Sustainability Report 2021

15 IMD’s five core focus areas

Out of 19 projects in 2021, 12 were directly related to sustainability (63%), double the number the previous year

+63%

Discovery Expeditions challenge MBAs to apply their learning.

Startup projects As part of the entrepreneurship stream, MBA participants worked on advising the leadership teams of startups. In 2021, 12 out of the 20 project teams analyzed and developed business plans related to sustainability. The plans that MBAs contributed to included: • closing the loop on PET plastic recycling • empowering smallholders in West Africa • rethinking textile to build a new sustainable brand • grasshopper breeding techniques to convert agricultural waste into high-quality proteins • helping energy transition actors to plan and design efficient ways to heat, cool and electrify buildings International Consulting Projects The International Consulting Projects (ICPs) provide MBA participants with hands-on experience developing business solutions for global challenges. Teams of five MBAs coached by a faculty member spend eight weeks working on a strategic challenge faced by a company. Out of 19 projects in 2021, 12 were directly related to sustainability (63%), double the number the previous year. The ICP projects spanned a wide range of industries including energy, engineering, software, chemicals, non- profit, food, trading, insurance, healthcare, and automation. For example, one team travelled to Peru to work with the Maras community to help them improve their value chain and capture a fair value for their high-quality salt. In Khartoum, a team immersed themselves with CTC Group to help them maintain their position as the leader in Sudan’s agricultural sector as the country opens to investment. In Switzerland, another group assessed the future of mobility for a regional energy company. In the UK, an MBA team consulted a biodiversity NGO.

MBA Plans Sustainable Transformation Starting in 2022, sustainability will be woven into the entire MBA curriculum at IMD in a major revamp in time for the program’s 50th anniversary. “Our vision is to develop leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society,” said Omar Toulan, the new Dean of the MBA. “Traditionally, we’ve been more focused on transforming organizations. But you can’t ignore the impact you have on society. We want to make sure we’re balancing both sides of the equation; sustainability is at the center of that.” To help revamp the MBA, IMD has developed a strategic partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a CEO-led organization of over 200 leading companies. “The goal is not to become the next green MBA, where people only study at IMD if they want to work in the sustainability department of a company,” says Toulan. “The goal is to give people the skills all managers will need in the future when it comes to sustainability.”

Blog

Read more stories about this year’s ICPs on the MBA blog.