Global Compact launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is the largest corporate citizenship initiative in the world. As of May 2007 more than 3,000 companies from 100 countries, as well as over 700 hundred civil society, international labor organizations and academic institutions are engaged in the initiative. All are working to promote responsible corporate citizenship, ensuring that business is part of the solution to the challenges of globalization. In this way, the private sector – in partnership with other social actors – can help realize a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.

From this United Nations Global Compact initiative that asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption; also derives a series of actions that seek to ensure its promotion. One of them is based on the premise that any meaningful and lasting change in the conduct of corporations toward societal responsibility and sustainability must involve the institutions that most directly act as drivers of business behavior, especially academia.

Academic institutions help shape the attitudes and behavior of business leaders through business education, research, management development programs, training, and other pervasive, but less tangible, activities, such as the spread and advocacy of new values and ideas. Through these means, academic institutions have the potential to generate a wave of positive change, thereby helping to ensure a world where both enterprises and societies can flourish. Therefore, a set of principles was issued and IAE Business School subscribed to this principles.

The role of the platform will be to advocate responsible management education and coordinate efforts to further develop these Principles by the agents that can generate change: management-related academic institutions and their associations.

The principles for responsible management education
As institutions of higher learning involved in the education of current and future managers we are voluntarily committed to engaging in a continuous process of improvement of the following Principles and their application, reporting on progress to all our stakeholders and exchanging effective practices with other academic institutions:

Principle 1 - Purpose:
We will develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy.

Principle 2  - Values:
We will incorporate into our academic activities and curricula the values of global social responsibility as portrayed in international initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact.

Principle 3 - Method:
We will create educational frameworks, materials, processes and environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership.

Principle 4  - Research:
We will engage in conceptual and empirical research that advances our understanding about the role, dynamics, and impact of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic value.

Principle 5 - Partnership:
We will interact with managers of business corporations to extend our knowledge of their challenges in meeting social and environmental responsibilities and to explore jointly effective approaches to meeting these challenges.

Principle 6 - Dialogue:
We will facilitate and support dialogue and debate among educators, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organizations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability.
We understand that our own organizational practices should serve as example of the values and attitudes we convey to our students.