With the ‘I WILL Keep RSM Running Strong!’ motto, the annual RSM-wide team effort strengthened the RSM community. At the 2013 ABN AMRO Marathon Rotterdam, 35 RSM participants ran five kilometres on Saturday 13 April. The following day, 107 RSM runners participated in the 10km run and an impressive number of 27 RSM runners completed the full marathon.

The fastest RSM runner to complete the marathon was Peter van den Berg, an MScBA in Strategic Management alumnus. He ran the 42.2 km in 3:36:09. Daniel Schlee, an RSM bachelor student, was the quickest RSM runner in the 10km run, which he completed in 38 minutes and 27 seconds. The fastest RSM runner in the 5km run was faculty member Henk de Vries, who reached the 5 km finish line in 22:49 minutes.

“The pain I feel right now is crazy,” says Daniel Vargas Fernandez, MBA student and co-leader of RSM’s chapter of the global Net Impact community, who participated in the marathon. “The only part of my body that doesn’t hurt is my heart, which is full of pride and love. I am grateful that my MBA at RSM is allowing me to do so many cool things besides just studying at the university, such as the Nespresso challenge and now the marathon. I just love it!”

In total, 8327 runners completed the marathon in Rotterdam. The 10km run was completed by 9714 runners, and 1563 completed the 5km run. It was the 33^rd time the Marathon Rotterdam took place.

All runners were offered a closing dinner in the presence of RSM’s Dean Steef van de Velde on Tuesday 16 April. Unfortunately, Van de Velde and the Director of the Erasmus Sports Centre weren’t able to participate in this year’s marathon due to business obligations abroad.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. Based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade - it provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry innovative ideas into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, masters, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district.

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 (0) 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.

The Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at The Chinese University of Hong Kong co-organised and facilitated the study trip. In addition to presentations from professors, the EMBA cohort visited various companies, such as Hongkong International Terminals, CNN, InvestHK, Cisco Systems, Standard Chartered Bank and ING.

A full day was dedicated to visiting companies in mainland China. “The visit to Simatelex provided good insight in how the outsourcing of manufacturing industry produced development and how relationships are built,” said one candidate in a survey about the study trip.

“It was a great, intensive and superb learning experience,” says Joep Elemans, director of the Career Development Centre at RSM. He added: “It also gave us the opportunity to enlarge our career network, including that of the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Hong Kong as he visited the group in downtown Hong Kong for drinks.”

RSM’s EMBA programme includes two week-long international study trips to give students the opportunity to experience global business first-hand. One EMBA student expressed that “the scale of export became very evident during this trip. The size and magnitude of China is a distant thing, until you’ve seen it with your own eyes.”

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. Based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade - it provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry innovative ideas into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, masters, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district.

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 (0) 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.

The articles in this management-inspiring issue of RSM Insight:

• A profile of SCOPE, RSM’s internationally recognised Centre of Expertise for International Business and Sustainable Development, and an interview with its highly respected Scientific Director, Prof. Rob van Tulder.
• The value of cross-industry innovation for businesses, and the three critical factors essential for success in technology-driven projects.
• How private label supermarket brands are causing multi-national FMCG companies to rethink and reinvent their in-store marketing and branding strategies.
• Why fair rules along with the effective empowerment of employees and other management techniques needs to be harmonised if leaders want to help improve Organisational Citizenship Behaviour within their companies.
• What effect do ‘blockholders’ – relational investors such as labour institutions –have on the corporate governance policies of publicly traded companies in Europe that do not follow the Anglo-Saxon model of institutional share ownership?
• When management buy-outs of listed firms are mounted, should third-party investors be involved? If so, can senior managers expect them to bring more to the deal than just their private equity backing?

RSM Insight is available for free download as a pdf here. All issues of RSM Insight are available here.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. Based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade - it provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry innovative ideas into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, masters, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district.

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.

The campaign takes place around the time of the anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol. The international agreement, which came into force in February 2005, is aimed at reducing the global emissions of greenhouse gases, which cause climate change. Forty per cent of the Netherlands’ total heat consumption is used in its built environment. People all over the Netherlands have been asked to turn down their central heating and wear warm sweaters.

Across the whole EUR campus, including RSM, the central heating has been turned down by one degree Celsius, using seven per cent less energy than on an average winter day. The university is also reducing its CO₂ emissions by seven per cent.

“Practices like this illustrate that individuals can make a difference in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” says Joey Johannsen, Sustainability Co-ordinator at RSM. “The cumulative gain is worth the effort.”

Johannsen says this collective effort requires less energy from the power plant. “It’s a cost savings with less impact on the environment overall. It’s a win-win situation.”

Steef van der Velde, Dean at RSM, sent out a message to encourage RSM’s students, faculty and staff to take part in the campaign by wearing warm clothes on 8 February. RSM also used social media channels, such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach students’ attention.

“There is a huge potential for saving energy,” says Van der Velde. “I’m wearing my RSM sweater today.”

Kyoto Protocol’s anniversary was also recognised in Canada, where Sweater Day was held on 7 February.

Sustainability at RSM

RSM ranked fifth amongst 82 business schools worldwide in January 2013 in Bloomberg Businessweek. MBA graduates from the Class of 2012 expressed their business school experiences in an online survey conducted by the magazine. All other MBAs in Bloomberg Businessweek’s top 10 specialty ranking for sustainability are programmes at US-based business schools.

RSM aims to reduce its environmental footprint with school-wide initiative Sustainable RSM, which all students can join. In addition to optional electives, RSM’s MBA programmes integrate sustainability into every functional business area of the curriculum.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. Based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade - it provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry innovative ideas into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, masters, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district. www.rsm.nl 

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@rsm.nl. 

RSM was placed number seven out of the 82 ranked MBA schools in the area of diversity. Based on the graduates’ feedback, most respondents defined diversity as the combination of country of origin, gender and career backgrounds.

RSM’s MBAs have a long history of being open and welcoming to students from around the world. Ninety-four per cent of the 140 participants in this year’s Full-time International MBA programme at RSM are international, representing 40 nationalities.

“Our curriculum has been designed to pro-actively support diversity,” says Dianne Bevelander, Associate Dean of MBA programmes at RSM. “We’re always encouraging students to reflect on their values and to better understand how opinions have been formed by their own life experiences.”

Within the RSM community, MBA students find the space to explore new ways of thinking, the inspiration to challenge ideas, and the scope to develop their own potentials as future business leaders. 

“The extensive diversity within our classes and the absence of a dominating culture create a pleasant environment,” said Bevelander. “It facilitates students who appreciate the enormous benefits they acquire when working with people with different world views and perspectives.” 

MBA Women at RSM

There is more to RSM’s diversity than the number of nationalities and ages, which range from 23 to 39 amongst RSM’s full-time MBA students.

RSM actively encourages women to do an MBA by running a number of programmes, electives and networks to promote women’s participation in business.

Bevelander said RSM clearly demonstrates its pioneering work and investment in gender diversity.  RSM continuously develops global leaders by encouraging students to see the positive benefits of all types of diversity. There are 46 women in the MBA2014 class, representing 33 per cent of its participants.

The Women Empowerment @ RSM (WE@RSM) initiative on LinkedIn and the MBA Kilimanjaro Leadership Project motivate women to collaborate for team building and leadership.

European #1 MBA for sustainability

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s series of ranked topics, RSM was recently placed 5th worldwide in the area of sustainability, preceded only by US business schools at the University of Michigan, Cornell, UC Berkeley and Yale. Sustainability is one of the RSM’s four core values, which also include innovation, critical thinking and spirit. RSM’s growing school-wide initiative Sustainable RSM aims to reduce the school’s environmental footprint.

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s overall business school ranking in 2012, RSM has entered the top 20 of international business schools. Each business school is ranked on how it fares on each element of Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking methodology, which is based on student and employer surveys, and intellectual capital measure. The weighted total of all three elements are represented in the results of the 2012 rank.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mindset into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district. www.rsm.nl 

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.

RSM’s MBA programmes are the only ones outside of the USA to reach the top 10, classifying them as the highest European MBAs for sustainable business programmes in Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2012 ranking.

“This outcome reinforces what we breathe and believe at RSM. Sustainability is an integral part of our business school as a whole and our MBA programmes in particular,” says Dianne Bevelander, Associate Dean of MBA programmes at RSM. Sustainability is one of the RSM’s four core values, which also include innovation, critical thinking and spirit.

“We believe in integrating environmental, social and governance issues into our curriculum and have always taught stakeholder management. This part of the ranking is based on student input. This is great confirmation that we truly implement this philosophy in everything we do at RSM,” adds Bevelander.

Sustainable RSM

RSM’s growing school-wide initiative Sustainable RSM aims to reduce the school’s environmental footprint. Students gain the skills that economists and business leaders seek in order to meet the needs of the new world economy, including how to exploit these opportunities to bring about greater returns for business.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s entire MBA ranking of the 82 ranked schools in each of the nine specialty areas, such as diversity and e-business, will be published over the next few weeks.

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s overall business school ranking in 2012, RSM has entered the top 20. Each business school is ranked on how it fares on each element of Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking methodology, which is based on student and employer surveys, and intellectual capital measure. The weighted total of all three elements are represented in the results of the 2012 rank.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mindset into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.

AACSB Accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education, and has been earned by less than five per cent of the world's business programmes. Today, there are more than 650 business schools in 45 countries and territories that maintain AACSB accreditation.

Founded in 1916, AACSB International is an association of more than 1,300 educational institutions, businesses, and other organisations across 81 countries and territories. It’s the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools offering undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting. AACSB's mission is to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation, thought leadership and value-added services.

As the premier accreditation body for institutions offering undergraduate, master's, and doctorate degrees in business and accounting, AACSB International also conducts a wide array of conferences and seminar programmes at locations throughout the world. The association’s global headquarters are located in Tampa, Florida, USA, and its Asia Pacific headquarters are in Singapore.

“It takes a great deal of commitment and determination to earn and maintain AACSB Accreditation,” said Robert D. Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. “Business schools must not only meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty and professional staff must make a commitment to continuous improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver the highest quality of education to students.”

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mindset into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.

Prof. Whiteman is the Director of the Erasmus Centre for Corporate Eco-Transformation and holds the ECORYS/NEI Sustainability and Climate Change Chair at RSM. As one of the world’s most prominent scholars in the area of sustainability, climate change and management, she has taken part in many such events.     

Gail Whiteman: ‘A different sort of conference’

But in her official opening of ‘Our Moving Borders’ Prof. Whiteman said “This is a different sort of conference.” In addition to the hands-on aspects of the conference, which included some 175  participants engaging in work groups focused on solving various ‘earth based’ dilemmas that need urgent attention,  the day included the ‘moving borders’ enabled by social media:  students from universities in Egypt, Afghanistan, and the EU tweeted questions and observations during the opening and closing plenaries.  

VIP Panel Theme

The VIP Panels (opening and closing plenaries) addressed the following main theme:

“The challenges of our time require breaking down barriers between corporations, governments, NGOs and citizens to create new perspectives and scale-up action. This is not just another conference. We need to move forward boldly in collaborative action. What gives us the courage to act? What is our vision for the world after the end of the Mayan Calendar? What can we do together now to meet these goals?”

Moving Hearts as well as Borders

In its form, the conference ‘moved borders’ from the very start; the soulful notes of a live cello helped move the conference attendees into the Erasmus Forumzaal, where they were welcomed by Prof. dr. ing Teun Hardjono, RSM Professor and CEO of the CSR Academy, who noted that the Earth Charter can function as a moral compass in a world where ethical dilemmas abound.  He was followed by Julie Scott of the CSR Academy, who led the audience in a brief meditation before the opening plenary was introduced by Gail Whiteman.   

As the first plenary panel member to be introduced, Pauline van der Meer Mohr, President of the EUR Executive Board, said “You won’t get  a traditional welcome speech from me – instead I will read a story...a true story, one of my favourites.”  She read ‘Are There Any Questions?’ by Robert Fulghum. The story addresses the meaning of life.

Opening VIP Panel Plenary       

After President Van der Meer Mohr’s moving welcome, Agnes Dinkelman of the CSR Academy presented a tulip bulb – representing the ongoing growth of the Earth Charter – to panel member Ruud Lubbers, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and one of the original drafters of the Earth Charter.  Mr. Lubbers was followed by Peter Bakker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and former CEO of TNT, who said: “If we want to change the world, we need to get into action. This is not incremental change; only through radical transformation are we going to make it.”

Adding international perspective to the opening plenary panel were Richard Yeboah of the African Young Professional Network, who encouraged the audience to take responsibility as both professionals and citizens;  and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Buddhi Athauda, who – inspired by Pauline van der Meer Mohr – shared a story on the Sri Lankan way of living which is sustainable in its essence.

The audience broke into eight working groups after the opening plenary. Topics varied from ‘Lessons Identified: military, business & NGOs’, to ‘How can young professionals contribute to a changing Africa?’.

Closing VIP Panel Plenary

The audience reconvened after 90 minutes spent in their working groups, ready to hear from keynote speakers and international participants in the closing plenary:  various speakers via video from Cairo’s Heliopolis University, Twitter contributions from Afghanistan, Alexandra van Huffelen (Alderman City of Rotterdam), Alide Roerink (Earth Charter International), Lucas Simons (NewForesight), and Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp (Earth Charter International). Guus Balkema, RSM MSc Alumnus and  Director of Business Development and Organisation for CSR Academy, invited audience members to stay engaged by connecting in January 2013 at a follow-up meeting.

A day of renewal, not the end of the world

Prof. Whiteman thanked the panel and described the end of the Mayan Calendar as a sort of ‘reset’ button. “This coming Friday (21 December 2012) is the date the Mayans thought the world would start again – and I think it is definitely a day of renewal.  On Friday I’m going to be thinking about what a day of renewal means, and what we are going to do in 2013. I wish you success and joy and sustainability next year.”

The day’s events wrapped with a performance from the Dutch choir Zingen Voor Je Leven, comprised of those who are living with cancer. In introducing the group, Agnes Dinkelman of CSR said that they represented what the day’s events, and the Earth Charter, stand for:  quality of life.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mindset into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl. 

In this newest edition, RSM Insight takes us beyond this. In this new format, you will learn more about how to make businesses more efficient by optimising materials handling; desired outcomes of performance evaluation systems; the impact of green thinking on corporate strategies; the dynamics in consumer preferences – and much more.

Indeed, valid and rigorous research is still integral to the editorial vision, but articles now allow RSM faculty members to highlight their academic leadership and showcase the value of their involvement with the corporate world more clearly. Today, the school increasingly engages with the corporate world through the Academic Centres that come under the umbrella of the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM). Therefore, the magazine will feature the latest developments from one of these centres in every issue. And, in acknowledgement of the fact that RSM’s young researchers are the academic thought leaders of the future, we will also turn the spotlight on to a promising PhD study.

You can find the magazine here.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mindset into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.

Besides representing the full RSM offering, two of its main  external services that it will host  are Executive Education and Organisational Development (EEOD) and Corporate Alumni Relations (CAR), as well as opening a portal to continued personal and professional development with the newest and most specific knowledge for business professionals, plus access to a world-class view of business from RSM academics, and a direct route to RSM for companies looking to recruit graduates and make use of business research.

RSM’s presence in Amsterdam as well as its traditional home on the campus of Erasmus University, Rotterdam, means RSM can become a more responsive partner in business and management training.

Professor Van de Velde outlined the reasons for the extension. “There are many companies in Amsterdam who recruit our graduates and come to us to develop their high potentials. There are others who, as yet, do not. We’re here to work on that.” The Amsterdam office has been operational since 1 October and the Dean described the impact of its arrival as having “exceeding our wildest expectations.”

In spite of the economic downturn, companies are realising the value of specialised executive education programmes, and RSM has reported particularly high demand for its portfolio of short, targeted range of programmes.

A convivial and well-attended official opening for local business people, RSM alumni and staff to launch the Zuidas office strengthened the impression that the new office had found a good home.

Hans van Ierland, Chief Executive Officer of Holland Private Equity and an RSM Distinguished Alumnus, was positive about the greater availability of courses in Amsterdam “We regularly send people on courses, and these need to be of cutting edge in our industry. It’s a positive step that RSM will now make these courses more easily available for our employees in Amsterdam.”

Marjolein Geluk, of law firm Houthoff Buruma, also felt the new office was a positive development for her company. “Our partners are high-level lawyers looking to extend their business knowledge and it looks like the RSM programmes will appeal to them,” she said.

It’s possible that RSM’s Amsterdam office is moving into new territory that few others occupy. “There is actually no comparable business school operating in Amsterdam; we can now bring  our depth of research, and  our academic expertise,” said Bradley Lang, Head of RSM’s Amsterdam office. “Recognition of our domestic brand is not what it should be, given our international reputation. We are aiming that this move will change that.”

Theo Backx – RSM Executive-in-Residence and interim head of EEOD and CAR – has presided over the move, and instated Bradley Lang and Maja Cerim to run the Amsterdam office. “Business education is an extremely dynamic and competitive market,” says Theo. “RSM is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools, but there’s no point ‘resting on our laurels’ and asking people to come to us; we need to go where people want to be educated.”

For more information about RSM’s Amsterdam office, or to visit, call +31 (0)20 820 1832 or see the RSM Amsterdam website.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is ranked amongst Europe’s top 10 business schools for education and amongst the top three for research. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who carry their innovative mindset into a sustainable future thanks to a first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes. RSM’s executive education and alumni support services are also offered from its office in the Amsterdam Zuidas business district. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl.