The Albers School develops ethical, inclusive, and innovative business leaders who lead and manage for the good of their organizations, society, and the planet.
We will be recognized for educating business leaders of integrity who aspire to build thriving organizations that consider people and planet in all decisions.
Albers joined the United Nations' new initiative directed at business schools -- Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) -- in spring of 2010.
The U.N. has been working with corporations for the last 10 years through the Global Compact. The Global Compact's 10 principles act as a framework for corporate citizenship, an outline for creating a more sustainable and inclusive global community. To date, 7700 corporate participants in 130 countries have adopted the principles. They require, among other things, supporting and respecting human rights; recognizing the right to collective bargaining; effectively eliminating child labor; and undertaking initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.
Participation is voluntary, and corporate participants are required to report on their progress annually. UNPRME Report 2014, final draft
In 2007 the Global Compact was expanded to business schools, with the intention of shaping the next generation of business leaders. It is the first time the U.N has directly engaged with academic institutions. There are now about 290 educational institutes world-wide participating in PRME.
Participating in the new initiative requires that Albers adopt the six Principles of Responsible Management Education:
As institutions of higher learning involved in the education of current and future managers we are voluntarily committed to engaging in a continuous process of improvement of the following Principles, reporting on progress to all our stakeholders and exchanging effective practices with other academic institutions:
Purpose: We will develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy.
Values: We will incorporate into our academic activities and curricula the values of global social responsibility as portrayed in international initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact.
Method: We will create educational frameworks, materials, processes and environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership.
Research: We will engage in conceptual and empirical research that advances our understanding about the role, dynamics, and impact of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic value.
Partnership: We will interact with managers of business corporations to extend our knowledge of their challenges in meeting social and environmental responsibilities and to explore jointly effective approaches to meeting these challenges.
Dialogue: We will facilitate and support dialog and debate among educators, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organizations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability.
We understand that our own organizational practices should serve as example of the values and attitudes we convey to our students.
(from UNPRME Six Principles)
UNPRME Report 2014, final draft to read the Albers PRME report for 2014.