Sustainability Ranking Highlights the Greenest MBAs

Corporate Knights, branded the 'Company for Clean Capitalism', has released its 2016 Better World MBA Ranking, a hierarchical display of the top business schools offering the greenest MBAs. With more people shifting towards the idea that business success should be built on long-term sustainability rather than short-term profit maximization, there is greater recognition that MBA core curricula need to be re-aligned to this changing demand. Since millennials are the demographic most preoccupied with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social impact, the call for added sustainability related courses could not be more fervently clamorous.

Corporate Knights has been assessing business schools for their integration of sustainability in business education since 2002. Three factors dictate the outcome of the rankings. These are; faculty expertise in sustainability, the number of centers and institutes dedicated to sustainability, and the number of courses related to sustainability in a program’s core curriculum. Sustainability related core courses can include programs on ethics and corporate social responsibility. By this analysis, the 20 top business schools incorporating sustainability into business education are as follows:

The top 20 business schools offering green MBAs

From a quick scan of the top 20, it's clear that business schools in the US and Canada dominate the chart, with Schulich School of Business retaining the top spot in this ranking for the fourth consecutive year. Business schools in Canada have often taken primacy in this annual ranking, the country in which Corporate Knights is based. However, in this edition, schools in the US and UK, behemoths across most educational rankings, constitute over 50% of the top 20.

An extended view of the 40 top business schools shows an interesting reshuffle as compared to the year previous. The Netherlands – small in territory, but increasingly big on sustainability – makes the most significant gains, doubling its number of business schools listed, from two to four. In addition, Rotterdam School of Management has climbed 26 spots since last year to take up seventh position in this edition, making the Dutch deserving of the reward for ‘most improved.’

In a 2015 and 2016 comparison view (see below) business schools in India, South Africa and South Korea slip off the chart to be replaced by institutions in Israel and Spain. KAIST, Korea’s Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is a surprising departure since it ranked fourth last year. 

Schulich, MIT and Duquesne – the three top business schools for sustainability

Schulich Business School has settled comfortably in its seat atop the sustainability MBA pyramid. Offering 12 institutes with a dedication to sustainability and sustainability related subjects, like CSR, research produced from these centers stacks up high with 200 papers produced over the last three years.

MIT Sloan School of Management is perceptibly vested in sustainability, having an independent Office for Sustainability as well an established Sustainability Initiative, the mission of which is to, “build a community of innovators for sustainability with MIT students and alumni, faculty and researchers, and allies in business, government, non-profit, and hybrid organizations.”

MIT has also been running its Sustainable Business Lab (S-Lab) since 2006. The S-Lab gives students the opportunity to embark on 12-week, mentor-led projects focused on sustainability with companies and non-governmental organizations partnered with the university.

Duquesne University’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business has jumped from 10th place last year to the top three in 2016. The school’s one-year, full-time specialized MBA in sustainability could account for this rise through the ranks with 12 dedicated sustainability related courses on the core curriculum spread across its six institutes and centers.

The urge for businesses to watch their triple bottom line

Sustainability is a hot topic across the board – consider, for instance, the top positioning of global warming, fossil fuels and renewable energy in the current US presidential debate. Companies are being urged to examine their triple bottom line, in other words, their social and environmental performance alongside monetary profits and losses. The 2008 financial crisis triggered widespread disenchantment with big banks and corporations, and with no signs of global warming appeasing (among a few of the better known social and environmental issues out there), more business schools are seeing the value in CSR and meeting student demand in this area. There is certainly some way to go, but with more top business schools like Schulich, MIT Sloan and Palumbo Donahue leading the way, we can be cautiously optimistic.