The typical criteria for a business-school ranking include job placement, graduates' salaries and academic quality.
But the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education set out to judge schools on a less conventional set of standards.
The organization, which aims to create future business leaders who embrace social responsibilities, recently released its biannual "Beyond Grey Pinstripes" report. The ranking of business schools examines how well MBA programs integrate social and environmental issues into their curriculum.
One school conspicuously missing: Wharton.
The typically number-one-ranked business program chose not to participate in the ranking because of disagreements with the Aspen institute's ranking methodology.
"We . believe that some other schools manage the data in terms of what they report to Aspen, and in the end there is simply not a compelling case to participate in a flawed process," Wharton professor Eric Orts wrote in an e-mail.
Harvard Business School likewise chose not to participate for similar reasons.
"We typically don't participate in rankings that require assembling a lot of data, such as this one. We also didn't feel comfortable with the methodology used," Harvard Director of Social Enterprise Initiative Laura Moon said.
Justin Goldbach, program manager at the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education, acknowledged that rankings cannot, by their nature, be perfectly objective.
"Any ranking is somewhat bizarre," he said.
Goldbach said some schools just don't feel the need to take part since they have other awards going for them.
"For the Whartons, there is no incentive to take part in a survey unless they are going to come out on the top," he said.
The incentive, on the other hand, is usually greater for smaller business schools.
The study found that a lot of smaller business schools have done a sizeable amount of work in the area of sustainability.
Hence, the ranking was "an opportunity to recognize these small schools" that may not receive spotlight in the more mainstream rankings, he said.
For those business programs that chose to participate, it does seem like sustainability awareness is spreading.
For example, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which topped Aspen institute's ranking, corporate social responsibility is a part of the campus culture.
"We have a great selection of electives that focus pretty heavily on either social or environmental issues," said Byrna Chang, the student services manager for MBA Program Administration.
And although Wharton and Harvard chose not to participate in the ranking, thinking and teaching green is an ethos that's present at both schools.
Wharton is currently merging the Environmental Management Program with the rest of the University. Wharton also offers courses dealing with these issues, like Entrepreneurship and Social Wealth Creation.
"There is an eagerness [among students] to learn more about it," said second-year MBA student Andree Sosler, who is the president of the Wharton Social Impact Club.
