Studying the Social and Environmental Sustainability Specialism on the Global Online MBA

Chris Robinson-Hart, participant of our Global Online MBA course, discusses his experience studying the Social and Environmental Sustainability Specialism and how this has helped progress his career.

Having graduated from Warwick University with my master’s degree in analytical chemistry in 2006, choosing the Global Online MBA at Warwick Business School (WBS) was a no brainer, particularly given the school’s globally recognised standing within this area. By embarking on the course, I wanted to expand my knowledge base outside of a technical/chemistry-based mindset and gain a deeper understanding of business management practices, but I also knew that sustainability was an area I wanted to understand more about from a whole-business perspective.

Having worked in research and development roles within the plastics industry for my entire professional career, I have seen sustainability become an area of increasing focus for product development, and it is a passion I have driven within my existing role for many years. Consumers are demanding much more from a companies’ products in terms of sustainability and transparency, not only in terms of environmental impact, but also on the social impacts on businesses and within regions where companies operate or source materials.

I think particularly since the pandemic, the drive for sustainability has come back with such force that it is no longer a ‘nice to have’ for many industries and it is now an integral part of doing business, with companies winning or losing future business based on their efforts within this area. Therefore, it was great that right from the very first module on the MBA course, Operations Management,  there were regular ‘sustainability spotlights’ built into the content, which embedded this focus and drove my passion for this area further.

Two of my favourite modules on the course were the electives Creating Sustainable Organisations and Managing Sustainable Energy Transitions, the second of which I was lucky to have been able to study in person alongside the Executive MBA cohort, and the teaching was incredibly inspiring. So much so, that not long afterwards I was able to negotiate a career change within my current employment to move from being Research & Development Manager to a new role of Sustainability Manager for the business, to further support the company’s growing sustainability strategy and focus.

Moving into my dissertation, I was very keen for this to have a sustainability focus and my title was ‘Evaluating Barriers to the Implementation of Environmental Sustainability Practices within the UK Plastics Industry’ which enabled me to gain a deeper understanding behind what is necessary to drive businesses to improve further within this area in the coming years. This dissertation subject area, combined with the two sustainability-based elective modules, means that when I graduate I will have attained the Social and Environmental Sustainability MBA specialism. This is something I am immensely proud to have been able to complete and was crucial in enabling me to justify the shift in my career direction into sustainability as my full-time focus.

One thing that I read recently is that a career in sustainability is a life-long commitment to continued learning and professional development, as it is growing and evolving so rapidly, and the Global Online MBA with the Social and Environmental Sustainability specialism has certainly provided me with an excellent foundation to build upon as I move forwards within this vital area.