ESG | EXECUTIVE EDUCATION and 82 % said an inability to find such talent is stopping companies from reaching sustainability targets .
“ This is exactly what we aim to solve with the Sustainability Educational Platform : helping our clients rapidly upskill their workforce at scale , to increase the odds of successfully navigating their sustainability transition ,” says Saint-Jean .
Recently , INSEAD unveiled a renewed MBA curriculum that embeds sustainability into all 14 of its core courses . The business school believes it may well be the first elite school to take such a comprehensive approach to sustainability , and that there is increased demand for business leaders to deliver financial performance as well as sustainability .
“ We are one of the few main business schools to incorporate sustainability into the MBA in such a significant way ,” Urs Peyer , Dean of Degree Programmes at INSEAD and Associate Professor of Finance , tells Business Chief .
“ While lots of business schools have electives , we decided to embed sustainability across the entire MBA , integrate it into each of the core courses , to ensure that all our students get exposure – and to guarantee that all subjects of general management deliver a sustainability angle .
“ We also decided to do a capstone , a mandatory course at the end focused on the challenges you may face around sustainability .”
That capstone is a three-day exercise for students to tackle at the end of their 10-month MBA , drawing on the sustainability skills they have honed across operations , strategy , finance , accounting , and marketing .
“ At CEO level , leaders are increasingly asking themselves how to integrate performance and progress , but this hasn ’ t yet trickled down in many organisations ,” says Peyer .
“ Sustainability – along with digital and technology – are the hottest topics right now . Those topics didn ’ t have the same level of five years ago but have now become something all leaders must bring to the table .”
Peyer adds that sustainability means different things to different people , and geography certainly plays a part . He says that while Europe is very much focused on climate change , the US focuses on diversity , equity and inclusion . In Asia , it ’ s more about lifting people out of poverty . “ Only by understanding perspective can we create consensus and make change ,” says Peyer .
This global perspective is part of INSEAD ’ s DNA , according to Sameer Hasija , Dean of Executive Education , and Professor of Technology & Operations Management , at INSEAD , and its mission to be the business school for the world . “ But being the business school for the world does not mean that you forgo
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