– Sustainability can make your business more competitive

15. august 202306. september 2024

– Everyone knows that we live in a competitive society. And if you work effectively with sustainability, it contributes to making your business more competitive.

That’s what British professor Colin Knapp says, one of the online instructors in IBA Erhvervsakademi Kolding’s new Master programme in sustainability. “Executive MBA in Sustainability” is offered in collaboration with Leeds Beckett University.

Billede af Colin Knapp — For several years, Colin Knapp has been teaching MBA students who are taking their education online in collaboration between the IBA and Leeds Beckett University. He also teaches on the IBA’s new “Executive MBA in Sustainability” programme.

For Colin Knapp, “efficiency” is a keyword when describing what it entails to work with sustainability. Ultimately, it’s about using your resources in the best possible way. For Colin, this means running an efficient business that functions in daily life, considers climate, nature, and society – while making money to preserve and develop the workplace. In other words, a business that is sustainable in all senses of the word.

– It’s important for companies to work with sustainability, and they need employees with a certain understanding of the subject. Therefore, the MBA programme that the IBA is now offering is very interesting and relevant. It’s education at a high level, where sustainability is not just a single module but an integral part of the entire programme, says the British professor.

A high level of ambition

He already teaches MBA students from the IBA in “Critical Management Inquiry.” The teaching takes place online from his home outside London. Colin describes this subject as “a research method plus a bit of philosophy.” And on the IBA’s new MBA programme, the subject will naturally also reflect how companies work with sustainability.

– The joy of teaching is that time never stands still. Because your subject must always relate to what is happening in the society around you, Colin smiles.

In addition to teaching, Colin Knapp is also a mentor for MBA students at the IBA. Therefore, he was also seated in the front row at the summer graduation ceremony, where he had a seat next to Mads Tarp Møldrup (to the far right), whom the English professor has mentored.

And he knows what he’s talking about. Since 1981 after graduating from the Universities of Bath and Warwick and an additional 2 year postgraduate research at Oxford University, he has been working for British and foreign universities as both an instructor and in leadership positions. When the IBA began introducing English online teaching at MBA level years ago, Colin Knapp was one of the pioneers – and he is still a regular guest lecturer here.

– When we started collaborating, I didn’t know Kolding or the IBA. But from our first meetings, I have been impressed by the high level of ambition that the IBA has for running an MBA programme in an online setup, says Colin Knapp.