How You Can Change the World With a Business Degree

When most people think of business success, they think of making lots of money. And while this is often the case, there’s another reason to pursue a business career: the chance to make a difference to society. While business people have always been capable of changing the world, the members of Generation Z -- people who are now coming of age, becoming primary consumers and entering the workforce -- feel uniquely compelled to do so. If you are among this inspired group, here are some things you should know.

Big Ideas with Big Potential

“Move over, Millennials: Generation Z Will Change the World,” proclaims a recent Time magazine headline. Also known as the iGeneration, Gen Z is known for several defining characteristics, including its diversity and its connectedness. Perhaps most noteworthy of all, however, is their collective concern for the greater good that transcends all else. Anything but apathetic, Gen Z possesses an active social conscience. They are keenly aware of the problems facing the world, and they’re committed to making positive change.

A recent Entrepreneur piece highlights ten ways these up-and-comers are already making a difference, including everything from creating chatbots and working as online fundraising consultants, to developing green apps and designing social crowdfunding platforms.

A specific example of a business model that is as much about making a difference as it is about making money? Australian start-up SpaTap. Despite having been rejected by the BBC television show Dragon’s Den, the company -- which “converts virtually any bottle into a flow controllable tap or shower” while supporting optimal water conservation and savings -- has garnered plenty of attention and acclaim, including Australian Government’s Humanitarian Supplies Challenge.

SpaTap owner, Brit Stuart Mason, said, “The truth is, millions of people share taps with hundreds of other people and often these taps are the source of contamination, responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 children every day. That is more than AIDs, malaria, and measles combined! And yet, something as simple as hand washing with clean flowing water could reduce these fatalities by half. That’s a thousand lives saved every day.”

One mobile water filter device that did win funding from Dragon’s Den, meanwhile, is Midomo, which is now in use in communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Co-founder Amanda Jones said, “We were clueless about business at the start.” And while their story may have a happy ending, business knowledge and acumen can open doors and help businesses hit the ground running.

The Rome Business School Advantage

One business school that’s a perfect fit when it comes to supporting social-mindedness in its students is Rome Business School. With the motto of “Better Managers for a Better World,” it takes a cutting-edge approach to teaching and learning while embracing the latest cultural trends. Furthermore, it uses an applied teaching method through which all courses integrate real-life case studies designed to help them use what they have learned in the real world. This component is viewed as essential to bridging the skills gap, thereby boosting the marketability of Rome Business School’s graduates with forward-thinking employers.

And then there’s the school’s international atmosphere, which supports the development of critical global perspectives. While Rome Business School is based in the vibrant, inimitable city of Rome, it operates on a global scale and hosts hundreds of students, everyone from managers to government officials, from more than 140 countries.

Rome Business School

A recent development which further enhances the school’s status as an international managerial training institute is that, from its March 2019 intake and onward, all of its master’s degrees will be accredited in partnership with UCAM University -- Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia -- and students will therefore earn 60 university credits and double certificates.

Dr. Antonio Ragusa, founding president of Rome Business School, said of this exciting collaboration, “This is an important milestone in our progression towards creating value for our students. Our goal is to provide them with a wealth of training and values that will enable them to become agents of change in their […] cultural and business contexts, contributing to the development of a fairer and more sustainable and prosperous world.”

Rome Business School

While there’s no denying that our world is facing many challenges, there’s hope in the form of the many galvanized young people ready to take them on. Will you be among them? If so, a business degree from Rome Business School promises to be an invaluable resource.