Recruiters Seek M.B.A.s Trained in Responsibility
December 13, 2005; Page B6
When Liam Connelly, the U.S. recruitment manager for Timberland, interviews M.B.A. graduates, he is screening them for much more than their skills in marketing or supply-chain management. To make the cut at Timberland, M.B.A.s also must bring a passion for making the world a better place.
The quest for such candidates used to be quite challenging. "Three or four years ago, it was like searching through the fog for students with a solid background in corporate social responsibility," says Mr. Connelly, who recruits at such schools as Dartmouth College and the University of North Carolina. "But fortunately for us, that's changing as more schools are turning out top-notch M.B.A.s who match our philosophy."
The boot and clothing maker, of Stratham, N.H., has long embraced corporate citizenship, giving employees paid leaves to do volunteer work and closely monitoring labor conditions at its vendors' overseas factories. As more companies follow Timberland's example, they too are seeking M.B.A.s who have taken courses and gained practical experience related to social and environmental responsibility. In this year's Wall Street Journal-Harris Interactive business-school survey, 84% of the corporate recruiters said it is very or somewhat important that M.B.A.s display "awareness and knowledge of corporate social responsibility."
Major companies like McDonald's, Gap and Yahoo have begun forging close connections with the increasing number of business schools offering classes in social and environmental responsibility. In a recent survey of nearly 100 M.B.A. programs around the world, the Aspen Institute and World Resources Institute found that more than half require students to take courses on corporate responsibility, up from only a third in 2001.
Some companies enlist students for consulting projects, then hire them later for internships or full-time positions. That is how Jo Mackness landed her "dream job" at Ernst & Young. While studying for her M.B.A. at the University of California at Berkeley, she worked on a "blueprint" for strategic social responsibility at the accounting firm. Ernst & Young hired her after graduation last year to become its integration leader for social responsibility. Since then, she has launched a program to send the firm's top managers to Central America to work with local businesses that employ the rural poor.
Despite the growth of corporate citizenship, however, jobs like Ms. Mackness's remain relatively scarce. Most b-school graduates with a background in social responsibility move into traditional management jobs. "We're looking for candidates who value social responsibility for jobs in finance and marketing, not just for corporate responsibility and public affairs work," says Denise Mooney, an M.B.A. recruiter for Gap. The apparel retailer this year awarded scholarships to three Berkeley M.B.A.s planning to concentrate on corporate responsibility.
The Haas School of Business at Berkeley attracts both recruiters and students because of its social and environmental focus. In fact, a quarter of this year's incoming M.B.A. students said they chose Haas because it offers some 30 courses with social or environmental content, including "Social Entrepreneurship" and "Business Strategies for Emerging Markets." One of the most popular classes -- "Strategic Corporate Responsibility" -- requires students to perform consulting projects for clients as diverse as the Detroit Lions football team and sandal-maker Birkenstock. Students explore such issues as socially responsible investing, human rights, strategic philanthropy and public/private partnerships.
But Haas doesn't aim to simply turn out tree-hugging do-gooders. After all, recruiters still most value team players with leadership potential and sharp communication and analytical skills. "I'm hearing from more companies that want M.B.A.s who are solid general managers first, but who also get the importance of social responsibility," says Kellie McElhaney, executive director of the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley. "In the past, they picked insiders in operations or marketing and found that many of those people couldn't make the leap to such issues as human-rights assessment and engagement with NGOs [nongovernmental organizations]."
This year McDonald's started a research fellowship program at Berkeley, selecting six students to study the social, environmental and financial aspects of the beef supply chain. "They're looking at the supply chain from fork to farm," says Bob Langert, senior director of social responsibility at the fast-food company. "We created the fellows program because we believe it's key for business schools to develop a sensitivity to societal issues in future business leaders. We knew from direct experience that the Haas School has the capacity to work well with business."
M.B.A. graduates say their degree gives them greater credibility when they try to spread social responsibility throughout a company. Unlike many people who move into the corporate world from nonprofit organizations, M.B.A.s can speak the language of business and relate social responsibility to brand management, corporate strategy and financial analysis.
"My M.B.A. gives me the knowledge and confidence to discuss corporate social responsibility in a way that resonates with business leaders," says Erin Carlson, a Berkeley graduate and manager of Yahoo for Good, a program that helps connect Yahoo users with worthy causes. "Whatever I do here at Yahoo has to not only make a positive impact on the world but also make business sense."
受过社会责任培训的MBA渐受青睐
当Timberland的美国区人事经理康奈利(Liam Connelly)对MBA毕业生进行面试时，他看重的并不只是他们在营销或供应链管理方面的技能。要取得面试成功，MBA还必须展示他们怀有让世界变得更美好的责任感。
若在过去，这种要求显得十分苛刻。 “三、四年前，要想找到在履行企业社会责任方面背景深厚的学生就像雾里寻人一样，”康奈利说。“但是让我们感到幸运的是，这种情况正在发生改变，越来越多的学校开始培养出符合我们选才原则的顶级的MBA毕业生。” 康奈利现在正在达特茅斯学院(Dartmouth College)和北卡罗来纳大学(University of North Carolina)等院校进行招聘活动。
Timberland是一家鞋类和服装生产商，长期以来一直履行企业公民的责任，允许员工带薪参加一些志愿服务，并密切监控其销售商的海外工厂的劳工条件。越来越多的企业在效仿Timberland之举的同时，也开始青睐那些参加过社会和环境责任相关课程并拥有实际经验的MBA毕业生。在今年的《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)－Harris Interactive的商学院调查中，84%的企业招聘方表示，MBA若能展现出对企业社会责任的认知，将对其被聘用与否起到一定或相当大的作用。
诸如麦当劳(McDonald's)、Gap和雅虎(Yahoo)之类的大公司已经开始与提供社会和环境责任课程的商学院建立起密切的联系。在最近对全球近100个MBA项目的调查中，Aspen Institute和World Resources Institute发现，一半以上的院校要求学生参加有关企业责任的课程，而2001年这部分院校的比例还只有三分之一。
一些公司常常招募MBA学生参与咨询项目，之后向他们提供实习的机会或给予全职职位。麦克尼斯(Jo Mackness)就是这样获得她梦寐以求的在安永会计师事务所(Ernst & Young)工作的机会。还在加利福尼亚大学(University of California)伯克利分校读书的时候，她为这家会计公司规划过战略性社会责任的“蓝图”。去年毕业后，安永聘用她成为社会责任方面的负责人。此后，她推出了一个项目，派遣该公司的高层领导人前往中美洲与当地雇佣农村贫困劳动力的企业一起工作。
尽管企业公民项目不断增加，但像麦克尼斯这样专门担任此类职位的人仍然十分稀少。多数具有社会责任背景的商学院研究生都从事著传统的管理工作。“我们在金融和营销职位中也在寻找社会责任感强的候选人，而不仅仅针对那些企业责任和公共事务的职位，”Gap负责MBA招聘的穆尼(Denise Mooney)说。这家服装零售商今年将奖学金授予了打算致力于企业责任研究的三位加州大学伯克利分校的MBA。
伯克利分校哈斯商学院(Haas School of Business)因其对社会和环境责任的侧重不仅吸引了学生，也赢得了企业的关注。今年四分之一的MBA新生说，选择哈斯是因为它有30来个课程与社会或环保有关，包括“社会企业家精神”、“新兴市场的经营策略”等。其中一个最受欢迎的课程是“战略性企业责任”，它要求学生为各种不同的客户开展咨询项目，不仅包括便鞋生产商Birkenstock，还包括底特律狮队(Detroit Lions)等。学生们探讨对社会负责的投资、人权、战略性慈善行为和公共/私人合伙等各种问题。
但是，哈斯商学院并不打算只是培养社会慈善家。毕竟，招聘方最看重的还是拥有领导潜能、良好的沟通和分析技巧的团队成员。“我听越来越多的公司说，他们希望招聘那些首先能成为强有力领导者的MBA，但他同时还需要拥有很强的社会责任感，”伯克利分校Center for Responsible Business的执行董事麦克汉利(Kellie McElhaney)说。“在过去，他们只注重选择具有业务或营销专长的人，可发现其中许多人处理不好像人权评估、与非政府组织交往这样的问题。”
今年，麦当劳(McDonald's)在伯克利分校设立了一个奖学金项目，挑选6名学生对其牛肉供应链中涉及的社会、环境和财务方面开展研究。麦当劳负责社会责任的资深董事兰格特(Bob Langert)说，“设立这个项目是因为我们认为商学院对于在未来的商界领导人中培养他们对社会问题的敏感性十分重要。直接经验告诉我们哈斯商学院有能力与企业协力合作。”
MBA毕业生称，MBA学位使他们在某家公司设法传播社会责任知识时增强了他们的可信度。和从非营利机构转入企业的很多从业者不同，MBA能够从企业和相关社会责任的角度来树立管理理念和企业策略，开展财务分析。
“MBA学习让我获得了以引起企业领导人共鸣的方式来探讨企业社会责任的知识和信心。”伯克利分校毕业生、Yahoo for Good项目负责人卡尔森(Erin Carlson)说。这个项目旨在帮助雅虎的用户开展有价值的事业。“我在雅虎所做的每一件事不仅要对世界产生积极影响，也要符合企业利益。”
