Graduate Students Present Findings to U.N.’s Global Compact

PROVO, Utah — Feb 19, 2004 — MBA and MPA students from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management teamed with students from New York University on a pilot project to help with the United Nation’s Global Compact develop a worldwide program for MBA students. Students from both universities contributed analysis of corporate citizenship activities for participating companies. The students presented their findings at the U.N.’s New York headquarters Feb. 6, 2004.

“The quality of the comments from BYU students demonstrated their enthusiasm and understanding of the value of corporate citizenship,” says Georg Kell, executive head of the U.N. Global Compact. “Moreover, the feedback from the more than 50 companies in response to the students’ comments was very encouraging in helping to bring to life a real dialogue between the private sector and other relevant stakeholders.”

In October, the U.N. Global Compact asked BYU students to join New York University students in the Global Compacts’ first pilot project with MBA students. The group was asked to review the descriptions of companies’ utilization of the Global Compact’s Nine Principles, which are based on corporate citizenship ideals of human rights, labor standards and the environment.

Students analyzed approximately 80 examples, seven projects and 13 cases that companies involved in the Global Compact submitted to the organization’s Web site. The team submitted written responses to the Web site concerning how well each company displayed the Nine Principles. The team also evaluated their involvement in the pilot project and recommended future implementation with top MBA programs worldwide.

The BYU group was comprised of nine MBA students and one MPA student from university’s Net Impact chapter, an international organization of graduate students committed to using the power of business to create a better world. BYU students are: Kathryn Wardle, of Meridian, Idaho; Melissa Humes, of Carmel, Ind.; Dave Adams, of Farmington Hills, Mich.; Starr Fowler, of Rupert, Idaho; Jim Mortensen, of Potomac, Md.; Lucy Li, of Guangzhou, China; Wesley Wintch, of Elk Ridge, Utah; Travis Winder, of Roosevelt, Utah; Jasmin Adams, of Troy, Mich. and Scott Porter, of Las Vegas.

“The U.N. Global Compact pilot project was a rewarding effort in which we applied what we’ve been learning in the classroom about corporate social responsibility to real-world situations,” says Scott Porter, BYU team member.

The U.N. Global Compact asks participating corporations from around the world to adhere to a set of principles relating to human rights, labor rights and the environment to promote good corporate citizenship.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems, organizational behavior and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.