AMBA's Ambition magazine: Issue 41, March 2021

AMBITION | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY

S enior Business School leaders recognise the the required solutions, according to the AMBA & BGA International Climate Change Report , in association with Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics. Among 597 senior leaders at Business Schools across the world that impact climate change will have on business and their personal lives but share an optimism that hopeful students and the wider business community will find

while 71% agree that this change would have a negative impact on their lives. However, there was less consensus on taking personal action in this area – while 51% said they have changed their habits and behaviour in the past six months to lessen their impact on the environment, 48% said they have not. Business School leaders are also apprehensive about the future of our planet when looking ahead to the next 10 and 25 years. Business School leaders’ perspectives on the future of climate change When asked to select what they believed were the most important issues that businesses would face over the coming five years, those relating to the environment were high on the agenda. The most frequently cited options were ‘thinking about how businesses can become more sustainable’ (cited by 42% of participants), ‘the ability of companies to innovate’ (38%), and ‘embracing cleaner, more environmentally friendly technologies’ (35%). Leaders were less inclined to select issues such as ‘creating diverse teams’, ‘automated technology and robots’, ‘closing the gender pay gap’ or ‘increased selection and competition’. Business Schools' role with regards to sustainability and climate change Where does the responsibility for addressing climate change lie? There is widespread agreement among Business School leaders that ‘scientists in the field of climate change’ have a large amount of

were surveyed as part of the research, 88% believe that

their Business School has at least some responsibility to tackle climate change.

‘88% believe that their Business School has at least some responsibility to tackle climate change’

However, only 3% are currently of the belief that their Business Schools’ efforts in addressing climate

change are ‘excellent’. It is therefore clear that leaders see the need for significant improvements at their institutions. When it comes to Business

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School leaders’ personal beliefs

about climate change, 69% are in agreement that the temperature of the planet is changing due to the activity of humans,

PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS The results in this report are based on a survey, conducted between

March 2020 and May 2020, of 597 Business School leaders based in the following regions: Europe (excluding the UK) (45%); UK (14%); Latin America (11%); Africa (6%); Asia (excluding China) and the Middle East (5%); North America and the Caribbean (7%); Oceania (2%); China (including Hong Kong, China) (5%). Among those who participated in the survey, 49% are senior leaders at a Business School, i.e., a dean or director; 10% work in designing or delivering management programmes at Business Schools; 9% work as a business management academics; 8% work with management students and graduates (e.g., careers and alumni staff); 18% work in another capacity within a Business School (common examples cited were accreditation and marketing departments); and 6% said they work in other roles within business and management education.

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