Focus on Sustainability Key Element in MaastrichtMBA

/by

MBA programmes usually pay a lot of attention to the ‘P’ of ‘Profit’. The MaastrichtMBA programme goes one step further and has integrated a strong focus on the P’s of ‘Planet’ and ‘People’ in the curriculum. “This way, the education programme is more balanced, and our students can contribute to a better climate and to other social challenges we face,” says MBA Captain Dr. Boris Blumberg. Accordingly, MaastrichtMBA programme recently managed to rank second worldwide in the Corporate Knights Better World MBA ranking 2021.

Social entrepreneurship

The education of the MaastrichtMBA programme is aimed at making students aware of their responsibility as individuals, from the perspective of the organisation for which they work and with a view to the outside world. This is expressed, for example, through the contributions of Dr. Jarrod Ormiston, who specialises in Social Entrepreneurship. “We encourage our students to think about how they can contribute to solving all kinds of social issues through sustainable and innovative entrepreneurship. For example, how can refugees contribute to our society?”, says Ormiston. “We do not only look at the hard business, but also have an eye for the ‘soft’ side of these types of processes.”

Euros and Ethics

“I always say: creating value is so much more than just making money,” says Harry Hummels, professor of Ethics, Organisation and Society and respected member of the MaastrichtMBA teaching faculty. “I take great pleasure in confronting students with ethical and moral aspects of sustainable investing. Ultimately, it is about the quality of our lives now, and that of the generations after us. If we want to handle our accumulated capital with care, but also dare to delve into what exactly well-being entails and what we are willing to pay for it, we can also contribute to a better world in that way.”

Sustainable business models

The state of the natural environment was also discussed extensively at the recent Glasgow Conference. How can we stimulate companies to contribute to a circular economy, in which products last as long as possible, in which as little waste as possible is produced, in which products are reusable, raw material waste is prevented and waste can be reused as a raw material. “This is not only good for the environment, but also for the economy,” says Professor Nancy Bocken, who introduces her MBA students to the Sustainable Business field through her teaching and research. “In addition to efficiencies that save cost and resources simultaneously, we also need to slow and close resource loops, and focus on regenerating damaged ecosystems through new sustainable business models. Our MBA students are trained to work with these challenges in their respective organisations.”

Second place for MaastrichtMBA in Corporate Knights’ 2021 Better World MBA ranking

/by

We are proud to announce that MaastrichtMBA – the executive MBA programme of Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE) – ranks an impressive second in a global list of MBA programmes that embrace sustainable development. The runner-up position in Corporate Knights’ newly published 2021 Better World MBA ranking was granted to MaastrichtMBA and SBE due to their conscious alignment of course line-up and faculty research along the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainability showcase for top business schools

Corporate Knights is a leading sustainable business publication platform with a focus on how organisations, markets and governments are advancing social and environmental sustainability worldwide. Their 2021 Better World MBA compared 147 globally renowned business schools and MBA programmes across key performance indicators related to sustainable development. “Every MBA programme in the world should be instilling holistic purpose in leaders, ensuring they have the skills, tools and values to build a more inclusive, healthier economy that’s beneficial to society and in harmony with the natural world, and the Better World business schools are leading the way,” said Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights.

Significant sign of quality

For the MaastrichtMBA programme, this high ranking by Corporate Knights provides a valuable benchmark towards prospective participants regarding the quality of education and reflects an ongoing demand from talented professionals and their organisations to create meaningful impact in the workplace and beyond. As part of SBE, MaastrichtMBA is also accredited by the leading international quality assurance bodies (AACSB | EQUIS | AMBA), which is another quality seal that confirms the highest level of research and education.

MBA Accreditation: All you need to know

/by

There are a number of national and international bodies that offer MBA accreditations. But which are the most prestigious? And why is an MBA accreditation important? Together with MBAGRADSCHOOLS we explored the world of MBA accreditations which is a way of independently verifying the quality of business education.

What is MBA accreditation and why is it important?

Universities, business schools, and MBA programmes can all receive accreditation from national and international organisations. An MBA accreditation is a way of independently verifying the quality of business education.

Although MBA rankings can also give us an idea of the quality of a school or programme, MBA accreditation is a seal of approval from an external organisation. Each one has its own criteria and set of standards, so achieving accreditation from multiple organisations can be valuable for a university. Prof. Dr. Mariëlle Heijltjes, Executive Director of UMIO | Maastricht University, certainly believes this is the case.

“The relevance of these accreditations for a programme is that they give you an objective measure of quality… by having all these accreditations combined, I think we have a very fair outside assessment that we deliver the highest quality for a student enrolling in the programme,” she says in this video on maastrichtmba.com.

Her colleague, Dr. Boris Blumberg, MBA Captain at UMIO | Maastricht University, went on to explain the benefits of accreditation for students: “The accreditation value for students is that they receive high-quality research and education, and also a world-recognised diploma.”

Read the full article: https://mbagradschools.com/mba-accreditation-all-you-need-to-know/

MaastrichtMBA among the world’s best sustainable MBAs

/by

UMIO’s MaastrichtMBA programme moves up the grade on sustainable development as it impressively managed to rank 16th globally in the newly published 2020 Better World MBA Ranking organised by Corporate Knights. With this position, Maastricht University School of Business and Economics also tops the chart of Dutch business schools in a longlist of 150 internationally ranked and accredited institutes worldwide.

Sustainability showcase for top business schools

The 2020 Corporate Knights Better World MBA Ranking evaluates 150 business schools, drawn from the 2019 Financial Times list of Top 100 Global MBA programmes, every programme that made 2019 Better World’s top-40 roster and business schools accredited by AMBA, AACSB or EQUIS that opt-in for evaluation.

From this pool, programmes are evaluated across sustainability-focused articles and citations, courses that incorporate sustainable development topics, research institutes and centres devoted to sustainable development issues, and faculty gender as well as racial diversity. As such, the Corporate Knights’ ranking provides prospective students with a good reference to the scope and scale of education and research in these areas, which are becoming more and more important to design a bright future for current and future generations in business and society.

About Corporate Knights

Founded in 2002, Corporate Knights Inc. includes the sustainable business magazine ‘Corporate Knights’ and a research division that produces rankings and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance, including the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’. Corporate Knights was named ‘Magazine of the Year’ in 2013 and won the ‘SABEW Canada Silver Award for Investigative Reporting’ in 2019.

‘Triple Crown’ accreditation

Apart from MaastrichtMBA’s appearance in global rankings, the programme – as part of UMIO and Maastricht University School of Business and Economics – is also accredited by the three leading international quality assurance bodies: AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. This ‘Triple Crown’ accreditation represents an objective quality stamp that only 1% of all business schools worldwide are allowed to use.

Via this link you can read the Corporate Knights press release concerning the 2020 Better World MBA Ranking.