Program
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Program Foundations
Do you feel lost in a sea of ordinary MBA options?
Are you looking for more than a simple career change or salary boost?
Our MBA Sustainability degree attracts hybrid talent—early and mid-career professionals who want to become agents of change.
A decade ago, corporations and sustainability advocates focused almost solely on a single dimension of the triple bottom line: the environment.
Today, those leading the sustainability charge have set aim on a new goal: integrated sustainable development.
Integrated sustainable development considers simultaneously business best-practices for managing financial, human and natural resources.
Integrated sustainable development challenges all parties to find better solutions and ways of measuring progress.
SOCIAL:
Reconciling community well-being and the bottom line
The "social dimension" of sustainability remains a subjective and hard to quantify concept. The MBA Sustainability program examines how corporations might apply tools and guidelines to comparably report on their social impact. We investigate key performance indicators such as:
- employee health and safety, labor policies and practices, worker safety/training
- diversity and corresponding employment/education/training opportunities
- knowledge management and innovation potential
- customer acceptance, societal product benefit and social dialogue.
ECONOMIC:
Planning and investment for more sustainable growth
Measuring the full economic dimension of sustainability poses many challenges. The MBA Sustainability program looks beyond merely adding or subtracting the cost/benefit of social and environmental activities to next step evolutions:
- financial and strategic implications of sustainable development
- tools for evaluating environmental, social, and economic aspects of performance
- comparisons of short vs. long-term growth.
ENVIRONMENTAL:
Applying design and technology to change paradigms
Early measures of sustainability centered on a company's ecological footprint (energy consumption, recycling, waste retrieval, etc.). The MBA Sustainability program raises the environmental stakes to include:
- information and control systems for environmental performance
- improved life cycle assessments
- cradle-to-cradle design paradigms.
ETHICAL:
Bedrock grounding for transformational leaders
Fall-out from Enron and other corporate scandals has been widespread and lasting. The MBA Sustainability program addresses ethical decision making from multiple angles, seeking not just greater theoretical or historical knowledge, but practical application in student coursework, presentation and live corporate projects. Topics include:
- business case for ethical corporate behavior
- financial, legal and business risks
- ethical dimensions of sustainable practices
- public affairs and corporate governance
- shareholder activism and socially responsible investing.
Global 100
The annual list of Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, launched in 2005, is unveiled each year at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Global 100 is a partnership project between Corporate Knights Inc. and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Inc.
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Highlighted Faculty
Nagaraj "Naga" Sivasubramaniam, Ph.D.
Systems Thinking
Nagaraj "Naga" Sivasubramaniam teaches and conducts research on leadership and strategic management, and the organizational impacts of individual and team leadership, advanced information technologies and innovations.
PROGRAM NEWS
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
- Ready to Make a Difference?
- Join a select group of MBA graduates ready to lead a sustainable future.
Accepting applications for Fall 2013.
Learn more about applying
or contact us. - Global Study Trips
- Spring 2013 – Germany & Luxembourg
Summer 2013 – India
Learn more about our international experiences »
Blog Updates
Aspen Institutes’ Business & Society International MBA Case Competition
April 23, 2013 - A big congratulation goes out to the Duquesne team that placed 3rd overall for the Aspen Institutes’ Business & Society International MBA Case Competition! Atalie Hayes, Gregg Gorse, Matt Ebberts, and Andrew Minnotte placed first in the internal round of competition at Duquesne and then had their work submitted to the overall competition. They were [...]
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Student Spotlight- Gregg Gorse
April 23, 2013 - Background: Gregg, originally from Pittsburgh, PA, attended the University of North Texas where he majored in marketing. Prior to joining the sMBA program, Gregg worked on an on-campus marketing campaign internship with Chevrolet. He is also a member of Beta Gamma Sigma. Why Duquesne: Gregg was interested in moving back to the Pittsburgh area, so [...]
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