Sustainable Management
June 24, 2023 2026-09-17 5:24Sustainable Management
Sustainable Management Programs
Sustainable management examines how organizations can create long-term economic value while addressing their environmental and social responsibilities. It brings together business strategy, leadership, sustainability, ethics, and responsible decision-making to help organizations respond to changing environmental, social, and economic conditions.
Anaheim University offers online sustainable management programs from graduate certificate and diploma study through to an MBA and DBA.
Sustainable Management Programs from Certificate to Doctorate
Choose a sustainable management qualification based on your existing education, professional experience, and academic goals. The four pathways range from focused graduate study to doctoral-level research, allowing you to develop sustainability expertise alongside broader business and management knowledge.
Develop advanced expertise in sustainable management through doctoral-level study of business, sustainability, leadership, strategic decision-making, and responsible organizational development. The DBA combines advanced business knowledge with doctoral research focused on sustainable management challenges and their practical implications.
Fifteen courses and a four-term dissertation across twenty terms, with concentration courses in triple bottom line accounting, green marketing and corporate social responsibility. Graduates lead sustainability strategy and publish original research on responsible business.
Entry: a completed MBA. A 3.0 GPA must be maintained through to graduation.
Combine core business administration with specialized study in sustainable management. The MBA covers international business disciplines alongside sustainability-focused subjects including sustainable enterprise development, triple bottom line accountability, green marketing, environmental product design, corporate social responsibility, and ethics.
Twelve six-week courses covering the core business functions alongside triple bottom line accountability, green marketing and corporate social responsibility, finishing with the Sustainable Management Capstone. Graduates build sustainability into strategy, marketing, reporting and operations.
Develop focused graduate-level knowledge of sustainable management through four specialized courses and two international business electives. Study topics such as triple bottom line management, green marketing, corporate social responsibility, sustainable enterprise development, and leadership.
Four required sustainability courses — triple bottom line accountability, green marketing, corporate social responsibility and sustainable enterprise leadership — plus two business electives. Substantial graduate grounding for people moving into sustainability roles in strategy, reporting, operations and policy.
Build a foundation in sustainable management through three graduate-level courses selected from four sustainability-focused subjects. Explore triple bottom line accountability, green marketing, corporate social responsibility, ethics, sustainable enterprise development, and leadership.
Three sustainability courses, and the fastest sustainability credential Anaheim University offers. Written for people who need to bring sustainability thinking into strategy, marketing and reporting in the role they already hold, rather than to change career.
Compare Sustainable Management Programs
| Program | Level | Duration | Credits | Entry requirement | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DBA in Sustainable Management | Doctoral | About 3 years | 60 credit hours | A completed MBA; a 3.0 GPA maintained to graduate | $37,465 |
| MBA in Global Sustainable Management | Master’s | About 18 months | 36 units | A 3.0 GPA maintained to graduate | $18,395 |
| Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Management | Graduate Diploma | About 9 months | 18 units | A 3.0 GPA maintained to graduate | $8,525 |
| Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Management | Graduate Certificate | About 18 weeks | 9 units | A 3.0 GPA maintained to graduate | $4,350 |
Which sustainability qualification do you need?
The right starting point depends on whether you are adding sustainability to the job you have, or moving your career into it.
| If you… | Start with |
|---|---|
| You want to apply sustainability thinking in the role you already hold | Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Management |
| You want substantial grounding in sustainability plus business electives | Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Management |
| You want a full master’s with sustainability at its centre | MBA in Global Sustainable Management |
| You already hold an MBA and want to research sustainability at doctoral level | DBA in Sustainable Management |
| Your focus is international trade rather than sustainability | MBA in International Business |
| You want to start a venture rather than change an existing organisation | Master of Entrepreneurship |
What sustainable management study covers
Sustainable management is the practice of running an organisation against three measures rather than one. The financial result still counts, but so do the environmental and social results, and the discipline is concerned with how you account for all three, report them credibly, and make decisions when they pull in different directions.
In practice that means work on carbon and resource accounting, supply chains and procurement, sustainability reporting and disclosure, green marketing and the claims a company can defend, corporate social responsibility, and the leadership required to change how an organisation already operates. Graduates move into sustainability roles across strategy, reporting, operations and policy — some in dedicated sustainability functions, many by bringing the discipline into a role they already hold.
The certificate, diploma and MBA draw on the same graduate curriculum, so a short qualification is a reasonable way to test the field before committing to a degree. If you expect to continue, ask admissions how completed coursework is treated before you enroll.
How Sustainable Management Study Works Online
Six-Week Course Blocks
Focus on one course at a time within a structured six-week term, with new courses beginning regularly.
Live Faculty Interaction
Take part in live online seminars and engage directly with professors rather than relying entirely on recorded lectures.
Global Collaboration
Study with professionals and students from different countries and perspectives while discussing sustainability challenges that cross national boundaries.
Apply Learning to Your Work
Connect sustainability concepts with real organizational challenges and consider how responsible business practices can be applied in professional settings.
Sustainability as the spine, not an elective
Most business schools teach sustainability as a module inside a general degree. Here it is the organising subject of all four programs, taught through the Akio Morita School of Business and the Kisho Kurokawa Green Institute.
The consequence is visible in the course lists. The Graduate Diploma’s four required courses are triple bottom line accountability, green marketing, corporate social responsibility and sustainable enterprise leadership. The Green MBA carries the same material alongside the core business functions and ends with the Sustainable Management Capstone. The doctorate takes the concentration further and applies original research to it.
Live classes are scheduled around a genuinely international cohort: for the Graduate Certificate they usually fall on Friday evening in the United States, which is Saturday morning across much of Asia. Courses run one at a time in six-week blocks, which is what keeps the load carryable alongside a full-time role.
Who Teaches the Sustainable Management Programs
Learn from faculty with backgrounds in business, management, sustainability, and related professional fields. Faculty teach through live online seminars and interactive learning activities, bringing academic and professional perspectives into discussions of sustainable business and management.
Kwok Shum
Teaches on the doctoral and Green MBA programs, and has run Clinton Foundation C40 workshops.
Tamara Myatt, Ph.D.
Former Executive Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women in Afghanistan. Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems, Fielding Graduate University.
Vince Carter, Ph.D.
Professor at the Akio Morita School of Business and the Kisho Kurokawa Green Institute.
Chris Raymond, Ph.D.
Ph.D. in economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, followed by an international MBA.
Frequently asked questions
What is the triple bottom line?
It is the idea that an organisation should be measured on three results rather than one: financial, environmental and social. It runs through all four programs, and triple bottom line accountability is one of the four required courses in the Graduate Diploma. Most of the practical difficulty in sustainable management lies in deciding what to do when the three measures point in different directions, which is what the coursework works on.
How is the Green MBA different from a general MBA?
It covers the same core business functions — you finish with a full MBA, not a narrower qualification. What differs is that sustainability runs through the program rather than sitting in one elective: triple bottom line accountability, green marketing and corporate social responsibility are part of the required material, and the degree ends with the Sustainable Management Capstone.
Do I need a business background to start?
The Graduate Certificate is the shortest entry point and is designed for people bringing sustainability into a role they already hold. The DBA requires a completed MBA. For the certificate, diploma and MBA, send your transcripts to admissions and they will tell you what applies to your background.
What kind of jobs does this lead to?
Graduates work on sustainability in strategy, reporting and disclosure, operations and supply chains, marketing, and policy. Some move into dedicated sustainability functions; many apply the discipline inside a role they already hold, which is what the shorter qualifications are designed for.
Do I need an MBA to take the DBA?
Yes. The Doctor of Business Administration in Sustainable Management is 60 credit hours beyond a completed MBA, and a 3.0 GPA must be maintained through to graduation. If you hold a different master’s degree, ask admissions how it is assessed.
How long does each program take?
The Graduate Certificate takes about 18 weeks and the Graduate Diploma about nine months. The Green MBA takes about 18 months, with a maximum of three years from matriculation. The DBA takes about three years, with a maximum of five.
When are the live classes held?
They are scheduled around an international cohort. For the Graduate Certificate they usually fall on Friday evening United States time, which is Saturday morning across much of Asia. Each course includes two live sessions; in the Graduate Diploma they fall at the end of weeks one and four.
Are classes live, or recorded?
Live. Every six-week course includes two live online sessions led by faculty, rather than recorded lectures worked through alone.
Do I have to travel to the United States?
No. All four programs are delivered entirely online, with no residency requirement and no need to relocate.
Are the programs accredited?
Anaheim University is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC). The DEAC is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a recognized accrediting agency. Accreditation is institutional, covering the university and the programs it offers.
What do the programs cost, and is financial aid available?
Tuition is charged course by course rather than as a single fee, so the cost is spread across your studies, and current figures for each program are published in its catalog. Anaheim University does not participate in federal or state financial aid programs, so US federal loans and grants are not available.
When can I start?
A new term begins every six weeks, so there are several entry points across the year rather than a single annual intake.
Can I study if English is not my first language?
Yes. The programs ask for evidence of English proficiency — typically TOEFL 530 paper-based or 71 internet-based and IELTS 6.5. Each catalog lists the tests and scores it accepts.
