Does the International Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Employment Market Value Awareness of Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability?
Barry A. Friedman, Thomas Tribunella

Abstract
Stakeholder theory posits that corporations invest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to gain competitive advantage. To implement CSR, corporations need employees committed to, and knowledgeable about, corporate citizenship. Our research explores the extent that the International Masters of Business Administration (MBA) marketplace values MBA graduate commitment to, and awareness of, corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. We study the effects of MBA program characteristics and student attributes, including CSR awareness, on alumni salary, which served as a proxy measure of market value. Surprisingly, corporate recruiters’ assessment of student awareness of corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability was negatively related with alumni salary. This unique finding may indicate that the MBA marketplace does not value awareness of green management issues with respect to MBA graduate compensation, despite the fact that corporations’ publically advocate CSR.

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