Business School Rankings for the 21st Century Report Launches Today

Davos, Switzerland – A new report on business school rankings is being simultaneously launched in Davos and Shanghai, with business school deans to discuss the report in Davos on January 23. The report, published under the aegis of the UN Global Compact and with the support of Aviva Investors gives an overview of the current state of the business school rankings and suggests possible changes to help align business school education with the needs of the 21st century.

Business school rankings are produced by organisations such as the Financial Times, the Economist, US News, Business Week, and Forbes. These rankings strongly influence business schools, which in turn influence their students: the next generation of decision-makers. However, these rankings have been critiqued for overemphasising graduate salaries, penalising business schools who educate graduates who work for non-profits, and not properly taking into account sustainability, ethics, or teaching quality.

The report, Business School Rankings for the 21st Century, suggests 20 actions to improve evaluation and ranking and encourage “a race to the top” in business education. Possible actions include:

  • Eliminate entirely, or reduce the weight of, the salary differential measure
  • Incorporate criteria that measure environmental, social, and/or SDG-linked factors within core curricula, research output, hiring, and special research clusters
  • Award credit to schools that train students who work for low-paying but societally valuable organisations after graduation

The report draws on consultations with business schools, progressive businesses, rankings publications, accreditation agencies, and relevant civil society organisations. Contributors include AABS (African Association of Business Schools); ABIS (the Academy of Business in Society); AMBA (Association of MBAs); Aon; the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism; CSER (Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge); EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development); GMAC (Graduate Management Admissions Council); GRLI (Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative); oikos International; and the UN PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education).

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Clémentine Robert, oikos International President 2019-2020: “Accreditation and ranking systems should highlight higher education institutions which equip students to face 21st century challenges. Those are mostly linked to sustainability and climate change in a global context.”

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Download the press release here for contact details and quotations from authors and contributors.

Visit the official webpage of the United Nations Global Compact to learn more about their programs and activities.

Read the whole report here

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oikos International

posted January 23, 2019

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oikos Winter School 2019

oikos Winter School 2019 will take place from 17th to 23rd March. As always, oikos Witten/Herdecke will host about 30 students from all over the world to discuss and work out solutions to a plethora of problems in sustainability. This Winter School will look at urban development in the Ruhr area and all over the world. Mobility and housing are the two main focus points of the school.

You can learn more and apply here.

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oikos International

posted January 10, 2019

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oikos Newsletter January 2019

Happy New Year! Every beginning is full of new opportunities and challenges. At oikos, we believe, in 2019 together with our chapter members, alumni, faculty and partners, we can seize new possibilities for sustainability in economics and management education, and advocate more vigorously for a responsible, ethical and environmentally conscious leadership.

You can start having influence in the field of sustainability today!

Submit your case on sustainability to oikos Case Writing Competition!

Apply to the oikos Spring Meeting 2019!

Apply to the oikos Winter School 2019!

Join oikos Working Group on Marketing and Communications! 

In this edition of our newsletter, you can also read about oikos Asia Meet 2018 in Kolkata, India and learn about a brand new project launched by oikos Baku in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, meet representatives of oikos Suzhou, who introduced their chapter and discussed sustainability issues prevalent in China.

Enjoy this January edition of our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated!

Read the whole newsletter here

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oikos International

posted January 10, 2019

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oikos Book Presentation and Discussion

About a year ago, the oikos Book “Anders wachsen! Von der Krise der kapitalistischen Wachstumsgesellschaft und Ansätzen einer Transformation” was published thanks to the efforts of oikos Leipzig. On 25th January we will welcome Katja Kipping, the chairman of the party DIE LINKE and one of the authors of the book to a discussion at Lehmanns Bookshop. Together with the editors of the book Mathilda Reinicke and Maximilian Becker, she will discuss the book as well as the topic of unconditional basic income.

Almost all areas of our lives are characterized by growth and acceleration thinking. The basic assumption of perpetual economic growth is linked to the promise of prosperity and wealth. However, the reality is very different: the capitalist growth society causes numerous social and ecological crises both regionally and globally. They are an unmistakable sign that the ideology of economic growth is at an end and that it urgently needs alternatives.

Admission is free!

More information about the book can be found here: https://www.oekom.de/nc/buecher/gesamtprogramm/buch/anders-wachsen.html

More information about the event is here.

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oikos International

posted January 10, 2019

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30 seconds with oikos Suzhou

 In January, we welcome Haoyue Zheng and Adit Rastogi of oikos Suzhou to our monthly segment. They shared how oikos Suzhou came to life, what sustainability challenges are prevalent in their region and how their oikos chapter tackles existing problems. 

Haoyue Zheng, President, oikos Suzhou

“Doing well by doing good” – I heard these words from my professor. It made me wonder if  businesses today follows this message, so I started investigating more about sustainability issues. During this time, I realized that profit should not be the only goal for corporations to chase after. I learned about companies that give back to society because of their internal moral and ethical convictions, then there are those that have faced a number of scandals for doing just the opposite. When I realized that many of my fellow students did not share the same concern, I knew it was time to act and spread the word about ethics and sustainability in business. Thus, I decided to start the oikos chapter in Suzhou, first one in China.  

Waste management has been a growing problem in China, especially plastic pollution. Learning from oikos chapters around the world has convinced me that we can replicate some of the solutions in Suzhou as well. It is a challenging task; however, I have already managed to find passionate students to join this movement. The quote “Doing well by doing good” by my professor Dr. Xuanwei Cao, has since then stuck with me, now with a group of other motivated oikos Suzhou members, we can bring the change and make our campus, and city, as sustainable as it can be.

Adit Rastogi, Vice President, oikos Suzhou

Climate change, responsible leadership, transition to the circular economy, these are just some of the many problems that the world faces right now be it in Asia, Europe, or Americas. China’s meteoric industrial rise has had several environmental impacts. Suzhou, SIP in particular faces an uphill task in terms of recycling, responsible consumer behavior and last but not least there is a pressing need for spreading awareness on sustainability issues.

For years I have been trying to urge people about environmental problems, unfortunately often they avoid having this type of conversations. Working towards sustainability alone is not easy. So, the oikos chapter in Suzhou, gave us a platform to bring like-minded people together. We are pioneering the recycling of plastic waste on our campus and have ambitious plans for 2019. More and more people are joining the movement on the XJTLU campus and we truly believe we will remodel the circular economy here. We need to realize that giving people information on their own environmental footprint is empowering them. A lot of changes in Suzhou can be made by engaging with the local community.

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oikos International

posted January 7, 2019

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