The Institute of Corporate Responsibility Management, at the Steinbeis University Berlin, Germany is organizing a Webinar to exchange views with other institutions participating in PRME on the creation of a PRME Working Group "Incorporation of the PRME in Executive Degree Programs." The Webinar will take place on January 27, 2010 at 11:00 a.m EST.

Special attention in this Webinar will be given to the first project of the working group, the development of “Inspirational Guide to implementing the PRME in Executive Degree Programs”.

To participate in the Webinar or to join the Working Group, please contact Dr. Felicitas Mocny at fmocny@steinbeis-icrm.eu , Boris Bulatovic at bbulatovic@steinbeis-icrm.eu or Miss Lisle Ferreira at lisle.ferreira@levininstitute.org

“The Post Downturn MBA”, the new report of AMBA, presents very relevant insights on how to advance business education in today’s world. “The Post Downturn MBA: An Agenda for Change is a research report designed to assess the state of the current MBA market and to act as a catalyst for debate on how the MBA should develop in order to better train the business leaders of tomorrow. Business schools were widely criticized for contributing to the current economic crisis by producing MBAs that are focused on creating shareholder value and high risk strategies instead of sustainable practices and stakeholder responsibility. The downturn was considered by some to have revealed numerous shortcomings in the MBA, particularly in the fields of risk management, change management, business ethics and sustainability.” “In order to ensure that the MBA remains relevant and meets the needs of responsible business, the Association of MBAs in partnership with Durham Business School launched the MBA Curriculum Survey in July 2009. The questions were designed to take a closer look at the skills, competencies and knowledge that MBAs need to add value in the current climate and into the future.” One of the relevant conclusions of the study is that “…The continual development of the MBA curriculum to focus on the issues of sustainability and ethics looks set to lead MBA curriculum design in the coming months and years. If anything, it appears as if the MBA should be shifting away from the more functional areas of management teaching, towards the development of more rounded individuals with the soft skills to lead and the ability to integrate thinking to create sustainable, ethical, and stakeholder-focused management decisions.” Most importantly, the Report lays the empirical foundations for the 2010 review of AMBA’s accreditation criteria: “The findings of this report will heavily inform the review of the Association’s accreditation criteria for quality MBA programmes in 2010. This far-reaching appraisal of the international standards that comprise the assessment criteria will include inputs from a diverse range of stakeholders to ensure that the outputs of the accredited MBA meet the needs of contemporary managers, leaders, organizations and society – and in many cases leads the way in doing so. To obtain a copy of the full report, please contact contact Mark Stoddard from the Association of MBAs' Research and Consultancy Centre at m.stoddard@mbaworld.com

On December 4th 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution articulating the views of UN Member States on the rapidly evolving relationship between the United Nations and global partnerships. For the first time the General Assembly of the UN, in its sixty-fourth Session, Second Committee(Economic and Financial Committee), Agenda item 59, has taken “note of the Principles for Responsible Management Education initiative(PRME), which seeks to embed corporate responsibility principles in business school curricula and research.” This recognition emphasizes the importance PRME has in pushing forward the United Nations agenda within management education, and the value created by embedding corporate responsibility into business school curricula and research. It also implies that, from now on, the PRME is formally and officially a UN-supported initiative, by virtue of the decision made by the member States participating in the United Nations.

The Asking More Commentary is a forum for Mendoza faculty contributors to establish an ongoing dialogue about current events from a perspective that emphasizes individual integrity, effective organizations, and concern for the common good. These are the themes that speak to the heart of the Notre Dame mission, its commitment to PRME and the College's challenge to Ask More of Business™ — to explore ways that business can be used as a force for good. Send your comments to AskMoreOfBusiness@nd.edu

On 23-24 November Copenhagen Business School hosted the “PRME/CBS International Conference on Responsible Management Education: Sustainable Leadership in the era of Climate Change”. Contributing to the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP15) on 7-18 December 2009 a tangible outcome of the conference is The Copenhagen Conference Declaration: A Call to Action for Management Education that sets out three focus areas for the role of business schools in relation to climate change: 1. Integrate Climate-related Topics into Management Education 2. Research the Role of Business in a Low Carbon Economy 3. Lead by Example The conference structure was very interactive and through engaging panel debates and involving workshops the conference discussed how business schools can help solve the climate crisis through new educational approaches, sustainable leadership, innovative research models and new forms of partnerships. From the various sessions we distilled the following outcomes: 4 Competencies 1. Understanding of the political process 2. Understanding broader societal perspectives – long term perspectives 3. Creativity, interdiciplinarity, imagination and innovation 4. Personal leadership: communication, engagement, trust, tangibility, integrity 4 Best Practices of Curriculum Change 1. Flexible, imaginative formats, co-created with e.g. students 2. Climate change teaching should be integrated into core curriculum 3. President/top management’s commitment 4. Learning by doing - creating new business cases 4 Wishes for Curricula Change 1. Integrate and reward extracurricular student driven activities, not necessarily credits 2. Engaging inward (business school administration and faculty) and outward (strategic business partnerships) seeing initiatives as a part of a larger vision for society 3.Active students should act as ambassadors in promoting climate change curriculum 4.Sustainability needs to be integrated into mainstream curriculum 4 Most Important Research Topics 1. Development of holistic approaches to determine life cycle analysis for emerging new climate friendly technologies 2. Identifying the institutional ”acupuncture points” to lever for policy and institutional infrastructure change 3. Identifying the intersection of stakeholder skills interests and values and the institutional infrastructure necessary to promote collaborative networks and synergies that can overcome the complexities of climate issues 4. Business models for systemic changes (e.g. open innovation, technology platforms, cooperative models and frameworks, strategy under uncertainty, socio-economic dynamics) The input from the conference will be used by the “PRME Working Group on Climate and Curriculum Change” that was formally launched during the conference to produce a Practical Guide to Climate and Curriculum Change to be presented in Summer 2010. Please find presentations and other outcome documents from the conference at the conference website: http://cbs.dk/forskning/konferencer/prme2009/menu/program In the near future we will be making a call for working group membership and the first webinar in for this working group will take place the first week of February. Check the Sustainable Leadership in the era of Climate Change working group page on the PRME website for updates on this topic.

In order to dispel some misunderstandings by potential PRME signatories, we would like to inform you that the PRME Steering Committee has decided to change the wording in the introduction to our foundational document, where the Principles are formulated. From now own, this introduction will read: "As institutions of higher education involved in the development of current and future managers we declare our willingness to progress in the implementation, within our institution, of the following Principles, starting with those that are more relevant to our capacities and mission. We will report on progress to all our stakeholders and exchange effective practices related to these principles with other academic institutions." You will notice that, apart from minor language changes, when talking about the commitment to implement the Principles we have added the wording "starting with those that are more relevant to [the institution's] capacities and mission." The reason for this addition is intended to address the perceptions of some schools that PRME signatories are obliged to immediately undertake new research inspired by the Principles. This concern has prompted hesitation on the part of these schools to become a PRME signatory. We understand that faculties have the autonomy to pursue their own research interests, and tenure makes it difficult for school administration to have direct control over each faculty's research agenda. We anticipate that new scholarship on sustainability and corporate citizenship-related issues will take time to develop. We would like to take advantage of this opportunity to make clear that PRME signatories are not expected to implement ALL principles at the same time or immediately. PRME is a voluntary initiative based on a commitment to make progress over time. Each institution will write its own history of change and updating of its curricula, according to its own capacities and in a consistent way to its unique mission statement. Therefore, the PRME principles are not a set of fixed standards, but a framework for continuous improved practice that will allow signatory academic institutions to raise the bar over time, inspired by the PRME learning community, and, in turn, inspiring PRME peers with their own example. We hope that this change in the wording of our introduction will help schools which are considering participation in the PRME initiative better understand its underlying philosophy. It is also an invitation to current signatories to genuinely walk the path of innovation, building gradually on the basis of the specific nature, capacity and potential of each institution. Should you have any questions or concerns please contact PRMESecretariat@unprme.org

The Russian/American Symposium on Teaching Civic Engagement Teaching supported by N. I. Lobachevsky,Nizhni Novgorod University,Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, and Spring Arbor University, Spring Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. occurred November 8 to November 14, 2009 for the purpose of determining how to teach students to engage in civic responsibility. The above symposium resulted from support of Rector Chuprunov, Lobachevsky University, and President Web, Spring Arbor University, in signing a mutual agreement of cooperation. In 2009, Dr. James Coe, dean of the Gainey School of Business after speaking at an international conference at N. I. Lobachevsky Nizhni Novgorod University, agreed with Rector Chuprunov that a NNU delegation composed of Finance, Sociology, and Social Work faculty may exchange ideas regarding civic engagement pedagogy with SAU faculty from similar disciplines. The Deans from the named disciplines, Dr. Naomi Larsen and Dr. James Coe, coordinated the symposium to take place at SAU. The fifteen Russian delegates were housed at the Michindoh Conference and Retreat Center in Hillsdale, Michigan. The symposium sessions occurred at the Conference Center and on the main campus of Spring Arbor University. Each attending delegate gave a paper on civic engagement. The resulting outcomes focus on areas both Russian and American faculty members want to continue or begin: Professors – Need: incorporate social responsibility into the curriculum; Response: NNU join U.N. PRME, utilize PRME objectives and values; develop curricula for social responsibility to be used in many schools. Write Russian social responsibility textbook; exchange faculty to support writing of text and curricula.