Goals
MBS Net Impact endeavors to:
- Inspire students, faculty, and community members to take steps toward a more sustainable future
- Increase the awareness of sustainable and socially responsible business practices
- Influence current and future business leaders to make such practices part of daily business
- Work to include Net Impact MBS on the Beyond Grey Pinstripes list of innovative MBA programs that are integrating issues of social and environmental stewardship into curricula and research
- Incorporate cases related to sustainability and social responsibility into course curriculums
Victory!
In Term 2, 2008 MBS students studying Business Strategy with Professor Kwanghui Lim had the opportunity to be a part of Net Impact's initiative to see more cases related to sustainability and social responsibility incorporated into MBS courses.
Using a case about Toyota's creation of the Prius, the company's capabilities fit, and the challenges it faced during that period, students examined the impact of sustainable business thinking from a managerial perspective. Here is some feedback from students:
"Thinking in terms of sustainability and social responsibility from a business perspective isn't just for students who are drawn to the social sector. This isn't a ‘passing phase;' it's the future of business. Looking at something like the Toyota case helps us learn to incorporate this type of thinking into our managerial decisions. Our class (full-time) had a chance to talk with a part-timer who worked with Toyota and helped us understand just how ingrained these business practices have become in the company. It was an excellent way to see the interdependency between business and society; Toyota looked ahead for something environmentally friendly and the result was a huge hit in the market-and a lot of profit." - Alanna Kordell, MBA Class of 2009.
