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Controversial MBA employers use Corporate Social Responsibility as leverage for recruiting top talent

The 2007 QS International Recruiter survey showed that controversial industries – such as tobacco, oil and defense – are a far lower priority for MBA aspirants than service industries. This is not news until you consider that salaries for Master's graduates in those controversial industries are competitive with elsewhere. Therefore, if it's not money, what is that is keeping MBAs away?

Table 1.

Average Reported Salaries in EU and North America, at different levels of higher education

 

	4 yrs Exp	Masters	PhD	MBA
Consulting / Prof. Services	$72,129	$65,121	$77,415	$99,154
Financial Services / Banking	$66,231	$62,937	$73,002	$93,515
Pharma. / Healthcare	$68,182	$71,287	$72,346	$89,671
Aerospace / Defence	$62,500	$70,000	$97,500	$85,000
Energy	$64,351	$65,074	$70,761	$83,100

Source: QS International Recruiter Survey 2007

Simply put, employers in controversial industries are up against a largely unfavourable public perception. "I looked at careers in the defense and oil industries, though I didn't consider tobacco for personal reasons," says one MBA. "There was one negative news story after another, especially about the arms industry. I thought the lifestyle may be problematic, even though salaries were competitive and the offers enticing."

Equally, there are those who don't find such careers controversial. Another MBA, who works for Shell, says: "There is nothing controversial about the oil industry. It is legal and Shell is doing its best to extract oil in environmentally friendly ways and to give back to the communities they are in. In many cases, oil companies are directly contributing to employment, taxes and increased affluence in third world countries."

The tobacco industry also finds itself in a difficult position. While most western countries are busy trying to help their populace stop smoking, and anti-smoking regulations have come into effect in almost all western nations, enticing educated people into the industry is complicated.

Michelle Healy, Regional Head of HR in Europe for British American Tobacco (BAT), says: "Our industry is at times controversial, presenting an additional challenge for us to communicate our vision, about what it is like to work for a tobacco company, so people understand our responsibility strategy and our role in global society."

Many controversial employers, particularly those that have a known impact on human health, even embrace their controversial nature as part of their mission to communicate what they see as common public misunderstandings.

Mike Turner, CEO of BAE Systems, formerly British Aerospace and the UK's largest defense manufacturer, echoes BAT. "We recognize that ours is a controversial industry and respect the rights of individuals to have differing opinions to our own. But we often find that those opinions are not based on a full understanding of the issues. Through a program of engagement with serious stakeholders on our CR (Corporate Responsibility) agenda, we aim to better inform and provide a basis for intelligent discussion and debate."

As a result many big business schools are embracing the movement towards CSR and to the social network they operate in. The website Beyond Grey Pinstripes – Preparing MBAs for social and environmental stewardship provides a ranking of courses featuring social and environmental content. Rich Leimsider, Director of the Center for Business Education at the Aspen Institute, says: "We know there are thoughtful people in the controversial industries such as defense and energy. These are people thinking about the impact their organizations have on communities and on the environment. Our hope is that people from the schools we review, with a strong social and environmental awareness, continue to go into those kinds of industries."

The study indicates the level of seriousness with which business schools are addressing the CSR issue. "In today's business climate, taking a leadership role on complex global issues reflects a commitment to expand the limits of current research and teaching," says Meghan Chapple, business education manager at the World Resources Institute. "Stanford is one of only six schools that have reached a new frontier of innovation on social and environmental issues in business. This institution is forging a path for tomorrow's business education that will account for the relationship between business, society, and the environment."

 

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