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Business has long had a reputation for disregarding the planet. Fair or unfair, this notoriety grew from a sense that commercial success begins and ends with the bottom line. Recent generations of entrepreneurs and executives, however, demonstrate heightened interest in environmental stewardship and social responsibility. While some of these business people and CEOs integrated their financial and ecological priorities through trial and error, aspiring executives can now take advantage of graduate-level training that is geared toward both profitable management and environmental sustainability. A Master of Business Administration degree program that emphasizes the conservation of natural resources can quite properly be called a Green MBA.
How Does This Differ From a Traditional MBA?
Typical MBA programs offer foundational courses in leadership, marketing, operations and economics. Beyond this core, they will organize concentrations in, for example, risk management, healthcare administration and real estate. New among these emphases is the field of sustainable business practices. Such content is taught through lecture format as well as hands on consulting internships at companies large and small. MBA students learn how to design and implement policies that minimize the carbon footprint, foster clean energy alternatives and measure environmental progress. Accordingly, business schools refer to this as “impact investing.” Profit is not sidelined, but rather presented in the context of societal and ecological benefit.
Resource: Top 20 Most Innovative MBA Programs, Ranked by Acceptance Rate 2014
What Can Students Do With This Degree?
Energy companies look for smart MBA grads to navigate the economic effects of retrofitting their facilities with new green technologies. Making these improvements cost-effective requires strong knowledge of production operations, accounting and economics. In addition, companies investing in solar parks or wind farms employ graduates with specialized knowledge of the real estate market and land use regulations. Construction firms seek out sustainability MBAs as project managers and analysts in deference to growing public concern about the environment and public health. More entrepreneurial types start their own consulting businesses, advising architects and engineers on the commercial viability of environmentally-friendly designs.
Can Businesses Practice Impact Investing and Still Remain Competitive?
The Green MBA is all about sustainability. Just as the earliest farmers learned to rotate crops and periodically leave land fallow, modern enterprises are likewise learning the importance of good stewardship of the natural world and good relations with the public. Using raw materials efficiently, disposing of waste products carefully and allocating some profit to social improvement all serve to stand a company in good stead with the community, thereby expanding its customer base. These policies also ensure the continued availability of resources for the future. In essence, impact investing is both practical and profitable.
The Future of the Green MBA
Educational and business forecasters see this degree growing in desirability among prospective students and corporate recruiters. While making money is still a dominant motivation for MBA candidates, they also want to make a positive impact on the planet and on the culture. This academic program joins social consciousness with the hard-nosed, tried and true concepts that make free enterprise so attractive. Since few can resist the win-win scenario, an MBA with a sustainability focus will attract an increasing number of idealistic would-be entrepreneurs.
Filed under: Green MBA
