The University of Queensland (UQ) Business School has committed to improve its management education to meet both domestic and global needs, based on a set of standards set by the United Nations.
To highlight its commitment, the business school recently released inaugural Sharing Information on Progress (SIP) report for the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (UN PRME), the largest coordinated effort between the world’s business schools and the United Nations.
UQ Business School has been a partner with the UN initiative since 2015, and created the report to share with the international organisation to solidify the intention to increasing awareness and integration of sustainability in business schools around the world.
UQ Business School UN PRME Director Dr Cle-Anne Gabriel said that involvement in PRME was an opportunity for the school to align its own strategy with global thought leadership and action.
“It is the ideal platform to engage in national and global dialogue on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability in education,” she said.
The aim of the UN partnership was to encourage business schools around the globe to adopt teaching practices and that ensured responsibility, sustainability and ethics were the foundations on which management education was built. This would lead to graduates who enter society with those foundations supporting their own business practices.
Thereport stated that UQ Business School will continue its current initiatives while improving on them, like its approach to active learning to generate a deeper level of understanding of the guiding principles for responsible management.
UQ Business School also included in the report that it plans to continue the international MBA facilitates immersion programs to various developing countries, such as India and China.
“The MBA International Immersion is an opportunity for MBA candidates to learn about the country’s economy and what is driving growth, understand the culture and political system and their impacts on business,” the report said.
“MBA candidates can also build professional and social networks with local representatives from industry, government and the not-for-profit sector, and develop opportunities to study and build a career in the respective country.”
Moving forward, students will be directly introduced to the principles as the School begins to outline a concrete strategy.
“Many of our educators challenge their students to think beyond the status quo, to challenge assumptions about what business is and the responsibilities of business,” Ms Gabriel said.
“We embrace connecting with other Business Schools in 2019 in the PRME Australia and New Zealand chapter, to understand areas of mutual interest.”
