The #LivePure Challenge #4: Yoga A-Go-Go

The complex nature of modern business requires executives to master a wide array of practical knowledge and communication skills. But running a successful enterprise, whatever its scope and scale, also entails something more.

This extra dimension goes beyond the basics of boosting sales, hitting targets and boosting the bottom line. It recognises that organisations and their leaders should also be ready to accept broader responsibility. Where appropriate, they should be looking to set a genuinely positive example and represent core values society can respect.

With this in mind, the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM) has set out a clear objective for all its courses which, in Hong Kong, run from certificate and diploma programmes to a master's of management and an MBA.

Besides teaching the skills, strategies and insights needed to impress, the aim is to develop leaders who embody good citizenship, are globally minded and understand the importance of creating sustainable value.

Reflecting this, aspects of corporate social responsibility are now included in all core courses. There is also emphasis on the principles of the "global compact", a code of business behaviour agreed on by many leading multinationals around the world. In adopting this, they pledge to respect human rights, the environment, labour rights and to make a stand against corrupt practices.

"We believe business schools have a responsibility to convey the principles and values of the global compact," says Robert Widing, MGSM dean and professor in management (marketing). "We start on day one and do it through our research, teaching, curriculum, and partnerships with industry."