Business Sustainability MBA Concentration
Faculty Coordinators: Kumar Sarangee and Brian Thomas
Staff Coordinator: Carol Kelly, SBI Program Director
Organizations (corporate, nonprofit, governmental, consulting, and investing) increasingly incorporate sustainability into their management practices. The business sustainability concentration allows students to build the context and competencies necessary to:
- integrate sustainability into their primary functional area (management, marketing, operations, and finance) or
- be part of a sustainability-focused organization (e.g., Environmental, Social, & Governance consulting; impact investing; energy development; sustainable supply chain management; sustainable brand management; climate policy; and corporate sustainability program coordination)
To declare, use the MBA Concentration Declaration Form
Learning Objectives
Explain the importance of sustainability within key business areas such as management, marketing, operations, and finance. Access frameworks, tools, and metrics (e.g., ESG metrics, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, circular economy principles, and sustainable development goals) used to measure and enhance organizational sustainability. Identify opportunities and risks for organizations exploring sustainability-related initiatives. Evaluate, design, and implement sustainable business practices that create long-term value by incorporating economic, social, and environmental considerations.
Courses
To complete the business sustainability concentration, students must complete four required units and eight elective units for a total of twelve units.
Foundational course (required)
- MGMT 3555: Sustainability in the Evolving Business Landscape (4 units)
Highly recommended:
- MGMT 3556: Sustainability in Action: On-Site Visits (2 units)
Additional electives:
- FNCE 2492: Sustainability Investing (2 units)
- MGMT 3548: Social Benefit Entrepreneurship (4 units)
- MGMT 3552 Corporate Governance for the Executive and Entrepreneur (2 units)
- MGMT 3565: Cultivating Inclusive Leadership (2 units)
- MGMT 3695: Global Business Perspectives (4 units)
The concentration participates in the GBP Anywhere Program, which will allow both evening MBA and online MBA students (able to attend on-campus sessions) to enroll in the concentration.
To Apply for Scholarship Funds
Students are mandated to declare their desired concentration prior to completing 52 units and petitioning to graduate. *Note MBA students are allowed to declare two concentrations.
The Sustainable Business Institute offers scholarship funding up to $10,000 to support MBA students pursuing the Business Sustainability Concentration. Go to MBA Business Sustainability Concentration Scholarship Application to access the application and concentration details.
The next application period opens October 10 and closes October 27, 2025.
"As educators at the intersection of business and sustainability, our mission is to help students understand both the complementary and competing notions of profitable growth and the common good. To better equip them to be conscientious corporate citizens who create a world of shared prosperity."
Featured Courses
This multidisciplinary course examines business' critical role in addressing today's societal challenges and develops students' ability to integrate sustainability into their functional expertise. This course builds a foundational understanding of business sustainability, enabling students to apply a sustainability lens to business decisions. It is oriented around the following questions:
- What is "sustainability" in the current business context?;
- How does it impact capital, product, and labor markets?;
- How are businesses incorporating it into their management cadence?; and
- How should you integrate it into your professional skill set?
Armed with these fundamentals, students should feel empowered and energized to delve further into aspects of business sustainability such as sustainable investing, social entrepreneurship, inclusive leadership, corporate ethics, and, in the future, sustainability accounting, sustainable marketing, sustainable supply chains, and public policy. (4 units)
Prerequisite: MGMT 3000
This experiential course offers students a hands-on opportunity to explore how leading companies integrate sustainability into their business operations, strategies, and culture. Through guided visits to organizations across various industries, students will engage with executives, sustainability officers, and operational teams to understand real-world applications of sustainable practices. Examples of immersions may include:
- Meeting with a fund manager to understand how sustainability is incorporated into investment decisions
- Visiting a food company factory to learn how sustainable agricultural practices are employed
- Engaging with a renewable energy expert to build a better understanding of energy markets
- Meeting with an HR executive of a company that has created a culture of belonging and
- Visiting with a city mayor to gain perspective on how business enriches communities.
Students will be expected to be well prepared to engage in knowledge-seeking Q&A dialog with industry representatives during site visits. A final reflection paper will be due at the end of the quarter. (2 units)
Prerequisite: none
This intensive one-week immersion program offers students the unique opportunity to examinvarious and complex issues relating to conducting business in the host country from the perspective of experts in country. The program is designed to be an in-depth exposure to relevant cultural, and sociopolitical aspects of the business environment, as well as analysis of management, economic, sustainability and corporate challenges of operating a business in the host country. Professionals and experts who work in the host country will provide unique insights and expertise on multi-faceted aspects of the business and ESG environment that cannot be provided by their US equivalents. (4 units)
This course counts towards the Business Sustainability Concentration.