PRME and PIR Team up to Advance Responsible Management Education Worldwide

NEW YORK, 12 JUNE 2024 — The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and Positive Impact Rating (PIR) are thrilled to announce a new partnership aimed at advancing responsible management education worldwide. This collaboration formalizes years of close cooperation and mutual support between the two organizations.

PRME, an initiative of the United Nations Global Compact founded in 2007, has been at the forefront of promoting sustainability in management education through its Seven Principles. With over 800 signatories globally, PRME is dedicated to equipping future leaders with holistic skill sets to balance economic, environmental, and social goals, thereby aligning academic institutions with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

PIR was founded in 2019 and has awarded a rating to more than 100 business schools around the world in its annual survey. The PIR rating provides a credible alternative to existing rankings, highlighting schools for their focus on creating a positive societal impact. Publishing only the top three of five levels, the rating focusses on celebrating success. Launched at the WEF in collaboration with PRME, PIR focuses on transforming the criteria by which business schools are evaluated, shifting the emphasis from being the best in the world to being the best for the world. The PIR started by having students assess their schools and is expanding now to add faculty as a second important stakeholder group.

The collaboration between PRME and PIR will provide PRME Signatory Members with access to the innovative PIR tool, including the new PRME SIP Report Add-On, allowing schools to measure their alignment with PRME's Principles through valuable student feedback. This partnership will also enhance the visibility of PRME initiatives, with PIR actively supporting and promoting them, especially at PRME’s annual Global Forum. In turn, PRME will highlight PIR activities to its wide-reaching community through newsletters, social media, and other communications. Together, the organizations will engage in and promote various events, webinars, and collaborative opportunities, united in their mission to advance responsible management education.

“We at PRME are pleased to announce our collaboration with PIR. The work of PIR aligns with our shared vision for responsible management education as we seek to engage higher education institutions with a culture and commitment to advancing sustainable development,” shared Meredith Storey, Senior Manager at PRME.

As we celebrate his partnership, we would like to invite PRME Signatory Members to the upcoming webinar on 27 August presenting the PIR rating and discussing the importance of student evaluation. PRME Signatories who commit to the PIR rating for three years will benefit from a 10% discount.

This event represents an opportunity for professors, sustainability professionals, and the broader higher education community to better understand how to capture their societal impact rooted in student feedback.

Katrin Muff, President of the PIR Association, also expressed excitement over this partnership. “PIR and PRME have been collaborating from the inception of PIR and we are delighted to formalize our partnership and to welcome all PRME Signatory schools to benefit from the PIR survey to measure and report on their progress.”