The Schulich School of Business at York University was ranked number three in the world in a global ranking of the world’s top MBA programs released yesterday.
Right: The Seymour Schulich Building, home of York’s Schulich School of Business
The ranking, conducted jointly by World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute, measures the extent to which business schools prepare their students for the reality of tomorrow’s markets, equipping them with an understanding of the social, environmental, and economic perspectives required for business success in a competitive global economy. Nearly 100 business schools from around the world were surveyed.
The Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking identified the top 30 MBA programs by inviting nearly 600 MBA programs to report on their coursework and research. The survey analyzed 1,842 courses, 1,713 extracurricular activities and programs, and 828 journal articles from leading peer-reviewed business publications. A full description of the ranking, its methodology and individual MBA program ratings is available online by clicking here.
“Corporations are increasingly dependent on executives who are able to help them negotiate the new realities of the changing business environment, particularly policies and practices that address issues of social and environmental responsibility,” said Judith Samuelson, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program.
“To be competitive, corporations need to recast social and environmental problems as business growth opportunities,” added Jonathan Lash, president of World Resources Institute. “Top-ranked Beyond Grey Pinstripes schools are leading the way in providing students with the skills that are becoming increasingly valuable to business’s bottom line, including searching for innovative technologies and entrepreneurship opportunities around climate change, water scarcity, labor issues and poverty alleviation.”
The Schulich School of Business distinguished itself not only by offering a large number of courses that addressed social and environmental issues in business, but also by the relatively large proportion of MBA students who actually took those classes.
Right: Dezsö J. Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business
“Businesses and organizations today are increasingly paying attention to the triple bottom line of economic, social impact and environmental management,” said Dezsö J. Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business. “It is the responsibility of business schools, if they wish to remain relevant, to prepare their graduates for this emerging new reality.”
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to find practical ways to protect the earth and improve people’s lives. For more than a decade, WRI’s Sustainable Enterprise Program has harnessed the power of business to create profitable solutions to environment and development challenges.
The Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program is dedicated to developing leaders for a sustainable global society. Through dialogues and research, the Institute creates opportunities for executives and educators to explore new pathways to sustainability and values-based leadership.