Impact, Value and Sustainable Business, MBA
The major in Impact, Value and Sustainable Business (IVSB) is designed to provide in-depth foundations for those interested in how business activities affect natural, human, and social capital – and how these impacts influence risk, opportunity, and sustainable business performance. After graduation, students majoring in IVSB will be well equipped to shape strategy, innovation, valuations, investment flows, and policy.
There is a strong need for a new generation of expert business leaders who understand the rapidly evolving trends in business models, technology, regulation, and financing with implications for the environment and society as a whole. Students choosing the IVSB major are therefore ideally suited for the ever-expanding set of careers in many fields. Relevant courses are offered by departments including Accounting, Business Economics and Public Policy, Finance, Legal Studies and Business Ethics, Management, Marketing, and Operations Information and Decisions.
This Major is jointly administered by the Business, Economics and Public Policy Department, the Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department, and the Management Department.
The Faculty Advisors to this Major are Professors Arthur van Benthem (BEPP), Vit Henisz (MGMT) and Sarah Light (LGST). Questions from current Wharton students regarding this Major should be directed in the first instance to Sara Jane McCaffrey. Prospective students should contact the Admissions Office.
For more information: https://impact.wharton.upenn.edu/students/curricular/
The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2026 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.
Curriculum
Major electives taken on a pass/fail basis cannot be counted toward the IVSB major.
| Code | Title | Course Units |
|---|---|---|
| Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business Major Requirements 1 | ||
| The IVSB major is fulfilled by completing 4.0 credit units (CU) of coursework from the following list of courses approved for the major, with at least 2 credit units (CU) of coursework from the Environmental List: | 4 | |
| Environmental: | ||
| Climate and Financial Markets | ||
| Climate Risks and Opportunities | ||
| Energy Markets and Policy | ||
| Environmental Management: Law and Policy | ||
| The Business and Governance of Water | ||
| Environmental Sustainability and Value Creation | ||
| Strategy and Environmental Sustainability | ||
| Global Modular Course A (on Sustainability; in Germany, by application) | ||
| Thinking with Models: Business Analytics for Energy and Sustainability | ||
| Social and Governance: | ||
| Financial Disclosure Analytics | ||
| American Public Policy through an Economic Lens | ||
| Urban Fiscal Policy | ||
| ESG and Impact Investing | ||
| Shareholder Activism | ||
| Big Data, Big Responsibilities: Toward Accountable Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Other People's Money: The Law, Politics, and History of Financial Institutions | ||
| Law of Corporate Management and Finance | ||
| Employment Law: Practical Considerations for Managers | ||
| Leading Across Cultural and Relational Differences | ||
| Corporate Governance, Executive Compensation and the Board | ||
| Political Environment of the Multinational Firm | ||
or MGMT 7200 | Corporate Diplomacy | |
| Reforming Mass Incarceration and the Role of Business | ||
| WORKS Immersion (Prison Education) | ||
| Social Entrepreneurship | ||
| Global Modular Course A (Impact Hack) | ||
| Students may replace up to one credit unit (CU) of coursework from the above-listed courses with a course from this pre-approved list of courses outside of Wharton that bears a clear relationship to the core of the major: | ||
| Carbon Capture | ||
| Energy and its Impacts: Technology, Environment, Economics, Sustainability. | ||
| Electricity and Systems Markets | ||
| Renewable Energy and Its Impacts: Technology, Environment, Economics, Sustainability | ||
| Climate Policy and Technology | ||
| Energy Geopolitics and National Security | ||
| Decarbonization & Net Zero | ||
| The Future of water | ||
| Corporate Sustainability Strategies | ||
| Life Cycle Assessment | ||
| Law Seminar (Energy Law and Climate Change) | ||
| Materials Science and Market Signals in Clean Energy Supply Chains | ||
| Selected Topics in Materials Science and Engineering (Energy, Water, and Materials for the AI Economy) | ||
| Recommended courses to supplement the MBA major – IVSB | ||
| Business, Social Responsibility, and the Environment | ||
In addition to courses that count for credit toward the IVSB Major for MBA students, we encourage but do not require MBA students majoring in IVSB to take LGST 6130: Business, Social Responsibility, and the Environment (.5 cu). This course does not count toward the four required credit units for the major in IVSB, but can be taken to fulfill students’ core Legal Studies and Business Ethics requirement. This course focuses on the social and environmental responsibilities of business. | ||
| Impact Analytics | ||
| For MBA students especially interested in Impact analytics, we note that while the STAT department does not have courses that count toward the four required credit units for the major, the following courses may be of special interest: | ||
| Modern Data Mining | ||
| Convex Optimization for Statistics and Data Science | ||
| Causal Inference | ||
| Data Collection and Acquisition: Strategies and Platforms | ||
| Forecasting Methods for Management | ||
| Predictive Analytics for Business | ||
| Applied Machine Learning in Business | ||
| Text Analytics | ||
| Data Analytics and Statistical Computing | ||
| Data Science Using ChatGPT | ||
| Introduction to Python for Data Science | ||
| Select 5.5 course units of electives | 5.5 | |
| MBA Core Requirements | 9.5 | |
| Total Course Units | 19 | |
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Please note: A student cannot declare both the Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business major and the Social and Governance Factors for Business major. A student also cannot declare both the Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business major and the Business, Energy, Environment, and Sustainability major.
MBA Core Requirements
| Code | Title | Course Units |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | ||
| Select one of the following: | 0.5-1 | |
| Fundamentals of Financial Accounting | ||
| Fundamentals of Financial and Managerial Accounting | ||
| Finance 1 | ||
| Corporate Finance | ||
| Select one of the following: | 0.5-1 | |
| Corporate Finance | ||
| Corporate Finance (Half CU) | ||
| Macroeconomics | ||
| Select one of the following: | 0.5-1 | |
| Macroeconomics and the Global Economic Environment | ||
| Macroeconomics and The Global Economic Environment (Half CU) | ||
| Legal Studies | ||
| LGST 6110 | Responsibility in Global Management | 0.5 |
| or LGST 6120 | Responsibility in Business | |
| or LGST 6130 | Business, Social Responsibility, and the Environment | |
| Microeconomics | ||
| BEPP 6110 | Microeconomics for Managers: Foundations | 0.5 |
| BEPP 6120 | Microeconomics for Managers: Advanced Applications | 0.5 |
| Management | ||
| MGMT 6100 | Foundations of Teamwork and Leadership | 0.5 |
| MGMT 6110 | Managing Established Enterprises | 1 |
| or MGMT 6120 | Management of Emerging Enterprises | |
| Marketing | ||
| MKTG 6110 | Marketing Management | 0.5 |
| MKTG 6120 | Dynamic Marketing Strategy | 0.5 |
| or MKTG 6130 | Strategic Marketing Simulation | |
| OIDD | ||
| Select one unit of the following: | 0.5-1 | |
| Quality and Productivity | ||
| Business Analytics | ||
| Online Business Models and the Information-Based Firm | ||
| Innovation | ||
| Operations Strategy | ||
| Enabling Technologies | ||
| Managerial Decision Making | ||
| Statistics | ||
| STAT 6130 | Regression Analysis for Business 2 | 1 |
| or STAT 6210 | Accelerated Regression Analysis for Business | |
| Management Communication | ||
| Select one of the following options: | 0.5 | |
| Management Communication 3 | ||
or WHCP 6180 | Entrepreneurial Communication | |
| Writing Requirement | ||
| MBA students are required to demonstrate mastery of persuasive writing for a business audience. This is tested on an online Writing Waiver Exam that incoming MBA's complete the summer before they matriculate. Students unable to demonstrate mastery on this exam are required to take WHCP 6210: Foundations of Business Writing in the fall of their first year. This pass/fail, 0 CU course is designed to provide students with the instruction and support they will need to achieve mastery in persuasive writing for a business audience. | ||
| Second Year Requirement: | ||
| Students must satisfy the following requirements during their second year in the program: (1) maintain a Wharton GPA that is greater than 2.33 in each semester of their second year, and (2) have no more than 4 CU of Wharton courses with a grade less than or equal to 2.33 (C+ or lower) in their second year. | ||
| Total Course Units | 9.5 | |
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Course Units | |
| Fall Courses | 5 | |
| Course Units | 5.00 | |
| Spring | ||
| Spring Courses | 5 | |
| Course Units | 5.00 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| Fall Courses | 5 | |
| Course Units | 5.00 | |
| Spring | ||
| Spring Courses | 4 | |
| Course Units | 4.00 | |
| Total Course Units | 19.00 | |
The Global Experience Concentration facilitates MBA student participation in a study abroad program. Students must complete two full credit units in an approved International Exchange Program at the partner university’s location. In addition, students must take one full credit unit of internationally focused MBA electives to satisfy the concentration requirement.
Curriculum
Students must complete two full credit units in an approved International Exchange Program at the partner university’s location. Approved International Exchange Programs include:
- Australia – AGSM, Sydney
- Brazil – COPPEAD, Rio de Janeiro
- Chile – Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago
- China – CEIBS, Shanghai
- China – Peking University, Beijing
- France – HEC/ISA, Paris
- France – INSEAD, Fontainebleau
- Hong Kong – HKUST, Kowloon
- India – ISB, Hyderabad
- Israel – IDC, Herzliya
- Israel – Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv
- Italy – SDA Bocconi, Milan
- Japan – Keio University, Tokyo
- Netherlands – RSM, Rotterdam
- Philippines – AIM, Makati City
- Singapore – INSEAD, Singapore
- Spain – IESE, Barcelona
- Sweden – Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm
- Thailand – Sasin, Bangkok
- United Kingdom – LBS, London
In addition to two full credit units taken in an approved study-abroad program, students must take one full credit unit of internationally focused MBA electives to satisfy the concentration requirement. The electives should be selected from the list below and cannot be taken on a pass/fail basis.
| Code | Title | Course Units |
|---|---|---|
| Global Experience Concentration | ||
| Students must complete 2 CU in WHG 5000-level or above | 2 | |
| Select at least 1 CU from the following: 1 | 1 | |
| Accounting | ||
| Taxes and Business Strategy | ||
| Business Economics and Public Policy | ||
| Energy Markets and Policy | ||
| Climate and Financial Markets | ||
| Economic Globalization: Policy, History and Contemporary Issues | ||
| Finance | ||
| International Financial Markets and Cryptocurrencies | ||
| Global Valuation and Risk Analysis | ||
| International Banking | ||
| Central Banks, Macroeconomic Policy and Financial Markets | ||
| ESG and Impact Investing | ||
| Energy Finance | ||
| Health Care Management | ||
| Comparative Health Care Systems | ||
| Private Sector Role in Global Health | ||
| Legal Studies and Business Ethics | ||
| Global (Anti-)Money Laundering | ||
| Law of Corporate Management and Finance | ||
| Management | ||
| Leading Across Cultural and Relational Differences | ||
| Political Environment of the Multinational Firm | ||
| Corporate Diplomacy | ||
| Strategy and Environmental Sustainability | ||
| Global Management of Digital Businesses | ||
| Managing and Competing in China | ||
| Private Equity in Emerging Markets | ||
| Global Growth of Emerging Firms | ||
| Strategies and Practices of Family-controlled Companies | ||
| Advanced Global Strategy | ||
| Comparative Capitalism | ||
| Marketing | ||
| Operations, Information, and Decisions | ||
| Global Supply Chain Mgmt. | ||
| Retail Operations | ||
| Climate Risks and Opportunities | ||
| Environmental Sustainability and Value Creation | ||
| Real Estate | ||
| Global Real Estate: Risk, Politics and Culture | ||
| Urban Fiscal Policy | ||
| International Housing Comparisons | ||
| Total Course Units | 3 | |
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Global Modular Courses (0.5 CU) offered in a foreign location also count.
Other courses with substantive international content may be counted upon approval of the concentration advisor.
Concentration Advisor: Alyssa Swanson