Coordinating and Advancing Action on Sustainability

Sustainability has long played a key role at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management,both among its alumni and in regard to its research and teaching. And now, the school will shine an even brighter light on its efforts with the introduction of its new WHU Sustainability Management Center. This platform is designed to broadcast the results of the school’s sustainability-related research to its own network and to the general public, as well as to coordinate and coalesce the school’s activities in this area. The Center will facilitate exchanges between the school and its alumni, as well as between partner organizations, from corporates to start-ups to SMEs, and enable them to share their own perspectives from management practice.

WHU confirmed its stance on the importance of economic, social, and ecological sustainability when it announced last spring that Professor Nadine Kammerlander would become the school’s first ever Associate Dean of DEI & Sustainability. “Sustainable business practices have long been an important concern for many members of the WHU Community,” she said, speaking of the rationale behind the Center’s creation. “With this new Center, we want to connect sustainability-related activities more effectively and make them more visible to achieve greater impact.” The new Center affirms sustainability as one of WHU’s strategic priorities and builds upon its established strengths: its focus on the practical relevance of research and teaching, its commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation, and its strong network.

WHU considers sustainability to be an inherently interdisciplinary topic, affecting all areas of business and economics. This is evidenced by the fact that professors active in all six of the school’s faculty groups are members of the Center. The strength of WHU’s research stood out in a study conducted by the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) at the beginning of the year. The study analyzed how clearly research efforts of business schools across the globe reflected the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The results of this analysis, which see WHU ranked #1 in Germany and #11 globally, were published in a special report by the Financial Times.

This research focus, in turn, influences WHU’s academic programs, which blend sustainability and ethical practice into their focus on responsible leadership and entrepreneurial thinking.

WHU understands sustainability to broadly encompass many factors, from climate- and environment-related concerns to questions of social inclusivity and equity, as well as corporate governance (also known as ESG). Through the WHU Sustainability Management Center, the school seeks to collaborate with alumni, external companies, and other stakeholders to tackle these issues and advance sustainable management in a more visible way.

More information on the WHU Sustainability Management Center and its work can be found here.