CNN.com - The kinder side of MBAs?

Helping out: some MBA courses focus on assisting others.

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FT's Executive MBA Rankings
1. Wharton, U.S.
2. Hong Kong UST, China
3. London Business School, UK
4. Instituto de Empresa, Spain
5. Fuqua, Duke, U.S.
6. Chicago GSB, U.S.
7. Columbia, U.S.
8. Kellogg, U.S.
9. Stern, NY, U.S.
10. Cass, City University, UK
Source: Financial Times 2006

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EMBA SNAPSHOT

Executives taking the top EMBA courses in the U.S., Europe and Asia have average salaries of around $130,000 to $200,000.

A typical EMBA student is likely to be aged in the early 30s, with 6-10 years of working experience.

A top EMBA course can cost $100,000. Customized courses start at a few thousand dollars.

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(CNN) -- MBAs are all about making more money in the future, right? Not always. Some top business schools are teaching that success is not only measured by the bottom line.

Increasing numbers of MBA courses now emphasize the importance of a social conscience, beyond just the confines of the not-for-profit world.

An early example was the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School, in operation since 1993. Another leading exponent is the Center for the Advancement of Social Enterprise at Duke University.

Elsewhere, in a few months a third intake of MBA students will begin courses run by the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship, part of Oxford University's highly-ranked Saïd Business School.

Saïd MBA students can take up to three electives from the Skoll Center covering all aspects of social entrepreneurship, something it defines as enterprises, both profit-making and otherwise, where "the success of their activities is measured first and foremost by their social impact."

Apart from running courses, the Center undertakes research and runs an annual World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. The latest even, in March, attracted speakers including Al Gore and Robert Redford.

Each year five so-called "Skoll scholars" receive bursaries to study. Many come from developing nations and are a far cry from the aggressive consultant-in-waiting many see as the usual MBA student.

"We're not so concerned about people falling into the typical MBA profile," says Rowena Young, director of the Skoll Center, which was founded through a bequest by Jeff Skoll, the first president of Internet auction company eBay.

One current student, the manager of a rural development bank in India, is in his 50s, she notes.

"What we're trying to do with the scholarships is screen for a prior track record on being very committed to social causes, and entrepreneurial behavior," says Young. "We see the scholarships as an investment."

Wider influence

Of equal significance for Young is the influence the Skoll Centrex has on the wider intake of MBA students, even those aiming for more traditional career paths.

About a third of Saïd MBA students take an elective from the Center, and some end up spending a third of their whole course studying such social entrepreneurship or issues of business sustainability at the school's James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization.

"I think this says something about changing values in the younger part of the workforce," says Young.

"The other thing that has really surprised and pleased me is that I have yet to meet anybody on the faculty who's not incredibly supportive. I thought it would be completely understandable that you'd get some people who were incredibly skeptical, that this wasn't something that should be incorporated into a business school environment."

Another phenomenon observed by Young is that of students who take the MBA in the hope of a career change being tempted by the world of socially conscious business after taking courses run by the Center.

One student had told her how a US business school he had previously attended was firmly wedded to "one dominant idea of success" -- profit maximization --with most students aiming for the traditional post-MBA paths of investment banking or consulting.

Saïd was different, the student told Young: "Here, what's really struck him is that there is this genuine mutual regard for what you're doing: whether you are working in investment banking or rural development in India."

The kinder side of MBAs?

Schools emphasizing socially responsible business

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Wider influence