A Globally Responsible Gateway Initiative

About BE The Tipping Point Initiative

The Tipping Point initiative aims to engage more than one-third of recognized business schools globally before 2030 in rapid and radical content revision that serves people and planet in a regenerative way, and that reorients business and business education along the way.

Sparked by an opportunity to apply for the MacArthur 100&Change grant, business education networks and associations from around the world coalesced to endorse an application anchored by the GRLI, GMI, IAJBS and oikos International.

BE the Future of Business Education

Express your interest in joining Impact Innovation Circles during 2025 to help reimagine and transform business education. Contributing change makers will complete an innovation cycle to transform their academic content and practices.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the BE the Tipping Point initiative?

The BE the Tipping Point (BEtp) initiative is a global, co-created effort to transform business by transforming business education. It aims to align teaching, research, and activism in business schools with the urgent need for a poverty-alleviating, sustainable, flourishing, and regenerative world. The initiative’s initial goal is to engage more than 700 recognized business schools globally by 2030, starting with the first 100 schools in 2025-2026, in a rapid and radical content revision that serves people and the planet in a regenerative way. Rapidly engaging 700+ business schools (more than 1/3rd of internationally accredited schools) in the initial transformations, will serve as a positive tipping point towards regenerate learning in all accredited business schools around the globe.

Who is hosting this initiative?

Sparked by an opportunity to apply for the MacArthur 100&Change grant, business education networks and associations from around the world coalesced to endorse an application anchored and co-convened by: the GRLI, GMI, IAJBS and oikos International.

  • GMI (Global Movement Initiative): Committed to reimagining management education and inspiring business school changemakers.
  • GRLI (Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative): A pioneer in fostering globally responsible leadership and advancing sustainability in business education.
  • IAJBS (International Association of Jesuit Business Schools): A network dedicated to fostering values-driven management education.
  • oikos International: A student-led organization driving sustainability in economics and management education.

The initiative is supported by a growing network of endorsing organizations. See the list of networks and associations helping make this happen shown under “Who is helping make this happen?” below.

How is the initiative designed?

BEtp is an agile and ever-evolving initiative that might best be described as a “co-created, radically transparent,  transformative journey”. 

The initiative focuses on rapid, low-cost, and scalable changes, with no need for curriculum overhauls or administrative approval—just faculty taking ownership of their courses and responsibility for our shared future.

Read more about the details of the journey in the subsection “The Process”.

Who can participate in the BEtp initiative?

Anyone connected to a business school—faculty, students, deans, administrators, and financial contributors – provide leadership in becoming a BEtp school or join an existing one. We believe collaboration in teams is essential, but it is not a requirement. We envision 3 layers of stakeholders in the initiative process:

  • Activators Change agents initiating and innovating within schools, coming from various levels (e.g. faculty members, students, deans, administrators, center / institute directors etc.)
  • Stewards Local, regional or global organizations, associations, networks, financial contributors etc. within the business & management education landscape
  • ExplorersExternal knowledge contributors from a variety of related and connected sources (e.g. researchers, practitioners, connectors etc.)

What is the role of an Activator?

Activators collaborate closely with key institutional stakeholders and the wider landscape to effect transformative change(s) that align with evolving understandings and practices of global responsibility. They actively participate in and contribute to the Impact Innovation Circles (IICs)—monthly peer-to-peer learning sessions facilitated and hosted by co-conveners and Stewards over 6 months. Activators are instrumental in capturing and sharing the learnings and the impact of the initiative, both within their institutions and with the wider Explorer community.

Read more about the details about the Impact Innovation Circles (IICs) in the subsection “The Process”.

What does it mean to be a BEtp Steward?

Stewards demonstrate an alignment with the values, principles and practice of global responsibility, advocate for the initiative and may provide support, tools, or expertise to participating schools. They play a key role in scaling the initiative globally by providing platforms and access to their respective networks where schools may be recruited to join the initiative.

Examples of Stewards are the many academic organizations, associations and networks that have endorsed this initiative.

How can I contribute as an Explorer to the BEtp initiative?

As an Explorer, you will play a vital role in supporting the BEtp initiative by sharing insights and knowledge openly and generously. This collaborative approach will inspire and assist Activators as they navigate change within their respective institutions, ensuring that all contributors remain informed about key developments. Additionally, Explorers will have the opportunity to enrich the BEtp library by contributing pioneering research, innovative concepts, models, and approaches.

How does a school join the BEtp initiative?

  1. Commitment to Leadership
    An Activator initiates the process and commits to leading the effort.
  2. Formation and Action
    An individual or a team of Activators is established to inspire and guide transformative change. They take action by redesigning a business course, collaborating with students and stakeholders, and/or engaging in other impactful activities.
  3. Knowledge Sharing 
    Activators agree to share their progress and insights with the broader BEtp community, contributing to a growing repository of transformative resources.
  4. Public Commitment
    Activators formally register their commitment on this website (link to the form) and make a public declaration to achieve the proposed changes within six months, without reliance on external funding.

That’s all it takes to drive meaningful change!

How is the process designed?

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  • Faculty members review their courses and make changes they deem are desirable and necessary to align their teaching with the opportunities and need to create a sustainable world. 
  • The BEtp initiative offers a unique platform for peer-to-peer learning through Impact Innovation Circles (IICs). Hosted and facilitated by co-conveners and Stewards, these monthly sessions span six months and bring together Activators from 10 diverse institutions. The IICs are designed to drive meaningful change through four key phases: 
    • Exploration: Understanding of the challenges and uncovering opportunities for innovation.
    • Action: Designing and implementing transformative changes in course content and institutional practices.
    • Reflection: Evaluating what worked, what didn’t, and why.
    • Integration: Refining innovations for broader dissemination in order to pave it forward.

These circles foster collaboration, knowledge sharing, emergence and scalable impact across institutions.

Dates for all upcoming Impact Innovation Circles (IICs) for each cohort will be announced as soon as the first pioneering circle is established. 

  • The “Tipping Point Resources” section on the BEtp website will offer a wealth of existing resources from the responsible management ecosystem to support and guide the transformation process. This dynamic virtual space will be continuously enriched by Explorers, who contribute cutting-edge research, innovative concepts, models, and approaches. 

    Additionally, a dedicated section will showcase Success Stories from each BEtp school, highlighting emerging challenges as well as the impactful achievements and inspiring change across the network.

  • We encourage faculty members to experiment with ways of collaborating with students and others, in making these changes, to write about their experiences in doing so, and to assume that initial changes will evolve into more changes each time a course is taught.

How does the initiative scale?

Each of the first 100 schools commits to enrolling two new schools during the six months, they are making their own changes and they agree to support those new schools as they,  in turn, make the desired changes. The second cohort of schools repeats the process, yielding 100 + 200 + 400 =  700 schools by 2030.

How are challenges addressed?

The initiative encourages participants to document hurdles and share them within the network. This collective learning helps improve processes and offers alternative solutions to others.

As we suggested earlier, the core processes and values of the BEtp initiative can be captured in three words: “radically transparent co-creation”.  For this initiative, these processes are grounded in two core beliefs:

  • the belief that “experiments never fail” (Dauten, 1996, 2022)  and
  • belief in the power of commitment (Murray, undated).

Why focus on Business Schools?

Business Schools play a pivotal role in shaping the leaders and practices that drive global industries. Transforming business education serves as a powerful catalyst for building a sustainable and regenerative future. By working together, students and faculty become agents of change, actively driving the transformation of business and business education. Their collective actions set the foundation for the systemic and holistic changes essential to the future of business.

What do students gain?

Graduates are equipped with the knowledge, skills and capacities to lead sustainable, regenerative business practices and co-create systems for a flourishing world.

How does BEtp differ from other initiatives?

While some institutions have made strides in integrating sustainability and social responsibility into their curricula, these efforts are often isolated and slow to scale. Similarly, initiatives aimed at systemic transformation of business education are equally challenged and under-resourced, unintentionally leading to siloed approaches.

BEtp emphasizes student and faculty-driven change rather than top-down directives or rigid frameworks. It provides resources, support, and transparency while encouraging  diverse approaches to emerge across schools and institutions. The model fosters collaboration over competition, promoting a shared vision that transcends ego, logos and borders.

How does BEtp connect with other global efforts?

The initiative collaborates with networks like EFMD Global, AACSB International, Net Impact, and others. It complements existing frameworks such as the UN SDGs and AIM2Flourish by embedding sustainability in teaching and research.

Why the emphasis on speed?

The urgency of global challenges requires rapid action. The initiative leverages existing resources, peer networks, and a self-organizing approach to accelerate progress and minimize costs.

What is the timeline for achieving the goals?

  • 2025-2026: Enroll the first 100 schools.
  • 2026-2030: Scale to 700+ schools globally through peer support and replication.

What is the ultimate vision?

By fostering a shift in mindset and operational models alongside course content, we aim to reorient business and education towards global responsibility. The ultimate measure of success will be widespread and systemic change in how business is taught and practiced globally, where business schools become a driving force for regenerative practices, sustainable leadership, and positive activism worldwide.

Our shared context?

The world, humanity and all living things is faced with a complex, convergent interplay of environmental degradation, climate change, social inequality, and economic instability.

How do we learn to live and make a living on this planet without destroying it?

Without significant changes in how future leaders are educated, economic disparities will continue to widen, planetary boundaries will be further breached, exacerbating global instability. For nearly a century, business schools have focused on maximizing profit and growth, often neglecting the consequences of exploiting finite resources and ignoring the social costs of unchecked expansion. While innovative theories and practices that prioritize sustainability and social responsibility have been developed, they are not being implemented at the scale necessary to make a meaningful impact. The slow pace of change in business education is due to entrenched bureaucratic processes and a focus on traditional, profit-driven models, with limited coordination across institutions to align curricula with the pressing needs of society and the planet. To address these challenges, it is crucial to rethink and rapidly update business education.  This transformation is essential to create a more just,equitable, and sustainable world.

Our collective response

While some institutions have made strides in integrating sustainability and social responsibility into their curricula,these efforts are often isolated and slow to scale. Similarly, initiatives aimed at systemic transformation of business education are equally challenged and under-resourced.

By engaging business school change makers in a rapid and radical revision of course content, and the commitment to pay their learning forward to at least two other schools we’re aiming to have at least 800 business schools globally (more than 1/3rd of internationally accredited schools) engaged in broad and fundamental transformation of business and business education by 2030. A tipping point!

By fostering a shift in mindset and operational models alongside course content, we aim to reorient business and education towards global responsibility. The ultimate measure of success will be widespread and systemic change in how business is taught and practiced globally, and the adoption of regenerative business models as the norm.

Who is helping make this happen?

The following networks and associations are endorsing the initiative. Those marked with (*) also added their voice to the application video:

Tipping Point Blog

Tipping Point Resources

The responsible management education landscape comprises a range of networks, associations and initiatives that makes resources and material available via their respective platforms. We are inviting endorsers to share with us the link and description of existing resource libraries and collections that may aid individuals and institutions with revising their content and offerings.
Networks, Associations and similar membership organisations are invited to endorse the Tipping Point and provide access to such resources.