UC-Berkeley Haas Wants To Be The Top B-School For Sustainability

As the executive director of Sustainability Programs at Berkeley Haas, Michele de Nevers has spent the past few months working closely with Dean Ann Harrison to shape the school’s long-term sustainability vision, writes Kim Girard in a story on the Haas webpage.

De Nevers might well be the perfect person for the newly created job: Her impressive career has included teaching graduate students in Barcelona about international climate change policy to co-authoring a paper for the Center for Global Development that argued that developing countries should receive performance payments from richer countries for keeping their tropical forests intact and reducing deforestation.

At the World Bank, where she spent three decades, she managed environmental projects ranging from pollution reduction to conservation of biodiversity. And she led global consultations on the corporate Strategic Framework for Development and Climate Change, a strategy report that outlined the World Bank Group’s plan to respond to new development challenges posed by climate change.

In a new interview, de Nevers discusses how Haas can deepen its existing sustainability strengths through efforts to support faculty, students, and programs.

Unhappy with 1-year MBA degree, Modi government could dilute autonomy of IIMs

Over two years after granting complete autonomy to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) under the IIM Act 2017, the central government is said to be considering a new provision that could potentially dilute this law.

The move aims to check malpractice at the level of the institutions’ boards, said government sources.

“We are discussing a proposal by which the ministry will be able to initiate inquiry against the Board of Governors (BOGs) of IIMs if they are found indulging in malpractice. There is no ordinance regarding this yet, we are still at the discussion stage,” a senior official from the Ministry of Education (MoE) told ThePrint.

The IIM Act, which came into effect on 31 January 2018, gives sweeping powers to all 20 of India’s premier business schools, including appointment of directors, chairpersons and members of the BOGs.

Thunderbird School of Global Management celebrates December 2020 grads with avatar robots, holographic commencement speakers

Delivering an innovative and inclusive experience fit for this historic year, Thunderbird safely recognized the academic accomplishments of its class of 2020 in a technology-enhanced graduation celebration today to close an unprecedented fall semester.

The online event took place within an immersive virtual reality rendering of Thunderbird’s new global headquarters, opening August 2021. The ceremony was held in a digital version of the global forum, which will be a centerpiece of the state-of-the-art facility. The commencement speaker appeared as a holographic projection within the virtual building, which mirrors the real headquarters under construction now. Outstanding graduates also had a special aerial delivery of their award certificates, courtesy of the Dean’s drone.

“The Coronavirus Pandemic has accelerated the adoption of transformative new technologies like the ones we’re pioneering at Thunderbird that help us stay healthy while connecting us so we can still learn and celebrate together,” said Director General and Dean Sanjeev Khagram.

“In keeping with our commitment to impactful and inclusive innovation when others retreat, we’re harnessing these powerful tools not only to adapt to the challenging circumstances of this historic health crisis, but also to be a vanguard in business, leadership, and management education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution going forward.”

emlyon joins the #StOpE initiative to Stop ‘Ordinary’ Sexism in the workplace

Since Isabelle Huault took over at the helm, corporate social responsibility has been a new strategic focus for emlyon business school. Its drive to combat sexism took a step forward this month as the School joined the 114 members of #StOpE. Started by Accor, EY and L’Oréal, this initiative sets out to denounce so-called “ordinary” sexism in the workplace and is backed by Elisabeth Moreno, Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities.

As the first business-to-business initiative of its kind, #StOpE aims to share and jointly promote good practices to combat ordinary sexism in the workplace. Spearheaded since December 2018 by Accor, EY and L’Oréal, the movement is based on the premise that this issue affects all companies and, more broadly, all organizations, and that it is essential to pool forces for the long-term prevention of sexist behaviour.

The movement is based on the signing of a joint undertaking listing the eight founding principles (see bottom of release). Companies and organizations thus commit to reducing ordinary sexism by implementing at least one of the eight priority actions during the year within their companies and organizations and to share their practical initiatives and good practices.

58 new members have signed up to the initiative this year. A number of schools and training bodies have signed the joint undertaking, including emlyon business school.

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