HBS, along with ten other business schools, has been recognized for its "cutting-edge programs incorporating societal-business issues" in a report issued by the World Resources Institute and the Initiative for Social Innovation through Business. Titled Beyond Grey Pinstripes: Preparing MBAs for Social and Environmental Stewardship, the report praised HBS as a leader in fostering social awareness, incorporating social concerns into coursework and projects, and supporting student activities and faculty research that influence both classroom materials and corporate decision-making.

Steven R. Nelson (MBA '88), executive director of the HBS Initiative on Social Enterprise, accepted an award honoring the School's efforts at a ceremony hosted by Citigroup in New York last October. "This is a tribute to the broad range of activities at HBS focusing on nonprofit organizations and other private social-purpose enterprises," Nelson said recently. "Led by faculty chair Professor Jim Austin, the Initiative's research, course development, and publications have had a significant impact on many of our students, not to mention educational institutions far beyond this campus."

Since its creation in 1993, the HBS Initiative on Social Enterprise, supported by the John C. Whitehead (MBA 11/ '47) Fund for Not-for-Profit Management and other resources, has engaged in a wide range of activities. Among the results of these efforts are more than 150 cases and notes; a number of working papers, articles, and books; and MBA courses and seminars such as Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector, Business Leadership in the Social Sector, and Effective Leadership of Social Enterprise. Two Executive Education programs have also been developed under the aegis of the Initiative - Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management and Governing for Nonprofit Excellence: Critical Issues for Board Leadership.

The two entities that issued Beyond Grey Pinstripes, the World Resources Institute, headquartered in Washington, D.C., and the Initiative for Social Innovation through Business, a Manhattan-based program of The Aspen Institute, surveyed programs at 313 schools. They discovered that less than 20 percent of business schools are training MBAs to manage the social and environmental challenges facing business. That finding prompted the Business Roundtable, an association of leading U.S. CEOs, to issue a statement urging more business schools to focus on those areas. "The ability to integrate these considerations into business activities is a competitive advantage," the CEOs wrote. "Critical to success in these endeavors are well-trained managers who can help us meet our social and environmental stewardship goals."

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