Survey Shows MBA Students Believe Business Should Be Agent of Social Change

Published 10-25-06

Submitted by BrownFlynn

Cleveland, Ohio - With the corporate scandals of recent years exposing severe moral and ethical transgressions, business schools have come under fire for failing to instill adequate ethical standards in students, while questions have been raised as well about the character of the students themselves. Several studies, for example, have found that business students cheat more than other students or are less concerned about economic and social justice.

Given this background, a Net Impact survey of more than 2,000 MBA students conducted within the past month gives cause for encouragement.

The survey suggests that the overwhelming majority of today's MBA students believe that businesses should work toward the betterment of society, that managers should take into account social and environmental impacts when making business decisions, and that corporate social responsibility should be integrated into core curricula in MBA programs.

Initial results of the survey were reported on Tuesday, October 24, by Liz Maw, executive director of Net Impact, at the Business as an Agent of World Benefit Global Forum in Cleveland. Net Impact is an international network of MBAs, graduate students and professionals committed to using the power of business to improve the world. The survey results will also be available at the annual Net Impact conference, Oct. 27-29 in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois.

"While we don't have earlier results for comparison, it may be that these responses reflect, at least in part, the extensive coverage of the corporate scandals of the recent past and the trials of the top executives implicated in them," Ms. Maw surmises. "It would hardly be surprising for such ethical disasters to enhance students' appreciation of corporate social responsibility."

The Net Impact survey was conducted online from September 25 to October 15, 2006 at 110 MBA programs in the US and Canada. A total of 2,112 students from 87 programs, 70% of whom were in the first year and 30% in the second, responded to 31 questions. Forty-five percent of the respondents were female, and 34% were people of color. Thirty-seven percent were members of Net Impact, whose membership exceeds 10,000 worldwide.

Among the findings:

Eighty-one percent agreed with a statement that businesses should work toward the betterment of society, although only 18% believed most corporations are currently working toward that goal.

Seventy-eight percent agreed that the subject of corporate social responsibility should be integrated into the MBA core curriculum, and 60% said they believed CSR makes good business sense and leads to profits.

Seventy-nine percent indicated they would seek employment that is socially responsible in the course of their careers, and 59% said they would do so immediately following business school.

Eighty-nine percent said business professionals should take social and environmental impacts into account when making business decisions.

While the 37% of the respondents who were Net Impact members were the most likely to be partial to social responsibility, social commitment proved strong even among the 63% who were nonmembers. Thus, among respondents who said they were not interested in becoming Net Impact members, 81% believed business professionals should take into account social and environmental impacts when making decisions; 64% said the subject of corporate social responsibility should be integrated into core MBA classes; 66% said business should work toward the betterment of society; and 60% said they would seek socially responsible employment.

The Net Impact survey was presented as part of a three-day global forum in Cleveland from Oct. 22nd to 25th. Convened by the Academy of Management, Case Western Reserve University and the United Nations Global Compact, the Business as an Agent of World Benefit Global Forum brings over 400 on-site and 700 virtual participants representing 40 different countries together to discuss issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

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About BrownFlynn

Founded in January 1996, BrownFlynn is a leading corporate sustainability and governance consulting firm. The Firm advises Fortune 500 and privately-held companies to drive value creation by focusing on and managing their greatest impacts by understanding their landscape, setting their direction, telling their story, and engaging their stakeholders. BrownFlynn is the first U.S.-certified training partner of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The Firm shares its expertise through speaking engagements, whitepapers, webinars, collaborative partnerships, and regular columns in leading publications. To learn more visit brownflynn.com.

Survey Shows MBA Students Believe Business Should Be Agent of Social Change

Survey Shows MBA Students Believe Business Should Be Agent of Social Change

BrownFlynn

BrownFlynn

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