction and resources in related social and environmental issues. The Guide is very well organized and easy to read. The information included is comprehensive and detailed. The Guide will also be a valuable tool for corporate recruiters charged with finding sources of talent skilled in analyzing corporate social and environmental issues and able to think strategically about such matters.

This is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in learning more about how MBA Schools are dedicating financial and human resources to the integration of social issues into their curricula. Environmental and social impact management have become vital considerations in business today, and these issues are becoming increasingly important in business education. This guide presents relevant information disclosed from the business schools themselves, presented in a concise and readable manner. It contains relevant information on faculty, academic and extra-curricular programs for over 110 leading MBA programs world-wide. I found it very informative and easy to use. It's a good jumping-off point from which to conduct other research.

A very useful guide on the importance of CSR issues in MBA programs. This guide makes it easy to identify the different approaches to CSR in major MBA programs of the world. A guide to be consulted by managers who want to be sure that CSR issues are integrated in the MBA program they plan to integrate, but also by direcotrs of MBA programs and their faculty in order to be updated on the newest initiatives in the field of CSR. An execellent contribution to benchmarking and mainstreaming CSR in MBA programs.

This first-of-its-kind guide to socially responsible MBA programs is as much a useful reference for prospective students as it is a metric against which MBA programs may compare their own social impact management curricula. I look forward to the next edition of this book including student input and alumni placement in Social Responsibility leadership positions.

For those who are trying figure out where to apply and are interested in non-profit management, environmental issues, social entrepreneurship, socially responsible management practices, sustainability, and development, the guide provides an efficient way to learn which programs focus on these issues. The guide highlights socially responsibility related core and elective courses, institutes and centers, annual events, other events, student clubs and programs, and, where applicable, faculty pioneers. The summaries are very good, but the analysis of each program is rather limited. I hope future editions will include introductory essays, perhaps by some of the faculty pioneers, as well as an greater analysis of how each MBA program creates a socially responsible business education. That said, it is, when combined with the Aspen Institutes Global 100 ranking and the Net Impact Guide to Business Schools, a very valuable resource to those looking to become informed about MBA programs with a strong social responsibility focus.