RIO+20 calls for radical transformation of Management Education

ESSEC Business School answers to the call

Cergy, June 19th 2012 – On June 15th at the RIO+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, the 50+20 initiative unveiled a vision for the transformation of management education, in which the common tenet of being the best in the world is revised in favour of creating businesses that are designed and led to achieve the best for the world. ESSEC Business School is one of the main partner institutions of the initiative.

The RIO+20 vision
In order to create a world where all citizens live well and within the limits of the planet, 50+20 urges action toward a different kind of society with a revised economic framework that is celebrated for its contribution to society and the world. Equally, businesses will need to become intimately involved in this transformation by accepting challenges and responsibilities beyond short-term economic performance.

Given that the very foundations of business and management education are critically examined, the vision concerns business, management and leadership education in general. Stakeholders in this landscape include not only business schools, leadership and executive development programs or corporate universities, but also think tanks, business consultancies and vocational training centers.

Pierre Tapie, Dean and President of ESSEC Business School and former Chairman of the GRLI Board says: "Business schools and Business in general are strongly challenged by the present crisis. Have we prepared the appropriate leaders? Are we preparing the next generation of global leaders able to grasp the present challenges: innovation, common good and sustainability? Here are central questions fiercely debated among Business Schools professors and Deans. The Rio + 20 call is an articulated contribution to these debates, emphasizing their responsibilities towards society as a whole."

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