IIM Lucknow launches full-fledged PG programme in sustainable management

MUMBAI: The Indian Institute of Management Lucknow launched a full-fledged

PG programme in sustainable management

. The programme (PGP-SM) aims to develop management professionals with a holistic perspective on economic, social, and environmental issues.
The programme will expose students to the best practices from pioneers in sustainability from world-renowned universities.

It will enable future leaders to understand the ever-evolving and interactive nature of sustainability challenges and come up with integrated and holistic solutions.
In addition to offering general management courses, PGP-SM's curriculum stands out in management education by offering specialized courses on principles of sustainable management, sustainability measurement and reporting, systems thinking, lifecycle management, stakeholder management and public policy. PGP-SM enables future leaders to understand the ever-evolving and interactive nature of these sustainability challenges and come up with integrated, holistic solutions.
Speaking about the need for a dedicated program in Sustainable Management, professor Archana Shukla, director, IIM Lucknow, said, “This program aims to develop managers with evolved consciousness and skills to contribute towards a sustainable society.”

The PGP-SM stresses the philosophy that businesses are embedded in society and cannot be separated from it. The key objectives of the programme includes building an understanding of contemporary challenges that businesses are facing in the 21st century, with an emphasis on the environment, building responsible leadership capabilities geared to respond to sustainability challenges and imparting appropriate skill sets to integrate principles of sustainability and responsible management practices, among others.

The key features of this program include: case study methodology, international immersion program in the second year from universities such as Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), Linnaeus University (Sweden), Maastricht University (Netherlands), as well as visits to organizations like IKEA, VOLVO, Electrolux & Xylem. Also, the programme has integrated projects with industry.
Speaking about the career opportunities for the program graduates, profesor Ashish Aggarwal, Chairman, PGP-SM, IIM Lucknow, said, “Top consulting firms like McKinsey, Accenture, E&Y, KPMG and PWC, along with other major companies, hire our students with an average salary of Rs. 30 lakhs per annum, and we have a 100% placement record.”
While in the past, 'sustainability' was often associated with environmental and social concerns for governments and public policy, a hard realization has set-in in recent years that businesses cannot function oblivious to these concerns. Hence, the only way to deal with the threat of negative environmental and sociological impact of business is to convert them into opportunities of improvement and excellence. With this vision, the PGP-SM being offered by IIM Lucknow is a major leap towards instilling the ethos of socio-environmental responsibility in the future leaders to come up with holistic solutions.