By the end of the last century, business had turned truly global, and companies throughout the world never looked back. Now those same companies are looking for the new generation of globally responsible leaders – and are depending in no small part on Executive and Professional MBA Programs to help shape those vital leadership qualities.

A collaboration among worldwide business schools and companies recently was launched to find answers to the question the impacts both parties: How do we best develop a new generation of responsible business leaders who can successfully deal with global challenges?

The Global Compact, which brings together more than 1,500 corporate members, and the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd), which includes more than 470 member organizations from academia, business, and public service in 45 countries, are sponsoring the collaboration, known as The Global Responsibility Initiative.

“Globalization is here to stay,” says Gerald van Schaik, emfd president and former CEO of Heineken. “If you want to make sure that you get globally responsible managers, you start, of course, by the educational element.”

A strategic partner of the Executive MBA Council, efmd understands the world of business schools and Executive MBA Programs well. The organization runs the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), which accredits management and business administration programs throughout the world. As a result of its position, efmd can help shape new approaches.

“Somehow managers and business leaders are trained and made aware of what is relevant in the way they run a company,” says van Schaik. “The time to make a lasting impression on future leaders is in the context of their academic education and business training, not at a much later stage as an after thought.”

In June, the Global Compact and emfd launched the initiative, the first time a group of business and academic leaders from all parts of world will address these issues together. The initiative seeks to:

• Play a leadership role in forwarding the practice of building a strong base for the development of a new generation of leaders and managers with global responsibility
  
  
• Contribute to the overall development of training and education for managers, regarding global responsibility at business schools and in companies by:
  
  --upgrading the participants’ best practices and sharing those with peers on a global basis
  
  --by setting standards and feeding quality improvement accreditation systems for business schools with new dimensions
  
  
• Reach tangible results concerning key issues in each participant’s own organization

The initiative already has attracted participants throughout the world, including:

• Aviva (UK)
• Bordeaux Business School (France)
• China-Europe International Business School (China)
• Curtin Business School (Australia)
• IESE (Spain)
• ESSEC (France)
• Fundacao Dom Cabral (Brazil)
• Groupe Caisse d'Epargne (France)
• INSEAD (France)
• Instituto de Empresa (Spain)
• London Business School (UK)
• IBM (USA)
• Petrobras (Brazil)
• Queen's University in Kingston (Canada)
• Telefonica (Spain)
• Barloworld (South Africa)
• University of South Africa Centre for Corporate Citizenship (South Africa)

In October, participants will meet for the first time to begin their task. The yearlong process involves six work meetings with all participants and a virtual communication platform to facilitate work and communication between meetings.

“So far, pioneering schools and companies from five continents have decided to join this project,” says Eric Cornuel, the director general of efmd. “They will use all their expertise, networks, and strengths to take the important first steps. Our long-term aim through this project is that one day business schools will teach issues in this field just as naturally as they now teach how to make business plans or good accounting practices.”

For additional information, contact Matthew Wood at wood@efmd.be.