Business Education and Sustainability: Insights from Cambridge

Is business education part of the problem or part of the solution when it comes to sustainability? On the other hand, traditional business school courses tend to focus on high profits and competition, shaping students’ attitudes in ways that encourage unsustainable business practices. On the other hand, incorporating sustainability into business education provides a unique opportunity to develop leaders who are willing to balance economic success with social and environmental responsibility.

I pondered this question in a recent conversation with Allison Wheeler-Héau, Interim Director of Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education Limited (JBSEEL), and Matthew Walkley, Head of B2B Business about a post-certificate JBSEEL’s B Corp. JBSEEL, a subsidiary of Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, offers a range of programs to individuals and organisations. These programs cover traditional business topics such as Leadership, AI, Innovation, and Strategy and increasingly focus on sustainable and innovative business practices.

Wheeler-Héau and Walkley (who lead the B Corp process) share the details of why JBSEEL chose to become a B Corp, lessons learned during the certification process, and how this commitment will impact What are their future plans?

I came away from the conversation convinced that while business schools deserve a lot of the blame for the state of the world today, they can also play an important role in educating diverse leaders – many of whom were without thinking about performance first – about business value. to address some of today’s most pressing environmental and social problems.

Christopher Marquis: My first question is why did Cambridge Judge Business Executive Education (JBSEEL) want to become a B Corp?

Allison Wheeler-Héau: Indeed, becoming a B Corp was a natural step for JBSEEL as the foundation of the organization aligns with our mission, which is to transform leaders who change the world in a positive way. It also helped that it aligned with the work of the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Business School, which meant that in those early stages of thinking we were confident it would be something that would resonate with our stakeholders. .

We are an organization with a clear purpose beyond profit and I think everyone realizes how much that means to us. Our ultimate goal is to take the amazing research from the University of Cambridge and the Business School and deliver it to leaders who can help make society more equitable, environmentally sustainable and ultimately regenerative. We realized that by becoming a B Corp we can build on our commitment to have a positive impact on society and the environment and redefine our vision of success and impact.

Matthew Walkley: I think it really resonates with our colleagues. When we first discussed seeking certification, we presented the idea at one of our monthly meetings and there was a sense of trust and understanding as to why this I worked for JBSEEL. For the B Corp certification to stand for something we believe should be something the entire organization wants to be a part of.

Marquis: What about the audition process, did you learn anything about the organization? Did something change that way?

Walker: I think we learned two big things in this process, one was how JBSEEL, while still proud to be part of the University environment, needs to separate some of the reports and facilities. our performance and independence. This was something that the BIA required, as you are proving as a Limited Company (which JBS Executive Education Limited is) but it happened to have this positive effect.

I feel that this process has given us a sense of identity and allowed us to develop our thinking about what it means to be a provider of higher education within the Cambridge environment and how we can use the position of how can we help run the line facing the world’s crisis.

Of course this sounds great but we sit in a privileged position between the world-class solutions developed by the Cambridge faculty and the rest of the world. If we can bring those ideas together in organizations and help them implement programs to make their organizations and the world better, I believe we can make a real difference in paving the way for Positive Change and finally define what the business sees as value.

The second lesson was the idea that although our Certification will be made by a dedicated team, working on a specific project, that is, BIA, becoming a B Corp actually means sharing this message through the organization all together with the Judge of Cambridge and with the University, so all may understand what it means to us. This sounds like a clear commitment to the people involved, but we want JBSEEL employees to understand that they are given the opportunity to make better, more sustainable decisions and will be supported to do so.

Marquis: What about going forward, will B Corp certification change JBSEEL’s work in the future?

Wheeler-Héau: Over the next few months we will be looking at a number of different BIA-based approaches that will allow us to improve our programs as well as increase our engagement with the community and staff involved. We are working hard to focus on where we can work on our feet, and to create a sustainable map of our programs, for ourselves as well as customers and agents. This is not as easy as it sounds, but this understanding will be the key to making a change in the end.

Part of this includes catering, so not all participants will need to travel to Cambridge. We are exploring new ways of delivering programmes, including holograms, integration of AI and augmented reality, to allow us to deliver Cambridge knowledge to a global audience, without any extra steps. related to travel.

Walker: We will also explore working with our colleagues at Cambridge Zero, an organization within the University of Cambridge that seeks to increase the University’s contribution to a low-carbon world, to help us evaluate our curriculum, which should help us see where we can. improve our responsible business messages and influence. Sustainable/renewable business will no longer be seen as an isolated topic, and needs to be part of everything we deliver.

The impact of our programs is really a key part of how we see JBSEEL being able to make a difference in the business environment, so this will become a project in itself, using our psychometrics facility as well as longitudinal impact tracking , to understand both behaviors. change as well as tracking various key indicators at the organizational and individual level, such as carbon footprint reduction, DEI metrics and increased participation. It will also see us actively researching and developing important new programs at the forefront of our agenda and it will be great to connect with the B Corp network to discuss their thoughts and ideas.

Finally, we are very fortunate to have days where we can work with local charities, but over time we want to know how we can increase that commitment to make it bigger, and give with the knowledge and knowledge of Cambridge to communities in need, starting locally and beyond. the sun turns this into a global strategy.

Marquis: Are there any special programs or suggestions for B Corps?

Wheeler-Héau: We are pleased to be able to offer a 10% discount to any B Corps on our Open programs, which we have a wide range of, from ESG / Sustainability to core business concepts in Corporate Governance , Leadership, Innovation and AI to Finance. and Policy.

We have a dedicated program of programs that we feel are very important to B Corps, which focus on ESG and Sustainability, covering social enterprise, ESG leadership and DEI. These programs are designed to help people have the greatest impact in their organizations as possible, giving agents the tools they need to make a real difference.

We hope to create a community of like-minded people who focus on their individual and environmental impact and society. Our programs draw on scientists from the University of Cambridge ecosystem, as well as clinical experts, who help us showcase the latest research, as well as help our delegates understand how to implement change once they return to their organizations.