Learning about sustainability in a classroom is all well and good. But tackling real world problems with corporate clients – now that’s an experience that has a profound impact on both students and businesses.
That’s the goal of Duquesne University’s innovative 1-Year MBA integrating Sustainability. This 12-month program offers students the unique opportunity to work on live consulting projects with corporate partners like PNC, Alcoa, Bayer Material Sciences, Kraft Heinz Company (formerly H.J. Heinz Company), Westinghouse, UPMC, Google and others.
“Since its launch in 2007, the program has completed over 100 projects,” says Robert Sroufe, Ph.D. and Murrin Chair of Global Competitiveness. “We try to take on a wide range of projects–multinational, small, medium, NGOs. If students know they want to work in a certain kind of organization, we develop a project around that to help them build their resume.”
Recently students worked with PNC to help the company identify and understand sustainability trends that are going to impact the company and the financial industry. Although the process is defined, the solution is anything but.
“There are no limitations on the students’ thinking,” says Sroufe. “Students can help project partners look for new ideas. Ambiguity is hard to tackle, so we have a very collaborative approach.” After kick-off meetings with the clients, students work with faculty mentors across disciplines to create solutions. There are weekly meetings, a mid-project update, and a client-review of the deliverable before the final presentation.
And while students gain invaluable experience, businesses get a fresh perspective. “It’s real consulting,” says Sroufe. “If we’ve delivered value, we’re open to the company giving back to support our program, events and student travel.”
Money that’s donated by companies is used, in part, to help support two required study abroad trips, one to a developed country and one to a developing country. MBA students have traveled to India, Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala. “Every trip involves hands-on work,” says Sroufe. “Last year, we went to Costa Rica and worked with USAID and entrepreneurs on water purification in remote areas. We also worked with the board of directors at a children’s hospital and came up with a business plan on how to improve the organization’s social impact and reach more children.”
These kinds of experiences are unique to Duquesne’s program, and are causing the MBA to garner some great attention. “Students come to our program specifically for the MBA Sustainability,” states Dr. Sroufe. “This is the deciding factor that applicants see outweighing other schools’ rankings.”
Students aren’t the only ones taking notice
Other organizations are taking note as well. The Corporate Knights, an international publication and quarterly insert to the Washington Post, ranked our MBA Sustainability program #1 in the U.S. in 2013. And in 2014, Net Impact ranked our program among the world’s top 10 environmental sustainability graduate business programs in Business as UNusual rankings.
According to Dean McFarlin, these rankings are a critical validation of the program. “They showcase innovation in schools that are pioneering sustainability. It’s a way for us to benchmark how we’re doing. In addition, our strategic plan emphasizes the relevance of sustainability and innovation to all disciplines. It also accentuates the importance of integration and interdisciplinary work in promoting these topics into all of our undergraduate and graduate programs,” he says.
Through it all, Sroufe is passionate about getting the word out on sustainability. “We need a balanced approach to understanding the value that organizations create – an integrated bottom line that considers not just financial, but also social, environmental and ethical opportunities.”
His dream is that one day the word sustainability will go away. “It will just be called good business and good decision-making.” That’s already beginning to happen, thanks, in part, to programs like Duquesne’s MBA Sustainability.
