SECRETARY-GENERAL HOPES GLOBAL FORUM FOR RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT EDUCATION

WILL ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS, LABOUR STANDARDS, GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Two-Day Event Closes by Stressing Value of Global Social Responsibility

In Business School Education, amid Most Severe Financial Crisis in Decades

Closing the Global Forum for Responsible Management Education at Headquarters this afternoon, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the two-day event attended by business school educators worldwide had set the stage for very fruitful cooperation between the United Nations and academia.

The corporate social responsibility movement was fuelled by the need to work together to find solutions to pressing environmental and social challenges, the Secretary-General said, expressing hope that the forum would launch a global drive to raise the bar for business education.

“As teachers, you can ensure that tomorrow’s leaders understand that the long-term growth of a business is tied to its environmental and social impact,” he said.  “As scholars, you can produce research that drives innovation and helps management to recognize the benefits of being a responsible business.  And as thought leaders and advocates in your communities, you can help advance awareness of broader challenges, opportunities and responsibilities.”

Hosted by the United Nations Global Compact, the Forum provided a platform for sharing perspectives, best practices and expertise on the Principles of Responsible Management Education, an initiative launched in 2007 to embed corporate responsibility and sustainability in mainstream business education.  Some 260 deans and other senior officials from business schools, business civil society organizations and United Nations agencies attended.

The Secretary-General noted significant progress in the past 18 months, with 178 business schools worldwide participating in the Principles initiative.  They had committed to advancing corporate responsibility by including universal values in their curriculum and research, and could shape generations of business leaders, as well as a shared vision of a sustainable, inclusive globalization benefiting the greatest number of people, including the poor.  In addition, more than 5,000 companies had joined the Global Compact.  The Forum could do much more to build on such promising developments.

“It is my hope that you will also help foster better cooperation between business and other actors, notably civil society organizations involved in trying to advance human rights, labour standards and good corporate governance,” the Secretary-General said.

During the closing session, participating scholars and educators adopted an outcome statement stressing the value of global social responsibility in business school education, particularly amidst the most severe financial crisis in decades.  In their statement, leaders pledged to base curriculum development for management education on corporate responsibility by aligning business strategies and operations with universal values and principles set forth in the Global Compact and other initiatives, as well as higher levels of transparency and accountability for stakeholders.

Noting that access to natural resources and man’s impact on the environment would reshape the competitive business landscape, they also promised to adopt a more global and systemic understanding of risk management and support global business engagement platforms such as the Global Compact’s Caring for Climate initiative and the CEO Water Mandate.  They pledged to develop voluntary initiatives to foster greater economic stimulation and coherence, as well as open business schools to greater collaboration with society.

Several business school deans also addressed the closing sessions.  Carolyn Woo, Dean of the Mendoza College of Business of Notre Dame University, in the United States, noting that only 27 business school deans were present at the Forum, expressed concern that integration of the Principles would be limited.  She asked the Secretary-General to provide two hours of programme time to work with business school deans, and stressed that it was crucial to have accountability in reporting on responsible management education efforts.  Bin Yang, Associate Dean of Tsinghua SEM, in China, said the Principles largely embraced Western ideologies, and that it was important to take into account Asian culture and philosophy, as well as to foster greater collaboration with other schools.

Jaime Alonso-Gomez, Dean of EGADE Nacional, in Mexico, said his school encouraged students to become active engines for development in society’s three main pillars -- business, academic and social sectors –- with the aim of creating well-rounded citizens and a well-rounded democracy. 

Charles Olweny, Vice Chancellor of Uganda Martyrs University, said his faith-based school was working to shape future leaders in business administration and management as well as in development on a continent where the focus was still mainly on primary and secondary education.  The emerging paradigm shift to tertiary education was important, particularly in helping to address such sub-Saharan African challenges as poverty, disease, issues of peace and justice, governance, and agricultural development.  Pierre Tapie, Dean of the ESSEC Business Europe, in France, stressed the importance of learning from the pitfalls of corporate executive excess.  Business education worldwide should be about social justice and preparing responsible business people to create economically and socially successful and sustainable societies.  One’s salary should not be the sole indicator of a business school graduate’s success.  And greater energy and resources should be put into doctorate programmes to prepare leaders for the future.

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For information media • not an official record