In the last two decades the business paradigm in India has witnessed a radical shift. Due to increased awareness in the society about environmental degradation, global warming, climate change and socio economic implications of ever increasing corporate power, nation states are forcing businesses to mould their business strategies to align with Sustainable Development objectives of the country as well as of the globe. In the changed business environment, businesses have started facing an environment which not only comprises of traditional stakeholders but also large numbers of non traditional stakeholders – institutionalised community groups, environmental NGO’s, minority groups, media and society at large. Today’s business manager need to understand and appreciate the expectations of all their stakeholder and behave in a socially responsible manner. Concepts like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Social Opportunity (CSO), Stakeholder Management etc., are gaining prominence in the parlance of management practices.
Most management institutes in India are criticised by the society for not making much contribution in the field of business sustainability and associated public policy processes. IIM Lucknow, in the year 2011-2012, became the first IIM to establish a dedicated Centre of Excellence for Business Sustainability. Another step has been taken in this direction with the launch of a Post Graduate Programme in Sustainable Management – PGP SM.
PGP SM will be a two year full time residential programme. Admission to the programme will be done based on CAT score, Group Discussion and Personal Interview. The programme has 45 seats. This programme will be conducted at IIM Lucknow’s Noida campus in Delhi NCR region. Specifically, the programme will focus on
a) Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability aspects
b) Change Management preparation
c) Critical perspectives on policy and institutions
d) Cross sector collaborations
e) Systemic linkages among environmental, social and economic issues.
PGP SM graduates will be instilled the ability to think in a holistic way about different aspects of sustainability challenges in the business environment using a dynamic systems framework. They would be equipped with management and leadership skills to formulate and solve problems at the appropriate scale and ability to recognise the interconnectedness of economic performance of businesses with coupled social and environmental systems. They would also be able to produce policy relevant results.
Further details available on www.iiml.ac.in