Academics and Universities
Academia adds critical dimensions to the Compact’s operations. Through research and educational resources, this sector increases our knowledge and understanding of corporate citizenship. In addition, academia plays an important role in shaping future business leaders and educating them on the importance of responsible citizenship.
Corporate Social Responsibility is a growing field of inquiry within academia. Universities, business schools, and social science departments around the world are teaching, researching and building an increasing and ever-evolving body of literature in the field. The Global Compact seeks to contribute to and learn from this growing theoretical and practical knowledge base.
The Global Compact Academic Network engages academics in a constant, two-way exchange of experience, knowledge and new ideas. Academics from around the world contribute to the conceptual and practical development of the Global Compact by providing expert advice and reviewing progress and case studies. The Global Compact, in turn, works with universities and business schools to integrate the ten principles into teaching programs, equipping future leaders with practical and conceptual tools to address the challenging expectations that are increasingly placed on the private sector.
The Global Compact Learning Forum invites universities, companies, civil society organisations and business schools to become active participants in helping to foster pragmatic positive social impact.
Over the past few years the Aspen Institute and the World Resources Institute have looked at the question of how well sustainability issues are being integrated into business school curricula. In their most recent study - Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2001 - they covered the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 academic years. Generally, the report is cautiously optimistic, but warns that there is still very little being done to integrate a broad vision of social and environmental stewardship into MBA coursework. For a review of 'Beyond Grey Pinstripes' and an overview of the current status of sustainability/ethics issues within MBA Programmes please see below. A list of business schools reported as teaching social and environmental management courses and other resources are also provided in the following documents: