Still an economist in 1970 Milton Friedman The famous argument that corporations have one responsibility: increasing profits. For a long time, the so-called The “Friedman Doctrine” was dogma in some circles, including many business schools.
Loads has modified since then. Governments and other education funders are increasingly demanding that universities prioritize social goals equivalent to those set out within the UN document 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Meanwhile, business schools are combating latest market pressures, including: world rankings that now take social impact under consideration, and students, professors, and accreditation bodies that increasingly value social responsibility.
But what’s “social impact” and may it’s measured? as professor of entrepreneurship and a former business school dean who went through the impact determination process, my interest in these issues will not be just theoretical.
A brand new standard of impact
In 2020, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, or AACSB, an accrediting body over 600 business schools within the US – made a very important decision: it revised its accreditation standards to include them engagement and social impact.
Social impact, as defined by the AACSB, refers to “how a school makes a positive impact for the betterment of society, consistent with the school’s mission and strategic plan.” Although AACSB-accredited schools are actually required to “demonstrate a positive impact on society,” the organization gives schools considerable discretion in how they work to meet the standards.
While the general response was positive, business schools were searching for additional information to help them discover and measure their social impact. After all, universities profit their communities in some ways. If you want to track the impact of a business school, where should you even start?
Impact assessment tools
In my personal experience, it’s a good idea for a business school to start by reviewing its strategic plan.
That’s why determining impact is a complex process this requires the evaluation of giant amounts of information. Because it could possibly be so vast, it’s mandatory to discover and measure the impact that is best approached in alignment with the organization’s strategic intent.
A college’s strategic plan can function a solid basis for identifying areas of impact that are consistent with the college’s aspirations. It also sends a signal to accreditors and all stakeholders that its areas of influence are close to the core of its business.
The next step for a lot of schools, including my university, is to adopt an impact framework. An impact framework is a tool utilized by organizations to discover initiatives and measure progress toward goals. Research shows that influence frameworks can effectively sustain a corporation locked in a purposeful journeyoffering guardrails to keep people from losing sight of their goals.
One such framework, tailored to the needs of business schools, is obtainable by the European Foundation for Management Development, which is a global accreditation organization based in Brussels. In addition to accreditation activities, the muse offers the so-called The business school influence systemwhich has been initiated in over 90 business schools around the globe.
The business school impact system might be the longest-running system of its type, having launched in 2012. There were no other resources available on the time – unless the college used a consulting firm to conduct an impact evaluation at a high cost. The The structure of the business school influence system analyzes 120 indicators in seven dimensions of impact.
Other organizations equivalent to the UN sponsored Principles of responsible educationprovide further instructions.
What this implies for business schools
Evaluating impact offers many advantages for business schools. For example, it could possibly improve a program’s popularity by attracting potential students, employers, and school. Can also offer compelling evidence for fundraising campaigns and grant applications. Additionally, insights from impact assessments will help inform curriculum development, making programs relevant to contemporary societal challenges.
Finally, social impact assessments can supporting stronger partnerships with community organizations and industryencouraging universities to prioritize real-world learning opportunities for college students and enabling them to make direct contributions to society through collaborative projects and research initiatives.
Business schools have long played a key role in shaping society – this was true in Milton Friedman’s day and continues to be true today. What is latest is that business schools try to measure their impact. I believe it’s a positive change.
