Academic Leaders at UN Forum Call on Business to Better Balance Social and Economic Objectives

NEW YORK, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Educators and administrators from 37 countries, meeting at the second UN Global Forum on Responsible Management Education, have called on business leaders to better balance social and economic objectives and encouraged management education to prepare future leaders for this challenge. At the end of the conference, participants representing business schools and other academic institutions encouraged business to emphasize societal value just as much as its commitment to shareholder return.

Assuring their support for researchers, task forces and associations dedicated to the globalization of business education and development of effective leaders, academic leaders participating in the forum have reaffirmed their commitment to the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). The UN-backed initiative was launched in 2007 to better prepare current and future organizational leaders for their dual roles as economic developer and societal servant.  

The second Global Forum for Responsible Management Education on June 23 was organized by the PRME Secretariat and hosted by Fordham University Schools of Business and brought more than 215 educators together. The Global Forum released the following Outcomes Statement:

Declaration of the 2nd Global Forum for Responsible Management Education

New York, NY 23 June 10

For more than 100 years, management education has sought to provide business leaders with the tools to invigorate economic growth.  Yet economic gain is no longer a solitary end in the hearts and minds of the globe's six billion people. Business must emphasize societal and environmental value just as much as its commitment to shareholder return. Management education must also enhance its curricula, pedagogy, research and incentives, as well as lead by example, to prepare organizational leaders who will balance economic and social development.

We support the numerous business schools and universities, companies, governments, civil society groups and associations dedicated to the globalization of business education and development of effective leaders. These initiatives inspire us to make management education the hallmark for responsible leadership.

The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), written in 2007 and now endorsed by over 300 business schools from 62 countries, serve as guidelines for management education providers to better prepare current and future organizational leaders for their dual roles as economic developer and societal steward.  Yet with more than 12,000 business degree granting institutions worldwide, our job has just begun.  We aspire to the goal of 1,000 PRME schools by 2015. We urge business schools to adopt the Principles and organizations to balance their economic and social objectives.

- Endorsed by the participants of the 2nd Global Forum for Responsible Management Education

About the Principles for Responsible Management Education

Launched in 2007, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) provide framework for academic institutions to advance corporate social responsibility through the incorporation of universal values into curricula and research. The PRME is coordinated by a Steering Committee constituted of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, the European Academy for Business in Society (EABIS), the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), Net Impact and the United Nations Global Compact.

For more information, please contact the PRME Secretariat at [email protected], or

Andrea Pavone, RF|Binder Partners Inc., (212) 994-7568, [email protected]

Robert Ferris, RF|Binder Partners Inc., (212) 994-7505, [email protected]  

SOURCE Principles for Responsible Management Education