Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) has been recognised as a “pioneering school” with the highest “Level 5” rating for its social impact and sustainability achievements by the United Nations PRME Global Forum. The announcement was made in the 2021 edition of Positive Impact Rating (PIR), a student-led rating that reflects the positive social impact of the school as seen and evaluated by its students.
SPJIMR emerged as one of three B-schools from India to feature in the rating. SPJIMR was recognised for its innovative community-based actions, environmental and socially responsible culture and governance, and a strong teaching focus on responsible leadership. The recognition for SPJIMR came on a global platform that saw participation from 47 schools located in four continents and 21 countries.
Unique initiatives
The PIR report cited several SPJIMR initiatives under its best practices case studies. It named the pioneer Development of Corporate Citizenship (DOCC) initiative, through which students engage with grassroots organisations to “listen, learn and develop solutions.” The report said, “SPJIMR has mapped the recent work across the SDGs, showing community impact in water and sanitation, health, environment, energy alternatives, disaster management, food, agriculture, empowerment, education, and social entrepreneurship.”
The report also named the ‘Abhyudaya’ initiative through which participants mentor underprivileged school children, the ‘Ehsaas’ platform for social sector organisations to showcase and sell their products and the sports and culture event ‘Aasra’ that has participation from the differently abled.
Highlighting student voice
Dr Chandrika Parmar, SPJIMR faculty member who leads the Institute’s DOCC initiative, said, “The PIR rating validates and reinforces the work SPJIMR has done over the last two decades in embedding socially sensitivity as part of its curriculum and cultivating a sustainability mind-set among our students. Participating in the PIR demonstrates the value SPJIMR gives to student voice and feedback on issues of sustainability.”
The PIR was created by concerned business school experts together with global non- profits — WWF, Oxfam, and the UN Global Compact. Katrin Muff, President of the Positive Impact Rating Association, said, “PIR is designed as a tool to improve and transform business education. It enables schools to understand what a positive impact for society is, according to their students. The PIR highlights the potential for improvement, even for leading schools.”