With the recent economic recession, the business world is unfortunately looking as grim as our planet's environmental condition. Business is waning, many people are unemployed, and the mad production rates of just a few years ago have slowed down drastically.
Yet just as environmentalists are looking for a way to clean up the mess and come up with long-term solutions, the world is also looking for a more sustainable economy. Business and environmentalism do not have to fight each other, they can peacefully go hand in hand. Knowing this, I've been looking to do a green MBA. Scanning what's out there, this is what I've found.
As Bloomberg Businessweek noted in an article about the surge of green MBA programs: "In a world beset by economic woes as well as environmental problems-- from the scarcity of natural resources to climate change--sustainability represents one of the few potential bright spots in an otherwise dismal recruiting environment."
The educational programs that will be training the next generations of business men and women have taken notice, and made alterations accordingly.
As a result many green MBA programs have sprung up, even among some of the most prestigious schools. (Of course, is it also a little greener to do an online MBA and telecommute picking up those MBA business tips, in order avoid all the environmental effects of moving and commuting.) Based on what I've read and heard from friends looking to "green" their MBA, these appear to be the top choices.
Offering a dual MBA and MPA in Sustainable Management, the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco has built a curriculum based around three central concepts: sustainable systems, leadership, and business foundations. John Lehnert, a consultant for Expansion Media who began an MBA program at Presidio earlier this year, gave me his firsthand account of the green MBA degree and curriculum:
"The great reward of this program - with the mindshare of systems thinking - is the regularity with which my old assumptions are disrupted, as I learn how much fundamental change is needed to get the planet healthy again... Does that all sound squishy for b-school? Maybe at first glance, but it's what will work for companies in it for the long haul: looking as systems for impacts and influences, working with stakeholders and not just shareholders, and managing products and services even after they leave the factory or office. It's the only way we'll have the future we want. I'm loving the journey to get there."
You can steal a partial list of John's green MBA reading list here.
A university as renowned as Stanford has a strong reputation in many fields, and so it is no surprise to see that it is offering a strong MBA program. Its Graduate School of Business now offers a twist, though, in the form of a Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability program. The program covers a range of issues related to sustainable business, and "explore[s] what it means to turn sustainable business practices into competitive advantage."
The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is attempting to be green both within its core curriculum and the very architectural structure in which classes take place. It considers itself one of the world leaders in research and academic programming relating to sustainable enterprise, and uses its building as a demonstration of their commitment to the field.
The Ross building incorporates energy efficient and environmentally responsible features, such as energy efficient lighting, occupation sensors, skylights, three green roofs to insulate the building, and water saving mechanisms.
4. Bainbridge Graduate Institute
With a motto like "Changing Business for Good", you know that the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Seattle means business. (Check out the video clip here to get a feeling for the school and the pro Green business, that is. The institute has taken a different approach, not merely "greenifying" a conventional MBA program, but constructing a specific MBA in Sustainable Business. The goal of the program is to "prepare graduates to create and manage successful, dynamic enterprises that build a better world."
5. Yale University School of Management
Located on the east coast (unlike many of the green MBA programs in California), the somewhat conventional business school at Yale has been infusing its MBA program with a more sustainable agenda. It has incorporated partnerships between the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, hoping to create opportunities for greater strides in both fields. The program hopes to teach students to view business in a broader context - one that includes, among other things, the environment.
If any readers out there have experience with green MBA's in the US or elsewhere let me know in the comments. I am seriously thinking about enrolling in a program, and blogging about it.
Read more about green universities in the Middle East:
Saudi Arabia's KAUST University is Eco-friendly Environment For Fueling Academic Progress
BGU Makes Green Plan for Bedouin City of Rahat
New Student Center at Beirut's American University Wins Top Architectural Green Award
Follow Karin Kloosterman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/greenprophet
We work in terms of "Problems with Solutions" and, in that vein, my hope and dream is that we can continue to take a look at the opportunities for continuous improvements. That is what makes BGI so incredible and special!
Academic rigor is an important standard and yet, it’s a distorted scale for this type of paradigm shifting and change seeking that we crave. What isn’t taken into account in the academic rigor is the actual personal rigor within the BGI program. There aren’t necessarily academic standards that can evaluate the leadership and personal development component of our program, that should be accounted for.
Facing off with another mba program, our competitive edge is in our ability to build community and communicate effectively. That combined with traditional mba hard skills is a potent combo. I’m proud of the fact that our guest speakers leave US feeling changed for good. I doubt that other institutions could claim the same phenomenon. It’s a powerful community that has intangible assets.
BGI is absolutely preparing business leaders to be critical thinkers, which often transcends traditional models of Western academia.
That being said, BGI very much deserves recognition here and the #1 ranking across the board awarded by Net Impact and others. I am truly a better person for attending this school and for all the time invested into my development by the faculty and staff and fellow students.
I love being a part of (and co-creating) a cutting edge entrepreneurial school with very much a finger on the pulse of business as it is now. There is room enough for green business schools of every shade as we need as many change agents out there as we can get along with a variety for students to find the school that suits them best! I very much respect the spirit of cooperation and relationship between MBA programs and industries that the BGI leadership is trying to foster. We are all in this together.
Karin Kloosterman thank you for this article! Best wishes on finding your best fit. You'll find us BGI-ers to be a passionate and welcoming group.
I was a member of BGI's board of directors between 2003 and 2007. I also taught economics there between 2003 and 2009 (I have been faculty at several research universities before, during, and after my time at BGI). I left, appalled at the refusal of the academic leadership to raise the educational bar. To be sure, BGI attracts many high quality students, and many of them arrive knowing a lot and leave knowing even more. Many students have the time and disposition to put in a lot of work, and learn much more than they have to in order to do well at BGI. But BGI is a tuition-driven school. It has to ensure high acceptance rates and high retention. Otherwise fiscal crises threaten its viability.
As a result, BGI graduates a lot of students who lack adequate MBA preparation. BGI students spend a very large amount time working in teams, and the performance of some teammates is so poor that it brings learning down several notches for all. But because there is such a strong sense of community there, this is readily tolerated. But once an educational institution accepts low academic norms as acceptable, they are pretty impossible to change.
Since Dr. Saez's departure, we have become fully accredited and have continued to receive accolades and awards. We pride ourselves on two of the issues with which Dr. Saez finds fault. First, we employ both academics and practitioners as faculty, recognizing that both theory and practice have much to teach students.
Second, Dr. Saez is quite right that we structure many of our student assignments as team assignments. Most of the work of business in the 21st century will be done in teams; the more we teach our students to function effectively in teams, the better. This emphasis on teams sometimes makes the evaluation of individual performance more difficult. For this reason we use more individual testing than we did when Dr. Saez was at BGI.
We are in a far stronger financial condition than when Dr. Saez was on the board. We are grateful to the donors who have made it easier to deliver an excellent education.
We are also deeply grateful for the honor bestowed upon us by Karen Kloosterman in recognizing BGI as one of the five top sustainable business schools in the country. We would welcome a visit from anyone who wishes to share the excitement of seeing our program in action.
Ultimately, I found BGI and Presidio to go much deeper in their approach to sustainability with an emphasis on leadership and personal development as a core part of the curriculum where most of these other programs, save Dominican and maybe Marlboro, were mainly looking at sustainability only from more of a traditional environmental perspective. They both believe we cannot make business more sustainable w/out showing us how to become more sustainable in our own lives via work-life balance, personal ethics, etc.
I ended up choosing BGI over Presidio because it is more entrepreneurial and community minded, whereas Presidio has more of a corporate feel to it. It just depends on what suits you best and what kind of network you want to build. I think both programs are excellent and highly recommend them as the way to go if you want to learn deep sustainability frameworks and principles rather than just current practices and tools.
http://www.beyondgreypinstripes.org/index.cfm
I also think that it will be important to include some more specific reasons that you are pursuing a "Green MBA" as I've personally figured out that what you want to do with the degree will have a large impact on what sort of institution you choose. For instance if you want to be involved on the research side of things, then you'll want to go to a school that is heavily involved in research and is widely published.
Speaking to my experience at BGI, I can honestly say it is one of those programs that you leave changed, in a good way. As a good Midwesterner, it took me by surprise. It's not just that the program is deeply focused on both a solid business administration and enviro/social education, I also learned to grow as a human. This more than anything contributed my readiness to be a leader and enhanced my ability to learn. The continuous focus on leadership and personal development allowed me to take the reins of my education.
During and since graduating I've felt just as comfortable setting up an accounting system for a local start up (our CPA just gave us the thumbs up on it) as I have working with the varied social and enviro projects and leaders popping up in Detroit. I know the language of business and change. I look forward bringing innovative projects to sustainability financial and otherwise.
I know for a fact that the BGI community is 100% there for me and know that will be essential to my future success. I wish you luck in your search for a program that is a good fit!
You know how all your friends that went to an Ivy League school, or were in the Greek system, have this insane network that seems to materialize out of thin air to make their lives incredibly easy, with job offers, constant alumni events, happy hours, and friends galore? That's what BGI offers, with the added benefit that the network you leave with is made up of the most kind, passionate, supportive, creative, funny and collaborative people you could ever possibly imagine walking this earth, trying to make a difference, in a way that feels more like a family than a country club.
They also have great options for out-of-towners.
Do it!
Yes, article is about the top "Green MBA" degrees and should be focused primarily on the MBA degree, but Presidio stands out as an integrated sustainability graduate school, and is not just a "b-school."
The only programs on this list that I think operate in the same manner are Presideo and BGI. If you want a true sustainability degree, choose between BGI, Presideo, and Antioch. The others are really traditional MBA programs that may be moving towards a more sustainable approach. If you want to be on the cutting edge, go with one of the three that I mentioned.
We are few in number, but mighty in spirit!