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Our curriculum is designed to focus on maximizing student preparation for future careers through an Integrated Core and a comprehensive set of concentrations.
Emphasizing the significant research and teaching strengths of McGill's international faculty while responding to current business, social and environmental imperatives, the curriculum offers an integrated multi-disciplinary, problem-solving approach grounded in practice that allow students to work across managerial boundaries and to fully understand how managers and their enterprises function in an international context. Central to our new curriculum is addressing social, environmental and ethical issues through this integrated approach. In all areas, advanced management concepts are integrated with case studies and examples to ground theory in the real world.
Within our basic academic framework, students find diverse opportunities to explore environmental, social and ethics subjects and apply their learning to real life situations. They are given the opportunity to develop their unique profiles as the next generation of global leaders and social entrepreneurs.
The MBA program offers numerous diverse courses that focus specifically on social, environmental and ethical issues including, for example, strategies for sustainable development and management in developing countries. Among the four concentration choices, the Global Leadership option focuses intently on these issues, exploring current issues in depth and preparing students to play leadership roles in the future. Besides these, and other, specific academic opportunities, the MBA program as a whole integrates social, environmental and ethical awareness throughout all core, concentration and elective courses. As these issues become increasingly important in society, we continue to address them across all disciplines as an increasingly important business and global issue.
The program also provides tomorrow's managers with immediate professional and social contact, networking opportunities and career development assistance. Student groups, career services, case competitions and guest speakers all offer opportunities for students to further engage with social, environmental and ethical topics.
In addition, we draw upon our opportunities as a research intensive university in a large diverse city.
• At the Desautels faculty, we implement double-sided printing and energy saving features (automatic shutdown) on the computers and printers in our computer labs.
• We’ve reduced the purchasing cycle for computers. IT equipment is reused internally many years . When they are 5-6 years old, we: donate them to local churches and schools in Africa; offer them for sale to students and/or; recycle them responsibly.
• Sustainable practices and materials are used in all construction and renovation projects. Some examples from our recent and ongoing renovations of the Bronfman Building:
• The 2nd Floor is currently undergoing deconstruction where all materials are sorted and reused or recycled as appropriate.
• We install energy efficient lighting and ventilation systems. This includes LED lights and motion-sensors in offices that turn off the lighting and adjust the ventilation when no one is in the office.
• We were the first at the University to install dimmable lighting in classrooms.
• We use green materials wherever possible, such as low VOC paint and flooring material that is maintained with no cleaning products.
• We include built-in recycling bins and incorporate natural light wherever possible.
• We reuse items whenever possible ex. lockers and 3rd floor bathrooms.
• Furniture in the Faculty is recycled internally many times. When we are finally done with it here, we donate it to students groups and NGOs (during the 3rd Floor renovation the SSMU and Royal Canadian Legion both received some of our furniture)
• New furniture is chosen with the following criteria in mind: manufactured locally, green content and durability.
• The Faculty, in collaboration with the McGill Libraries, has greatly reduced the number of paper handouts provided to students. Professors now provide students with links to ebooks and articles available through the Library. The McGill Library is moving towards electronic media with close to 3 million ebooks for loan, including some of it’s rare books.
• The Bronfman garden, like many others at McGill, is planted with native species and fertilized with compost created on campus by “Big Hanna”, the campus composter.
• Bottled water has been replaced by filtered in almost all building locations
• The Bronfman Bistro now uses reusable dishes
• We have steadily increased the utilization of the space in our building. We have very little dead-end storage and some of the highest classroom utilization on Campus.
• Our Building maintenance teams use environmentally-friendly cleaning products.
• We’ve been encouraging smokers to use the disposal systems provided, rather than the ground, and smoke 9-m from the door (per the law).
• With Facilities, we’ve implemented regularly scheduled air vent cleanings to increase air quality and improve efficiency.
• We have plans to re-skin the building making it much more energy efficient (and beautiful). Inefficient buildings account for 40% of all greenhouse gas emission in North America -http://www.iclei.org/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/Canada/documents/Sk...
University Wide:
• McGill’s Sustainability Project Fund (SPF) was launched in January of 2010 funding sustainability projects across the University. The SPF is jointly funded by administration and the student body and is accessible to anyone in the McGill Community. http://www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/get-involved/projects-fund
• On May 28, 2010, the University launched the Greening the Lower Campus project. This project designated McTavish Street as a pedestrian zone, substantially reduced parking availability, limited vehicular circulation and restricted deliveries to several buildings on McGill’s Downtown Lower Campus. The number of bike racks has been increased on campus as part of this project.
• Members of the McGill Community enjoy easy access to Montreal’s Metro and the Bixi network with stations right outside the University gates. (http://montreal.bixi.com/home)
• The University has started implementing the Campus Printing project, which will drastically reduce the number of pages printed and left on printers. Print jobs (student and staff) will be sent to a printing "cloud" and released (i.e. printed) only once the user swipes his/her ID card at the printer. Additional advantages of the system are default to 2-sided copies and the printer will tell people how much the print job will cost before they print (making them consider it more closely before hitting print).
Consulting for Change is for students looking to gain expertise in the practical application of the theory, tools and techniques used by Management Consultants to plan, implement, and successfully deliver high-impact projects in organizations. Topics will include strategy development and planning, overcoming barriers to change, and key tools and techniques used to help ensure the successful implementation of high-impact projects.
Why have then so few societies been able to achieve and sustain prosperity? How can wealth creation be sustained within corporations by co-coordinating strategies, finances and compensation to management so as to prevent mistakes to last too long?
This course addresses the particular dilemmas and opportunities that managers experience in international,
multicultural environments, and an overall business context of increasing cultural interconnectedness.
How can business leaders simultaneously optimize financial, social, and environmental performance? How can they help to create a peaceful, prosperous, sustainable society that benefits us all? The Global Leadership Seminar is designed to prepare people for leadership at the intersection of business and society. It is created out of concern for the future of humanity and the planet, and recognizes that how we respond today to global ecological, humanitarian, and economic challenges will reverberate across generations well into the future. The Seminar examines how to unite the strengths of business with the most compelling challenges facing the world today. A fundamental premise of the Seminar is that a healthy world depends on the evolution of great organizations, and great organizations cannot exist without great leadership.
Increasing global interconnectedness and sophisticated analyses of complex global problems have led to a call for a transformation in management thought, including a reconfiguring of corporate priorities, commitments, methods and agendas. Our common future depends on the extent to which managers and executives develop a vision of a better world as well as on their ability to draw on the potential of companies and organizations to help realize that vision. Kofi Annan, in his role as United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, strongly expressed his belief in business’s potential to become a co-creator of society’s success:
“Let us choose to unite the power of markets with the strengths of universal ideals…let us choose to reconcile the creative forces of private entrepreneurship with the needs of the disadvantaged and the requirements of future generations.”3
The primary goal of the Course is to share and evaluate knowledge acquired through real-life experience and graduate business school courses for the actual designing and launching sustainable high potential ventures. The content will be equally applicable and of interest to students who have an entrepreneurial spirit, and who anticipate pursuing the next phase of their careers in large corporations, governments or NGOs.
The importance of ethics and transparency in corporate governance are emphasized from the earliest design of the emerging venture. There will be thorough discussion of the “soft skills” of ethics, communications, human resources, and cultural sensitivity. This will all take place in anticipation of increasing globalization and the erosion of the supply of, and access to, diminishing natural resources and changing environmental conditions.
Through exposure to the personal histories of extraordinary leaders in more than a dozen fields,
and through the interaction with professors and administrators from other McGill Faculties,
students will learn first-hand how different styles of management adapt to and contribute to
evolving careers. Students will leave the course with an enhanced ability to evaluate critically the leadership styles, motivation, skills and turning points inherent in the careers of diverse
individuals within their organizations.
Most human interactions, in one-way or another, are negotiations. Many times we do not realize this until it is too late, so we do not prepare and negotiate effectively. Negotiation is a skill that is fundamental to any person who wishes to perform successfully in managing their personal and professional relationships, at every level, in a world that is each day more complex, interconnected and competitive.
One consequence of globalization has been that managers have found it increasingly important to look beyond industry level regional competitive dynamics and develop a good understanding of the global macroeconomic and institutional environment.
Students explore and discuss leadership, power and ethics, social influence and diversity and cross cultural management.
The Managing Strategy course is designed to make better strategic actors of all its participants. But a second aspect of managing strategy is adopting a critical stance. In the wake of the “bubbles” of the first decade of the 21st century, the rapid rise of new economic powers in the Far East, and the ever-more-evident hazards of climate-change, business strategy may require more than minor adjustments. Is the management system that was developed and taught for much of the 20th century still viable in the 21st century? Or is it, like the defensive “doctrines” of World War Two, a system designed to deal with wars we are no longer fighting?
Dr. Francis was invited to talk at the Desautels Business Conference on Sustainability on Jan 28: Redefining Environment. He discussed how the current environmental crisis is a reflection of world-wide social and economic inequity and that any attempt to resolve the crisis must not only address the scientific issues, such as climate-change and deforestation but also the humanitarian issues.
"Integrating Sustainable Development with Business Strategy"
Beyond CSR aims to raise the awareness amongst the young managers of tomorrow of the ways businesses can incorporate sustainable practices with sound business strategy. By demonstrating how profitability and social responsibility are not mutually exclusive ideas, we hope to encourage greater consideration of environmental and social welfare in business decisions.
Corporate sustainability is undergoing constant transformation. It has now attained a level of general approval that demands sophisticated and more integrated approaches. The successful implementation of sustainability in businesses requires knowledge of specific tools and leadership from managers at all levels of organizations.
This conference will provide examples of successful corporate sustainability implementations and in these times of financial distress, how sustainable business approaches can represent a competitive advantage for businesses.
This annual conference reflects the weaving of sustainability into the environmental, social and financial aspects of business. The one-day conference will bring together leading professionals, academics and students to share experiences, present innovative ideas and prepare future leaders to manage the changing business environment.
In 1970, Sir Richard Branson created the Virgin group. Nowadays, with around 200 companies in over 30 countries, the Virgin Group has now expanded into leisure, travel, tourism, mobile, broadband, TV, radio, music festivals, finance and health and through Virgin Green Fund they are investing in renewable energy and resource efficiency. Richard is also very proud of the work of Virgin Unite, a not-for-profit entrepreneurial foundation, which continues to focus on entrepreneurial approaches to social and environmental issues.
The Desautels Faculty of Management along with the Net Impact Club have initiated a monthly movie club that watches movies with topics on environmental, social and ethical issues and discuss their relevance in the world. Movies in 2010 have included A Crude Awakening, The Corporation and Inconvenient Truth.
Mike Russo has researched on the bottom-line effects of corporate greening received the 1998 Moskowitz Prize in Social Investing. Mike also has received a three-year National Science Foundation grant to study international voluntary environmental regulation under the ISO 14000 standards, which forms the focus of his current research.
In 2010 and 2011, The Desautels Faculty of Management teamed up with The Net Impact student club to present the Breakfast Speaker Series whereby speakers address relevant environmental, social and ethical issues.
Kathleen Weil, Minister of Justice, was asked to speak to students as part of our CEO speaker series on the role of business in social and environmental responsibility. For the last eight years, Kathleen Weil has been the President/CEO of the Foundation of Greater Montreal, a community foundation dedicated to building permanent endowment funds in support of charities working in every sector of the community across the Greater Montreal region, including health, the environment, arts and culture, education and social services.
McGill recently played host to one of the world’s most famous figures, as the Dalai Lama spoke to 500 students from Quebec universities gathered in Pollack Hall on October 3. He used his encounter with the future teachers to highlight the importance of ethical lessons for youngsters growing up in a world that too often confuses “material values” with “inner values.”
"Short on Time: Managing the Tension between the Short-Term and the Long-Term in the Context of Climate Change" and was open to all Desautels students. Dr. Bansal is a professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business. She is also the Director of the Cross-Enterprise Leadership Centre on Building Sustainable Value, and the Executive Director for the Network for Business Sustainability.
The 2nd annual Hult Global Case Challenge aims to identify solutions to the global
clean water crisis. In partnership with Water.org, an organization co-founded by Gary
White and Matt Damon, the event will crowd-source innovative ideas and solutions from
the world’s top students across five international cities: Boston, San Francisco, London,
Dubai, and Shanghai. The 2011 Hult Global Case Challenge will be themed around
innovations in clean water supply.
The Women's Mentorship program was created in 2006-2007 to help women students in the MBA program learn from the experiences of trailblazing women that went ahead of them.
In 2008, McGill launched its first ever CSR Career Fair and Conference. This CSR Career Fair grew extensively over the years. Participants included La Siembra, MBA without Borders, Greenlite, Exit West, CIDS, UPS, Groupe Investissement Responsible & Dexia and Deloitte and Touche.
Since 2008, Career Services is developping a CSR specific student listserv that publishes information on CSR job opportunities, conference, speakers and other relevant information. It also allows participants to send information and creates dialogue about the issues. Currently 39 MBA students and 5 staff participate in the listserv. For this listserv, Career Services initiated a CSR monthly newsletter. The newsletter includes job information and news, trends and other relevant information for students.
Since 2007, the Desautels Career Services has initiated a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) workshop as part of its Career Discovery Series. Students were invited to a workshop facilitated by a CSR consultant and advocate. It provided a forum for students to better understand CSR, what career options are available and discuss CSR as a growing trend among themselves and with the expert.
The Desautels Faculty of Management finalized in January 2011 the establishment of a scholarship for MBA students wishing to work for a not for profit organization upon graduation.
The CSR Experts Panel established jointly by the Desautels Faculty of Management and Mr. Corey Copeland, Vice President of Alcan, is a new initiative to increase the McGill MBA program commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsability. The CSR Experts Panel brings together a group of 8 professionals specialized on the subject of Sustainability and CSR who act as advisers and help students get internships and career placements in the field of sustainability. Those Experts also organise during the year several events and seminars.
The Center for Strategy Studies in Organizations supports research on strategy and related organizational issues. Its goal is to promote the execution and dissemination of the insightful research on issues central to organizations, especially the formation of strategic direction, the coordination of organizational activities, and the relationship between organizations and society. Research supported has included research on the environment, HIV/AIDS treatment discourse, bottom of the pyramid, and institutional entrepreneurship.
The objective of the Dobson Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is to offer a program for entrepreneurial education and to enhance entrepreneurial practices at McGill University, within the greater Montreal community, across Canada and internationally, by developing and delivering relevant courses, creating outreach programs which support research, encouragement for entrepreneurs, and their spirit of entrepreneurship. The program is based on the fundamental assumption that increased employment can be created with sustainable and ethical entrepreneurial enterprises which are sensitive to the human and environmental contexts of an increasingly globalized economy.
The Women's Association seeks to support women both in the MBA program and in society to address some of the gender discrimination and inequalities that persist. The Women's Association has partnered with the Women's Mentorship Program to empower students. They further outreach to community members by providing resume writing workshops to under-privileged women and single mothers and participating in other charitable activities.
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