The Business School Putting Sustainability At The Center Of Its MBA

IMD’s incoming dean: “Compared to the other schools, we are still probably the smallest one and may always be”

A GROWING, DIVERSE PROGRAM

While the class of 2022 will be the biggest yet, Toulan emphasizes how it will still remain boutique in nature. “Compared to the other schools, we are still probably the smallest one and may always be,” he says.

Toulan says despite more participants in the program in the new year, it will still feel personalized to each candidate. “Personalization is a huge part of the program; each candidate will still get a personal leadership coach, a psychoanalyst’s services provided, and the dean will still be part of all assessment days and will individually follow up with each candidate after their admission,” he explains.

While this is the first year with more students in the program, Toulan says the plan is to continue to slowly grow it. For the first time ever, the program is offering a Young Leaders Scholarship series. By offering grants of up to $54,000 USD, the purpose is to attract younger students who have less savings than those who are older. “Many people attribute leadership with age,” he continues. “But for me, what’s more important than age is maturity and the leadership traits and capabilities that go with it. That’s why we’ve opened up specific scholarships for leaders aged 28 and under.”

TACKLING POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY

Perhaps the most timely theme covered in the IMD MBA curriculum is pandemic recovery. With a larger class in 2022, Toulan is hopeful that there will be more brainpower to create solutions. “If you look at how the pandemic is impacting different parts of the world, the recovery is not going to be the same,” says Toulan. “This highlights how sustainability is not only about the environment, it’s also about society. We have to be cognizant about those trade-offs when we are making choices and decisions.”

When asked for his advice for graduates beginning to tackle sustainability issues post-pandemic, he answered, “You have to have resilience out there. We will try to provide you with all of the skills that you need, but what we see is that the world is not all on the same page yet. You will have to fight and stand by your values and what you believe in order to confront the challenges out there.”

“It’s not going to be a piece of cake. Expect resistance.”

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