The MBA program at York University’s Schulich School of Business was ranked number one in the world Monday according to the results of a new global survey conducted by Corporate Knights, the world’s largest circulation magazine with an explicit focus on responsible business. The magazine is published quarterly and distributed in Canada through The Globe and Mail and in the US through The Washington Post.
The first-ever Global Green MBA survey assessed how well business schools from 17 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and South Africa are integrating social, ethical and environmental impact management issues into the curriculum. The results are published in Corporate Knight’s current issue.
Schulich ranked first overall with a score of 89.83 per cent and placed first in the category of Faculty Support; second in the category of Course Work; and third in the category of Student Participation. According to Corporate Knights, Schulich was “strong in every category” of measurement and received a perfect score in the category of Faculty Support.
“We’re pleased that one of Schulich’s MBA programs has once again been ranked number one in the world in a recent global 
survey,” said Dezsö J. Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business. “The Corporate Knights Global Green MBA ranking measures which schools are doing the best job of preparing future business leaders for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.”
Dezsö J. Horváth
Schulich was also the only school to place within the top three in each category. Corporate Knights also noted that top-ranked Schulich “boasts five institutes focused on everything from business ethics to building sustainable enterprises, while at least 10 professors published relevant papers in academic journals last year.” Canadian business schools fared well in the ranking, with four of them finishing in the top 10. The US had 11 MBA programs among the top 30, while European business schools accounted for nine of the MBA programs that made the top 30 list.
This is the second global ranking within the past two months in which one of Schulich’s program has been ranked number one in the world. In late July, the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA was ranked number one in the world in the first ever survey of the globe’s top EMBA programs conducted by The Economist, finishing ahead of UCLA, Oxford, Chicago and IMD. According to The Economist ranking, the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA scored among the highest marks for the quality of the program’s students, as well as for the quality of its faculty and its facilities. It also came out on top when alumni were asked the extent to which the program helped them achieve their pre-MBA career goals.
Monday’s Corporate Knights Global Green MBA ranking marks the second time that Schulich has been rated number one in the world in responsible business. Schulich finished first overall in the 2009-2010 Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking, conducted by the Aspen Institute, a Washington, DC leadership think tank. The survey rates the top 100 MBA programs that are preparing future leaders for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.
“Research shows that companies that focus on the social and environmental bottom line as well as the financial bottom line create greater shareholder value on average over the mid-to-long term. Adopting a broad triple bottom line approach is more than just good corporate citizenship – it’s simply good business management,” says Horváth.
In the 2011-2012 Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking, Schulich placed second overall in the world behind Stanford, and finished either first or second in three of the four categories measured. Schulich was ranked number one in the world in the category of Faculty Research; number one in the world in the category of Relevant Coursework; and number two in the world in the category of Business Impact, which measures the total number of courses offered that focus on the role that for-profit business can play as a force for positive social and environmental change.