MBA Undergoes Sustainability Redesign
Our MBA program, which aims to develop responsible leaders, introduced a new sustainability-themed curriculum in 2022.
The revamped program is based on a skills mapping that identified 10 capabilities all MBA graduates need to tackle corporate sustainability challenges upon graduation, developed through best practices research and alignment with faculty and recruiters. Through close collaboration with each faculty member, each skill was woven into the program’s core courses rather than isolated into separate elements.
This resulted in changes such as the integration of the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) certification into the core Finance curriculum and the introduction of impact measurement into the Accounting course. The final integration of the sustainability skills and topics into the curriculum is visualized in a matrix map.
The MBA curriculum changes reflect the growing need for corporate leadership in social and environmental issues. The program was redesigned in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a CEO-led organization of more than 200 leading companies, to ensure it is fit for changing market needs. Investors recognize that addressing ESG has become a business imperative and that green brands are critical contributors to maximizing shareholder value. Talented people want to work for companies that tackle our social and environmental challenges.
Reflecting on the impact of the redesign, MBA Dean Omar Toulan said the redesigned program is preparing participants for “not just their first job, but five or ten years down the road.”
New Activities with Sustainability Themes
In addition to the core curricular changes, the MBA introduced special activities that allowed students to take a deep dive into sustainability themes:
Mountain Experience: Kicking off the MBA program in January, Peter Bakker, CEO of the WBCSD gave an introductory session entitled “Vision 2050 Time to Transform”. This was followed by a 2.5-day offsite orientation program in the Swiss mountains where in a “future-back” exercise, led by Knut Haanaes, the MBA students were asked to imagine that the corner had been turned on climate change by 2030. What had been done to reduce emissions? Each group came up with a unique vision for the future, in which business had a key role to play in creating solutions.
“It was a weekend full of new experiences and important reflections about the issues facing us today and in the future. We learned not to look down but to look ahead.”
Juan Perlas, MBA 2022
The Science Behind Sustainability: In March, the MBAs spent two days exploring climate science with faculty from the University of Lausanne, the University of Bern, and officials from WBCSD and other organizations. We ended this exercise with a deep dive into 20 global companies using science-based targets.
COP Simulation: Over two intense days, the MBA class simulated a UN COP Climate Conference, assuming the roles of delegates, activists, and journalists to understand the complexities and trade-offs involved in multilateral negotiations to prevent further global temperature rises. The exercise aimed to help students explore the purpose of COP and the role of economic activity in climate change and nature loss.
“Business leaders of the future need to be aware of the competing interests, logistical challenges, and emotions that drive negotiations at COP. This is something that can’t be taught with 20 slides; you need to experience it.”
Knut Haanaes, Lundin Sustainability Chair Professor
The kickoff took place at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva where MBA participants met key UN officials to discuss climate change.
External experts including Claire O’Neill, former UK Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, and Marco Lambertini, Special Envoy and former Director-General WWF International as well as leaders from UNFCCC and UNITAR shared their experiences of attending real COP summits.
Participants said the simulation had brought home the complexity of the talks and the challenge of finding common ground and building trust. Others spoke of the challenge of coordinating with teammates who were in parallel negotiations.
“Leading a lot of people with different interests is extremely difficult. The COP is doing this for two weeks. Right now, we have understood the difficulties they have – not only in finding solutions but also in finding the energy and the way to lead,” said one participant.
Business and Society Course Tackles Key Sustainability Topics
All MBA participants take the Business and Society course, led by Lundin Sustainability Chair Professor Knut Haanaes. This addresses sustainability challenges at three levels:
- Individual: moral licensing and transgressions
- Corporate strategy: balancing short and long-term priorities; value creation; the business case
- Systems change: stakeholder engagement; climate negotiations; and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainability Electives Offer Deep Dive
Innovation accounting and change-making: The hard and soft skills for sustainable innovation management
This course, offered by Professor of Sustainability and ESG Accounting Florian Hoos, offers a unique combination of sustainable innovation hard and soft skills. Hard skills include the use of tools and frameworks such as innovation accounting and reporting, but most corporates struggle with the soft skills needed to innovate effectively and sustainably. The course, therefore, helps MBA participants to internalize concrete soft skills related to the human factor of sustainable innovation, using the radical collaboration method developed in the US and applied by NASA, the US military, and established firms such as Toyota and Telia to increase collaboration across functions.
A Primer on Impact Investing and Sustainable Finance
In this elective, elea Professor of Social Innovation Vanina Farber examines how impact investors can fill the private capital financing gap to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and how corporations can play a role in the impact investment landscape. Participants also learn how firms should take ESG issues into account in their corporate strategy and report and disclose ESG factors for investors.
The Future of Marketing
The objective of this course, offered by Professor of Marketing and Strategy Frédéric Dalsace, is to find ways to transform marketing into a positive force of change for the future. The course reviews current practices and investigates possible avenues to alter these or develop new marketing practices so that marketing can play a positive role in tackling the environmental and societal challenges that lie ahead.
International Consulting Projects: MBAs Work on Real Corporate Challenges
In International Consulting Projects (ICPs), MBA students gain hands-on experience in developing business strategies for global challenges. Teams are coached by a faculty member over eight weeks as they work on real corporate challenges. Out of 21 projects in 2022, 13 were related to sustainability topics.
For example, a team of MBA students worked with a UK charity to create a business case and cost-benefit analysis for a systemic change in the management of linear public infrastructure such as road and rail verges, in which they would be treated as a nature-based solution offering benefits such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity.
A team also took part in a project assessing digital transformation at UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and assisting the organization with quick wins on digital maturity and culture. And four MBAs advised Avrora, one of the largest retailers in Ukraine, on growth strategies. As part of this ICP, which IMD carried out pro bono for Avrora, students conducted fieldwork in Eastern Europe and came up with proposals for the company’s go-to-market strategy in the wider region. Other sustainability and ESG-related projects were performed with the ICRC, WWF, and YMCA, as well as one done with the goal of providing digital education to girls in Afghanistan.
Startup Projects with Sustainability Themes
As part of the entrepreneurship stream, MBA participants worked on advising the leadership teams of several startups, including some with business plans related to sustainability. These included projects to:
- Enable existing heating systems to run on CO2 neutral fuels
- Transform low-value minerals into high-performance, safe, and ecological thermal insulation panels for buildings
- Develop helicopter drones to gather data about the Earth
Innovation Week Challenges MBAs to Redesign Startup Accelerator to Go Green
IMD’s Innovation Week set out to immerse students in action-based learning by exploring how MassChallenge can become the most climate-responsible start-up accelerator. MassChallenge is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship by helping startups polish their products and attract investors. The accelerator has set itself the ambitious goal of finding the 20 most impactful startups every year to mitigate climate change.
MassChallenge Switzerland board member Ian Roberts said: “To do this, we need to switch our model to help startups measure success using alternative KPIs to those we currently use – but also to assess them on climate and environmental factors.”
The 104 MBA students were tasked with innovating on four challenges:
- The selection process
- Stakeholder contribution
- Program content and support
- Impact measurement
The MBAs honed their ideas through workshops, guest lectures, and sessions putting their design thinking skills to the test, and pitched them to a panel of five entrepreneurs, board members, and sustainability experts.
Students praised the program’s effectiveness. Victor Kociok from Germany said: “A key takeaway for me was to trust the process. For innovation, you never know what is coming out of it – but when you put smart people in the room, you will get a result.”