Preparing Business Students to be Sustainable Business Leaders in the 21st Century

Abstract

The necessity and importance of sustainability has been discussed increasingly often and urgently as material business considerations, notably by Larry Fink, the CEO of Blackrock (Fink 2021a). Further, research over the past few decades has found that business school core curricula is encouraging students to develop selfish, individually focused, and even sociopathic behaviors and values by the time they graduate (Krishnan, 2008; Hoffman, 2021; Smith, 2021; Frank et al., 1993; Acemoglu et al., 2022). It is urgent that these occurrences be reconciled due to the pervasive threat of climate change and the damaging effect of “business as usual.” In this thesis, I assess how aligned business school stakeholders are in demanding sustainability skill sets; how heavily these stakeholders value sustainability; and lastly, apply these findings to BBA programs. The stakeholders and sub-categories of stakeholder groups analyzed include Students (Incoming BBA Students, Current Student Courses, & Current Student Co-Curriculars), Employers (Recruiters & Executive Education), and Donors. Researched and written from the perspective of a BBA student at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, this thesis includes certain data sources that are internal and specific to the experience of attending the Ross School. However, the results still are relevant and useful for other business programs to learn from and implement. Of the stakeholders discussed in this thesis, Students (particularly Current Student Courses and Current Student Co-Curriculars) and Employers (Recruiters and Executive Education) are the most aligned and show the strongest demand signals. These stakeholder groups demonstrate their demand through course enrollment, creation and involvement in co-curricular activities, new job postings, and re-education practices. The demand signals between Students and Employers are consistent since they are both looking for increased education and opportunities related to sustainability in business schools. However, the continued expression of these interests and wants reveal that a gap remains between what is available and what is currently available in business schools, which can be most efficiently bridged by embedding sustainability into the core curriculum.