The partygoerswho gathered on a small farm outside campus were not your typical gaggleof business school students. Sure, some would soon move on to plum jobs at investment banks and oilcompanies, but instead of traditionally celebrating their success, they optedfor a "sellout party."The event was held by students at the University of Michigan ErbInstitute, a three-year, dual-degree program between the university's businessand natural resources schools. Most of the institute's students areenvironmental advocates first, business people second, yet see the importanceof money in making a difference. They represent a small but growing cadre ofM.B.A.-wielding social activists who plan to bring about change, onePowerPoint presentation at a time.
Greg Shopoff, a third-year student at the ErbInstitute, studied geology at Colorado College and brieflyconsidered going into environmental law. But he found the legal profession tooslow for his tastes and opted for business school. "If you can harness theimpact of business for good," he says, "you have the potential forlarger-scale change in a shorter period of time." More students have begunthinking like Shopoff, and business schools clearly see the shift. At the ErbInstitute, director Tom Lyon notes the program has grown from five new studentsa year to as many as 25. The sheernumber of business school classes like Corporate Social Responsibility andCompetitive Environmental Strategy is up across the country, and schoolofficials say students are asking for more conferences, lectures, and workshopson social and environmental stewardship. "This generation hasgrown up with a much higher global awareness," says Kriss Deiglmeier,director of the Stanford School of Business Center for Social Innovation."They see what kind of problems we're facing and want to be engaged insolving them."
On the hiring side of the job market, recruitersfrom both non- and for-profits are looking increasingly for this type ofmultifaceted talent. In the nonprofit sector, the push makes good businesssense. More money is now at stake within mission-based organizations than justa couple of years ago, and nonprofits compete more fiercely with one anotherfor funds and with corporations for government contracts. "A decade ago,nonprofits would not have appreciated as much how useful an M.B.A. wouldbe," says Sharon Oster, director of the Yale School of Management Programon Social Enterprise. "Now there are more opportunities for M.B.A. gradsto move into that sector."
Corporations provide the rest of the rising demandfor these students, especially as they see that environmental values can helpboost the bottom line. Both companies and environmental consulting groups arehiring. Environmental Defense–a nonprofit advocacy group that partnered withFedEx to promote its hybrid electric fleet and also helped McDonald's phase outStyrofoam packaging–actively seeks out multidisciplinary employees whounderstand environmental issues but use business acumen to address them.
The intersection between financial know-how andsocial responsibility is not really new–just look at the number of CEOs on theboards of nonprofits and charities. But as M.B.A. programs have stepped up,schools serve not only as the nexus between corporateAmericaand students but also asthe link between business savvy andthe need for social and environmental advocacy.
1. Students at the University of Michigan Erb Institute held the party probably in order to_____
[A] promote the three-year, dual-degree program.
[B] attract the attention of investment banks and oil companies.
[C] work out measures to solve environmental problems.
[D] raise a fund for environmental protection.
2. Greg Shopoff chose to study business rather than environmental law because_____
[A] he was more interested in business than in legal profession.
[B] he thought business was a shortcut for him to become an influential person.
[C] he wanted to solve the environmental problems through business that he can make better use of.
[D] he thought legal procedures is not efficient in harnessing the impact of business for good.
3. Nonprofits need to hire more M.B.A. graduates now than a decade ago because_____
[A] there are more vacancies in nonprofits than before.
[B] nonprofits are now also doing business to earn more money.
[C] nonprofits need to be more efficient so as to be more competitive.
[D] nonprofits have to compete with for-profits for funds now.
4. The case of Environmental Defense implies that _____
[A] nonprofit is united with for-profit to make common efforts in environment protection.
[B] corporations are in great need of multifaceted organizations to work with companies on environmental issues.
[C] nonprofit organizations are switching more attention on environmental business.
[D] nonprofit organizations are helping business to be more environmentally friendly through business practices.
5. By this passages, the author tries to show that_____
[A] business world is turning its attention to integrating business with environmental issues.
[B] business corporations can be united with nonprofits in environmental protection.
[C] multidisciplinary students are increasingly popular in nonprofits as well as in corporations.
[D] there is a trend for business students to making use of business acumen for advocating environmental protection.
[答案]
1. C
2. C
3. C
4. D
5. D
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