Demand is increasing for corporate leaders who consider more than just the bottom line.
Introduction
The importance for executives to prioritise and effectively handle environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations has reached unprecedented levels. ESG, once regarded as a specialised area, is now recognised as the foremost influence on business strategy. Concurrently, leaders must adeptly navigate various challenges, including staying in step with a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, guiding essential organisational and technological transformations, and implementing measures to attract and retain talent, all while meeting the heightened expectations of increasingly discerning and demanding shareholders.
Leaders are being urged by consumers, investors, regulators, and society to shift their methods of value creation as environmental and societal concerns have grown. Sustainability is now a business imperative. As such, a growing number of business schools provide executive education courses in corporate sustainability leadership, which cover ESG investing, sustainable supply chain management, and employee and consumer engagement. Participants will also learn how to develop innovative business models and disclose sustainability practices to meet increasing and conflicting stakeholder demands.
1. Business Models for a Sustainable Energy Future, ESMT Berlin
The energy sector is undergoing a radical transformation in Germany and Europe, but also on a global scale. ESMT Berlin’s “Business Models for a Sustainable Energy Future” sheds light on the emerging new energy system from a business perspective. They’re less concerned with details of regulation and technologies, and more so with strategies established players and new entrants pursue to benefit from the transition – or merely survive in the years to come. This program will have students gain an in-depth view into the changes that will shape the energy sector in the future, develop enhanced skills with respect to identifying critical information and issues in complex situations and offering new solutions to complex problems, as well as understand and be able to exploit the potential of technology for innovation and growth, including showing an understanding of the importance of technology in delivering a more sustainable future for business and being innovative in developing business solution.
2. Business Transformation for Sustainability, KEDGE Business School
KEDGE Business School’s “Business Transformation for Sustainability” is a double degree programme. It delivers a Master of Science accredited by the conférence des grandes écoles (CGE) and a diploma recognised by the French Ministry of Higher Education. Building upon KEDGE’s academic excellence and commitment to CSR-related issues, this programme breaks the boundaries between disciplines to reinvent tomorrow’s organisations. An innovative, learning-by-doing experiential approach allows students to argue the business case for sustainability, develop integrated sustainability strategies and implement them throughout a sphere of influence. It seeks to foster new value-creation possibilities and to provide the keys to drive transformation for sustainability. The programme immerses students in a multidisciplinary ecosystem, made up of academic, professional, institutional and non-governmental players.
3. Sustainability and Management, University of Bath
Develop your knowledge of the core business disciplines and gain a deep understanding of corporate sustainability. The University of Bath’s “Sustainability and Management” programme is for graduates with a degree in any subject who want to develop key managerial skills with an emphasis on sustainability. Sustainability is an increasingly essential part of corporate policy and strategy. Companies must consider the ethical, social, environmental, and economic impact of their activities. This course will give you the skills that employers need to put practical sustainability into action, like problem solving, influencing people, group working, communication, and negotiation. They will gain a deep understanding of corporate sustainability alongside core business topics.
4. Climate Change and Sustainability: Leveraging Carbon Market Initiatives for Business, NUS Business School
Sustainability and climate change are now issues that are moving beyond corporate lip service into real-world business costs, challenges, and opportunities. Many corporates have set climate-neutrality / net-zero targets and must decide on a pathway towards net zero. In practice, corporations will need to make step-by-step decisions on the breadth and depth of their greenhouse gas emission reductions. They will also need to decide on the role of carbon credits in their transition period, and in their steady state. NUS Business School’s “Climate Change and Sustainability: Leveraging Carbon Market Initiatives for Business” programme breaks down the issues, and will help participants understand and take advantage of climate change opportunities today, and in the near future.
5. ESG Essentials, Wharton
Wharton’s “ESG Essentials” taps the latest insights from Wharton’s leading faculty to equip participants with the tactical competencies needed to successfully link ESG to profit-and-loss statements and portfolio strategies, create and implement a solid risk management plan, and adopt proven best practices rooted in frontier research. Go beyond the headlines and rhetoric and gain clarity not just to understand the impacts of ESG factors but to harness them strategically. This programme will prepare leaders to analyse and evaluate the financial implications of ESG factors on their strategies. The program will provide a comprehensive view of the ESG landscape, from its values-based origins to its increasing focus on financial impact.
Conclusion
Using a mix of interactive lectures, simulations and action learning, these courses will help executives develop practical and impactful strategies for building consensus and making change. With companies facing more significant pressure to tackle societal challenges such as inequality and climate change, these skills are critical to any leader’s future success.
