Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society

Providing tools and frameworks that deliver positive outcomes for businesses, people and planet
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INSEAD’s internal force for good

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In June 2023, more than 440 participants gathered to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Hoffmann Institute during a summit that featured the latest advances in sustainability research and teaching as well as future trends. Driven by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Institute aims to support the school in equipping business leaders and decision makers with tools and frameworks that deliver positive outcomes for businesses, people and planet, and contributing to INSEAD’s inspiring vision of business as a force for good. The whole story about how the Hoffmann Institute has been instrumental in advancing sustainability at INSEAD since 2018 and its milestones can be found in five-year and annual reports, as well as other sections of this document. Below are just a few highlights from the 2022–2023 Annual Report and selected statistics from our first half-decade.

 

Marcos Prado Troyjo and Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Hoffmann Institute Distinguished Fellows
Marcos Prado Troyjo and Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Hoffmann Institute Distinguished Fellows

Knowledge

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This Academic Year, the Hoffmann Institute continued to support the growth in scope and volume of sustainability research at the school by providing funding for 23 sustainability research projects and supporting faculty across all nine academic areas. With the Research Department, we jointly appointed former president of the New Development Bank, Marcos Prado Troyjo, and the President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research and high-level public policy advisor, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, as distinguished fellows.

 

In addition, we co-sponsored the 2023 Responsible Research in Business Management (RRBM) Summit with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

As well as helping to generate new research, we disseminated insights through articles on INSEAD Knowledge in its 'Crossroads: Business and Society' series, with contributions from 11 faculty members. We also highlighted five inspiring stories of social entrepreneurship in season 3 of our Mission to Change podcast series and showcased the sustainability-related work of the school’s academic areas in our Lessons in Sustainability blog series.

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Learning

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Providing support for research and pedagogical materials around sustainability has proven to be fundamental in shaping a future-oriented curriculum, one that will inspire the business leaders of today and tomorrow to integrate responsibility, sustainability and social impact into their decision making. During 2022–2023, the Institute supported the latest MBA curriculum review, leading to the integration of sustainability in the entire programme from core courses to the final capstone project. This move helped to earn recognition of Poets & Quants as the 2023 MBA Programme of the Year, with a special accolade for sustainability. In two new internal collaborations, we developed and launched the Hans H. Wahl Impact Entrepreneurship Programme with our colleagues in Executive Education and created the 'Business Action for a Nature-Positive World' community on the recently launched INSEAD Learning Hub.

Participants of the 2023 edition of the Hans H. Wahl Impact Entrepreneurship Programme
Participants of the 2023 edition of the Hans H. Wahl Impact Entrepreneurship Programme
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In addition, the Hoffmann Institute engaged with students, as well as faculty, alumni and staff by organising institutional events, including SDG Week, Health Week and Earth Week. Finally, 25 MBA students received support from the Hoffmann Institute Internship Impact Stipend Programme to pursue summer internships in the public and not-for-profit sectors, for-profit impact ventures, and impact investment firms with a clearly defined social or environmental purpose. Students shared their experiences in the My Summer Internship Journey story series on the INSEAD In the Know website.

Engagement

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Throughout the Academic Year, the Hoffmann Institute worked with partners and representatives from the entire spectrum of business, business education and government to help INSEAD push its impact beyond the boundaries of our campuses. At the highest levels, we engaged with global leaders at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and through the Stewardship Asia Centre in Singapore.

 

And in France, we held conversations with top business executives at Le Club Les Echos Débats Engagement Responsable. We provided opportunities to position INSEAD as a global thought leader at prominent events such as the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards and at the ChangeNOW Summit, where we jointly promoted solutions developed by female impact entrepreneurs.

 

Demonstrating the true power of collaboration to drive change, we welcomed the launch of Business Schools for Climate Leadership (BS4CL) Africa during COP27 in Cairo. This builds on and expands the reach of the BS4CL group of schools, of which INSEAD is a founding member, as a powerful partnership to prepare present and future business leaders for climate leadership.

Walking the talk

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The Hoffmann Institute plays an important part in ensuring that INSEAD practises what it preaches and teaches on the topic of sustainability. Throughout the year, we focused on sustainable operations to show what it means to lead by example and inspire others to do the same. The Hoffmann Institute has been active in collaborating with our operations team to integrate sustainability into INSEAD’s practices across all our campuses. We are also responsible for the school’s reporting on sustainability, aligned with international reporting standards and frameworks (Global Reporting Initiative, UN SDGs, Principles for Responsible Management Education and Academic Impact). Members of our team took part in INSEAD’s Climate Journey Taskforce, driving schoolwide decarbonisation and measurement strategies.

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Ever focused on the future

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The Institute’s work has become increasingly important to INSEAD’s mission, as environmental challenges compel business schools, governments and organisations to rethink the fundamentals of global growth. Turning to the future, what lies ahead is best summed up by the words of our founding donor, André Hoffmann MBA'90D: “The next five years are going to be a wild ride of innovative solutions and unprecedented positive change. Together, we’re shaping a future where business and sustainability go hand in hand, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of this incredible journey. Let’s do this!”

 

Business and Society Summit on the Europe Campus
Business and Society Summit on the Europe Campus

Download

Annual Report Description
We are pleased to provide downloadable versions of Our Year in Review 2022–2023 and annual reports from previous years. All downloads are available in the PDF file format.