Benchmarks for Jesuit Business Education: Lessons for Presidents, Provosts, Deansand Search Committees

Colleges of Business at Jesuit universities strive to be the best. But it is essen- tial that they decide for themselves the criteria for what is “best.” Is there a unique character of a business leader trained at a Jesuit university? Or does business education at a Jesuit school simply emulate other institutions? If the norm for determining what constitutes quality is the same as that of Harvard or Stanford, a Jesuit business program loses its distinctive focus and misses an immense opportu- nity. Jesuit business schools should offer an innovative and differentiated outlook that uniquely assists our students, the market system, the common good and the planet. Yet leadership within a few Jesuit colleges of business seems to increas- ingly emphasize only secular norms. By ignoring the rich Ignatian tradition they deny our students the knowledge and motivation to be distinguishable leaders in building the market system to work for the bene t of all people and to enable the planet to be fruitful for future generations. This article is written with the convic- tion that Jesuit business faculty, deans and provosts must be self-re ective and critical of how we enact core Ignatian values in Jesuit business schools. Otherwise we risk sliding into being like any other private, secular business schools.