What comes to mind when one thinks of protecting the environment? Buzzwords and phrases such as sustainability, clean fuel and energy efficiency get tossed around and shuffled. But what does it take to actually save the environment?
What comes to mind when one thinks of protecting the environment? Buzzwords and phrases such as sustainability, clean fuel and energy efficiency get tossed around and shuffled. But what does it take to actually save the environment?
For the next generation of business owners, it’s a lot to consider. Today’s children will be growing up with the world that is left behind for them, and tomorrow’s business owners have a responsibility to ensure that the world left to those children is one in which they can live healthy, productive lives.
Portland State’s Masters in Business Administration program promotes, among other things, sustainable business practices. And the program is now ranked number 14 in the world thanks to the integration of sustainability into its curriculum and is number one on the list of programs with fewer than 100 students. This is according to Beyond Grey Pinstripes, a biennial survey of business programs in the world done by the Aspen Institute.
Of the 149 business schools around the world that are participating in the survey, the top ten included Stanford, York and University of California, Berkeley. Several Oregon schools were also ranked among the top 100. Willamette University ranked 23, the University of Oregon ranked 60 and Oregon State University ranked 89 on the list.
The MBA program at PSU follows three key ideas: leadership, innovation and sustainability. Leadership and innovation are widely recognized as needed qualities in the business world. The fact that sustainability is seen as important to PSU is a strong indication of the value that the university places on the environment. By promoting these values, the School of Business Administration hopes to make their students into strong, effective and conscientious leaders.
“I want to turn out students who will be good business people,” says Darrell Brown, associate dean of the School of Business Administration. According to Brown, “good business people” are not necessarily the most financially stable or the most ahead of their game but are rather those who recognize the importance of sustainable business practices and the effect they have on the world.
Businesses have a significant impact on the environment, depending on their practices. Therefore, business leaders have a responsibility to society to conduct business sustainably. “We expect our people to recognize their responsibility in a broader world that includes social and environmental issues,” Brown said.
The school of business introduced sustainability into the curriculum long before Beyond Grey Pinstripes started ranking the integration of sustainability into business programs. Sustainability became part of PSU’s core curriculum in the School of Business Administration eight years ago. In the past six years, PSU’s MBA program has made it onto the list all three times that the biennial survey has been conducted.
This year’s ranking, however, is the highest ranking that PSU has achieved thus far. The prestige and international recognition that the program has gained as a result of that ranking has sparked interest in the program in people all over the world. The MBA program’s ranking on Beyond Grey Pinstripes is an international indicator of the quality of the program.
The MBA program currently has 87 students, nearly half of whom are studying full-time. Because of the international recognition that Portland State’s MBA program has received due to its ranking on Beyond Grey Pinstripes, it is likely that more students will choose to seek their Masters of Business Administration at PSU. The program will likely grow to promote sustainability to a larger number of business students every year.
As Brown said, Portland State considers sustainability an important factor in the business world, more so than many other universities. Portland State’s MBA program aims to make an impact on sustainability in society. Now armed with international recognition along with the sustainable practices that its graduates contribute to the business community, it may meet that goal.
