Who Offers The Best MBA In The World For Corporate Social Responsibility?

Society is demanding a higher level of responsibility from business and the time has come for academics to step up to the challenge. Turns out, Canada’s Schulich School of Business at York University is doing just that.


One of Realized Worth’s most widely read articles was, 'MBA Program Trashed on Harvard Business Podcast.' In the article, we examined some of the push-back MBA programs are facing and why. One central issue in the discussion deals with the tendency of MBA programs to reflect on trends and new ideas rather than developing them. For more on this line of thought read 'Corporate Social Responsibility Is Just Good Business.'

In spite of this common miss, there are yet some business schools that are keeping pace with current issues - if not pushing the envelope. While there are numerous categories of MBA rankings today, only one evaluates MBA programs on criteria beyond just test scores and reputation. The Aspen Institute measures how well business schools are “preparing their students for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.”

We wish to extend our congratulations to the Schulich School of Business at York University, here in Toronto, Canada. Schulich was ranked number one in the world yesterday, ahead of an amazing line up of prestigious schools.

The Top 20:

1. York (Schulich)
2. U. of Michigan (Ross)
3. Yale School of Management
4. Stanford Graduate School of Business
5. Notre Dame (Mendoza)
6. UC Berkeley (Haas)
7. RSM Erasmus
8. NYU (Stern)
9. IE Business School
10. Columbia Business School
11. U. of Virginia (Darden)

12. Cornell (Johnson)

13. GWU School of Business

14. U. of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)

15. Simmons School of Management

16. Duke (Fuqua)

17. Wisconsin School of Business

18. Duquesne (Donahue)

19. U. of New Mexico (Anderson)

20. U. of Denver (Daniels)

According to the Institute, Schulich received “high marks for the extraordinary number of courses available to students that contain environmental, social and ethical content as well as for the number of relevant scholarly articles being published by the School’s faculty members.”

Dean Dezö J. Horváth, was thrilled with Schulich’s ranking. In response, Horváth said, “The untold story regarding today's stellar achievement is the contributions of so many of our faculty members – professors from a wide range of backgrounds who are also actively contributing cutting-edge research in business matters related to sustainability, business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Our academic expertise is not confined to a few areas, but is broad-based and cross-disciplinary, with Schulich professors from different backgrounds teaming up to produce research that sheds new light on how to understand and better manage a number of longstanding business challenges."

The survey covered 149 schools of business from 24 countries. More information about the data collected in the survey as well as the full list of the “Global 100” business schools can be found at: www.BeyondGreyPinstripes.org.

Where To Find Sustainable Business Employment?

Socially Responsible jobs in companies really do exist!

GUEST BLOG POST: Mark Swartz (MBA, M.Ed.) is the National Career Advisor on Workopolis.com's homepage. His current focus is 'Sustainable Business Employment,' helping people profit their career, company and society. You can find out more about Mark on Linkedin.

Green and Ethical Opportunities Are Increasing

The idea of employment being sustainable has a lot of appeal in this day and age of job insecurity. Now there’s a whole new meaning to the term. “Sustainability” implies that your job involves green, environmental initiatives, or else falls under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which betters society in ethical ways.

It’s a great new way for you to increase your marketability as an employee in Canada. You can differentiate yourself as a capable contributor who can also get profit-enhancing CSR done. But don’t just take it from me.

Being a Sustainable Business Employee

Adding his viewpoints is Dr. Andrew Crane, George R. Gardiner Professor of Business Ethics and Director, Business & Sustainability Program at the Schulich School of Business (voted world's #1 school for CSR in the world), located at Toronto's York University. He says that this the right time for people to clarify their role as an employee involved in CSR initiatives: "You are not merely the company's conscience or donations person. You are uniquely prepared to deal with complexity and multi-stakeholder relationships on a strategic basis."

Andrew adds that those who can create new socially responsible products and services (e.g. fair trade coffee, green mortgages), or who can reshape processes to enhance the triple bottom line (e.g. using fewer scarce resources, leaving less of a carbon footprint, making governance more effective), will be in demand. He also notes that "Consumers will purchase responsibly - assuming that price, quality and branding are equal to the alternatives. Thus we need business-savvy employees who can make or promote exciting products and services that have CSR built-in and the potentially daunting tradeoffs removed."

Jobs for Sustainable Business Employees

As for where the jobs might be, Andrew says that you needn't focus your search exclusively on employers in the environmental or not-for-profit sectors. "When you look at who is winning awards for being socially responsible, it includes companies such as Walmart, IBM, Loblaws, Vancouver City Savings and Home Depot; places you may not have thought to look first." Each of the companies cited above is on the "Best 50 Corporate Citizens" list for 2008 or 2009, prepared by Corporate Knights (the Canadian magazine for responsible business).

How to find an employer that might value your CSR credentials? Well, it makes sense to look at that Best 50 list above and also review the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) membership roster, for starters. To that you can add member businesses of the Canadian Centre for Ethics and Corporate Policy, Macleans magazine's list of Canada's Greenest Employers and the Jantzi/Macleans 50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations.

Here’s a tip from Adine Mees, President and CEO of CBSR: "Seek out industries where there are already obvious aspects of CSR that directly impact profitability and the capacity to function within communities, such as mining or oil and gas." Your goal is to be at the intersection “where significant stakeholder concerns and corporate strategy meet head on." As well, search for employer websites where they boast of their sustainability efforts. And keep an eye out for those that issue a CSR or Sustainability Report in addition to the standard Annual Report.

Andrew adds that "So far there are few actual jobs with CSR in the title, yet employers often look for people who match their values and vision statement, who can position themselves as a solid recruit based on respecting integrity while also being a champion of innovation, profitability and sustainability." He reminds us that to meet the needs of multiple stakeholders (both internal and external), you may need to prepare yourself to be "politically astute and tough, declaring yourself a true agent of change."

Earn and Return

So that’s where things stand for now. Employers who aren't serious about CSR may well cut back in this realm during a downturn. Those who have seen that the benefits of deeper corporate citizenship outweigh the investment are likely to continue their core commitment to CSR, though they may need to defer major projects until conditions improve. In any event, hiring in the “Green Collar” workforce is picking up steam as environmental issues and carbon reduction become more pronounced; Corporate Social Responsibility positions are being advertised on Canadian job banks for the first time ever. Not a bad way to make a good living while making a difference.

Mark Swartz, CareerActivist.com

Speaker, Author, Sustainable Career Specialist

Mark has built a reputation as a leading Canadian career authority. His insights are available to millions yearly as the National Career Advisor on Workopolis.com’s homepage. A former Toronto Star careers columnist and corporate strategic marketer, Mark’s current focus is “Sustainable Business Employment,” helping people profit their career, company and society. Schulich MBA, M.Ed. UToronto OISE.
Published with permission. Copyright Mark Swartz 2009.

Bank Offers Free Health Care To Community: Now That’s Corporate Social Responsibility!

Corporate Social Responsibility is essential to build strong relationships with consumers. On the brink of collapse, Puerto Rico’s Doral Bank transformed itself with an aggressive CSR strategy. By offering free mammogram testing and education on health care for women, Doral bank has quickly established itself as a trusted community partner.


Banking on relationships

What do you do when your stock is declared ‘toxic waste’ and '0ne of the biggest disasters on the NYSE of the past few years'? In the wake of scandal and corruption charges, the stock of the Puerto Rican Doral Bank tanked. (It fell from $50 to $1.19 in just 12 months.) And unlike banks caught in the tsunami of subprime market crises, Doral had no global collapse to blame.

Refusing to die quietly, Doral reached out to a 20 year vetern of GE, Glen Wakeman. Named president and CEO in May 2006, Wakeman tackled Doral’s issues with gusto. He started with compliance and governance issues which included a SEC claim, an FDIC Cease and Desist Order, and a class-action lawsuit by shareholders. It didn’t take long for Wakeman to prove his worth - he dug up enough capital to avoid bankruptcy though private-equity funding.

Wakeman’s efforts kept the bank open and avoided bankruptcy. But Doral was left with a triage - they had to decide how to build on real value. Turns out, Doral’s true worth wasn’t found in its vaults, but in it’s relationship with the community.

Puerto Rico has a population of about 4 million people. According to S&P reports, Doral had just over 500,000 accounts. That means that most of the population of Puerto Rico had some kind of connection to the bank. In order to take advantage of this value, Wakeman transformed Doral from an institution that offered mortgages, to a full-service bank. “Doral was a strong name in the financial community, particularly in the mortgage area. We wanted to leave the old Doral, the mortgage institution, and move into a full-service bank,” said Karla Gual, VP of brand development.

It was a good plan, but a new logo wouldn’t do the trick. Lucienne Gigante, the VP of Public Relations, told me in our recent interview that Glenn wanted to transition Doral into a community bank. Not just by aggressively opening new branches and new accounts, but by “immersing the bank in the community.” Sounds good, but it’s not an easy task.

The two sides of Brand-Trust: Competence and Intention

The challenge lay within the issue of trust. Brand-consumer relationships require trust to function, but when companies fail, especially because of scandal, there is an incredible erosion of trust. When companies in this situation look to rebuild, they not only have to reestablish trust in the community, they have to mend the damage that left them at a deficit.

Doral’s customers needed assurance. They needed to know that their bank is competent and reliable - more so than ever. But competence is only part of the brand-trust equation. Doral had to convince Puerto Ricans that it genuinely had their best interests at heart. Wakeman understood this. He knew that people had to believe that he and his bank would protect the vulnerability of its customers; that Doral was intensely and actively committed to their well-being.

Wakeman convincingly spoke to these concerns by addressing the area that hit closest to home: health care.

Health insurance is a huge topic for Americans right now. Almost 50 million Americans are uninsured. These citizens are typically poor, unemployed or in some other state of stress. Unfortunately, with issues such as breast cancer, early detection would prevent death in 98% of the cases. Of course, if you’re uninsured you don’t have access to annual mammogram testing. Without a simple mammogram test, your chances are dismal.

In 2008, Doral launched ‘Ruta Pink’ (Pink Route), a community initiative that promotes the early detection of breast cancer. Now a pink mobile clinic travels to various Doral Bank branches offering women free mammograms, as well as biopsies and referrals. This is a free service offered in conjunction with Susan G. Komen For The Cure Puerto Rico. So far, over 2100 women have accessed this life saving service as well as attend education seminars on women’s health.

Watch the Ruta Pink video channel on YouTube.com.


Corporate Social Responsibility IS the bottom line

Unlike many other companies investing in Corporate Social Responsibility, Doral managed to connect the Ruta Pink initiative to it’s key services. Now, every time a woman opens a ‘Pink’ account, Doral makes a financial contribution to the Susan G. Komen foundation. “Municipalities are calling us and asking us to open branches in their communities and bring Ruta Pink with them,” Lucienne Gigante said. She told me that a key part of this community initiative was for “branch managers to be perceived as valuable leaders in their community.” Doral is providing their managers the tools to achieve that goal.

Within the first year of the bank’s transformation it was clear that Wakeman’s plan was working. By the Fall of 2008, the perception of Doral as a bank concerned for the well-being of the community improved by almost 100%. Positive sentiment toward Doral’s brand image overall improved by an impressive 58%. This positive perception translated into an increase in clients from 400,000 to 450,000 and in deposits by 5%.

Doral was recently awarded a Country Award for Achievement and named the 2009 Bank of the Year by Finance Magazine (UK).

If you’d like to know more about Doral’s community programs, you can visit their community involvement page.

How Did Corporate Social Responsibility Hold Up In 2009?

You’ve heard it said: the economic crisis means death to Corporate Social Responsibility. Goodbye “green” and all you friendly tree-huggers. The bottom line is back. Serious business is taking over. Didn’t we all suspect it was just a fad anyway?

Funny thing is, it wasn’t a fad. Green is gold and the crisis is only proving the point. Turns out, CSR may be the most important business strategy today.

Boston College, Center for Corporate Citizenship, has just released a report, “The State of Corporate Citizenship, 2009.” It is a survey of 756 senior executives conducted between June 4 and June 23 of this year. The only report of its kind, it samples a cross section of American business. 36% small businesses (1-99 employees), 24% medium (100-999), and 40% large companies (1000 + employees).

Download the PDF Report here.

And guess what? It says more than half of business execs think corporate citizenship holds higher importance during the current recession than ever before.

The area that took a hit from the economy was philanthropy. It was down in 38% of the companies (50% companies said their philanthropy remained the same). Apparently sustainable products and services are much more recession resistant. As many as 52% of the companies surveyed reported offering sustainable products or services. The ‘greening’ of production and supply chains may have even thrived during the economic collapse - the majority of companies surveyed reported reducing costs through improved materials efficiency.

Other interesting highlights:

• Reputation is identified as the No. 1 driver of corporate citizenship by 70 percent of executives (82 percent from large companies).
• Executives believe business should be more involved today in addressing major public policy issues including health care, product safety, public education and climate change.
• U.S. executives do not support more government regulation – 72% say corporate citizenship should be completely voluntary
• There is a growing gap between large and small U.S. companies on issues of corporate social responsibility.

The report provides robust insight regarding Corporate Citizenship. It offers easy access to important information through simple charts and diagrams as well as succinct summaries. What’s more, the comparisons between large and small companies provides an avenue to understanding the constraints and opportunities unique to each group.


My Thoughts (You know you want them...)

We (Realized Worth) were left with 2 significant questions with this report that we would be curious to discuss with the authors. The first is regarding the correlation between employee lay-offs and corporate citizenship. The second addresses the role of self-interest in CSR.

1 - Employee Lay-offs and Corporate Citizenship

The report sites research which claims that small businesses dealt (partially) with the economic crisis by keeping employees, while simultaneously cutting back on efforts toward other areas within corporate social responsibility. Larger businesses, on the other hand, dealt with the crisis by laying off employees, while maintaining or increasing their CSR efforts.

The report seems to suggest that small businesses maintain their CSR profile by not laying-off employees. The implication is that small businesses believe “citizenship begins at home,” and large businesses may have become callous to this sentiment. Therefore, small businesses may have acted as better corporate citizens than the average larger company in this particular regard.

Is it possible that laying off employees could be a responsible decision for a large business? Or that keeping employees can be simply the only option for a smaller business? Either way, corporate practices around laying off employees are complicated. While simplifying information is a strong point of the report, doing so with information like this could lead readers to summarily assign labels of “good citizen” or “bad citizen” without the additional research necessary to come to such conclusions. Employee lay-offs are not good. But they are not always bad. Sometimes these things are simply the nature of business. The point is, lay-offs do not necessarily equal bad citizenship.

On the other hand, cutting back on CSR (community engagement, green strategies, etc) does tend to point toward questionable practices. Companies that become competitive at the expense of society or the environment are bad citizens. This particular point would merit a greater emphasis regarding the state of corporate citizenship in 2009.

2 - The role of self-interest in CSR

I couldn’t agree more with the following statement: “(In order to address social challenges business leaders must) move well beyond traditional notions and models of corporate citizenship based primarily on philanthropy to look holistically at the role and impact of business on society and engage actively in bringing their assets to bear on addressing society’s challenges.”

Traditional notions would lead us to believe that writing a cheque, with little personal involvement, is good enough. A holistic approach is something entirely different. It expects that we involve ourselves and are appropriately affected by what we experience. I agree with Boston College that we indeed need to move toward a holistic approach. However, the report also states: “‘The challenge for companies as they engage in the public policy arena will be to separate their immediate self interest and interest of their shareholders from the broader interests of society and their role as corporate citizens”

Is this separation possible? If it is possible, would it be a good thing? Probably not. Creating an “either-or” conversation on the topic of Corporate Citizenship is not an effective approach. In fact, it isn’t even the approach of Boston College. An integrated, or “both-and” approach guarantees the success of corporate social responsibility by tying the self-interests of the company to the interests of the broader community. Once these concepts are inextricably linked, companies are able to make good strategic choices without questioning priorities.


The Center for Corporate Citizenship offer outstanding leadership

Thankfully, there are groups out there like the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College who are doing the work to extricate this information for the rest of us. The field of CSR is burgeoning - soon we’ll all be racing to catch up. While reports with this kind of timeliness and reliable, comprehensive data are few and far between, we have an opportunity to enter into discussions that will equip us each for the world that is about to open up to us. Thank you, Boston College, for leading the way.