The era of MBA in sustainability

As companies are increasingly pushed to meet environmental compliances, management institutes are revamping their curricula with specialised MBA programmes in sustainability or launching new programmes

- Sheena Sachdeva

In the post-COVID world, the global shift towards environmental social governance (ESG) practices has sparked a transformation in business education. As industries worldwide adapt to post-pandemic realities and stricter environmental standards, management institutes are revamping their curricula to meet these evolving demands.

"Industries are waking up to the realities of environmental, social, and governance challenges as they become financially more material for businesses," said Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, associate professor and chairman, Centre for Business Sustainability, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow.

This transformation is driven by government policies pushing for carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions. Anjan Das, alumnus of MBA in sustainability management, IIM Lucknow, said that companies now face mandatory ESG disclosure requirements and report obligations.

Management institutes are responding swiftly to this industry shift as they witness the growing demand for more MBA courses around sustainable management. IIM Mumbai has converted its industrial safety and environmental management course into an MBA in sustainability management from this year. Similarly, Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) has updated its 15-year-old MBA in energy and environment to reflect this new focus on MBA sustainability management.

The ESG wave

"As industries adopt new ESG frameworks, there is a concomitant demand for a pool of skilled professionals who can take up the challenges on the ESG fronts," said Bandyopadhyay. An MBA in sustainability is not a conventional management course.

Several fossil fuel companies have started facing the heat from different stakeholders. For instance, ExxonMobil, an American oil and gas multinational corporation, had to face a huge lawsuit for not reflecting the risk in its balance sheet properly, making the stakeholders feel cheated.