Social responsibility and the MBA

MBAs from Oxford, Esade and CBS recognised for incorporating socially responsible business practices

Teaching effective management remains the core function of business schools. But since the near-collapse of the global economy, teaching business as usual has lost some of its luster. Particularly in Europe, which suffered much of the fallout, revelations of reckless management in the financial industry - a main employer of business school graduates - and the devastating consequences for taxpayers and working people have led to something of a backlash. Students and employers have started to demand that business educators pay more attention to long-term social and ethical sustainability.

Copenhagen Business School, the largest in Scandinavia, has a strong reputation for its social and sustainable business courses, at least in part a reflection of the character of Danish society, according to Daniel Hjorth, a professor at the school.

“We insist that the social is not an epi-phenomenon in the economy,” he said, noting that the provision of social benefits in Scandinavian countries was not seen as merely a secondary effect of market-driven activity.

This is a short excerpt from the original article published on New York Times 21 October 2013. Read the full article here.