How Green Is Your MBA?

 

My first blog post at Tonic was about Harvard's Business School graduates and their MBA oath relating to ethics. I was under the impression something like that was the exception, not the norm, in the MBA world. Not necessarily.

Park Howell, who blogs about green marketing, recently wrote a blog post covering  Beyond Grey Pinstripes and green MBAs. The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education manages Beyond Grey Pinstripes, a research survey that takes place every two years, focusing on innovative full-time MBA programs that integrate issues involving social and environmental stewardship into the curriculum.

Here are the top five United States MBA programs and one of their unique features, according to the 2007-2008 survey:

Stanford University. The Public Management Program (PMP), preparing graduates to tackle social and environmental issues, has been available at the school for more than 35 years.The University of Michigan. Before beginning their term, all incoming MBA students take part in a two-week leadership development conference featuring globalization, business ethics and corporate citizenship seminars.University of California, Berkeley. It launched the Center for Responsible Business in 2003, to draw the top students, faculty and partnerships in corporate social responsibility stewardships.University of Notre Dame. Each of the 17 required courses weaves in social, ethical or environmental issues.Columbia University. It integrates environmental and social issues throughout all parts of the program, including extracurricular activities and academic research.

Interestingly enough, Harvard is nowhere to be found on the Global 100 list of schools. But fear not, Harvard MBA students — you have another shot when the 2009-2010 survey comes out. It's set to be released in the fall.

 

Photo courtesy of Flickr user naotakem