The mission of the Yale School of Management is to educate leaders for business and society. We embody this mission through our distinctive integrated MBA curriculum, through the equally distinctive model of leadership that we develop in our students, and through our vision — indeed, our expectation — that Yale School of Management graduates are broadly engaged, inspiring leaders who own and solve hard problems that matter. Today, the most significant and important managerial problems are not defined by a single function or industry. Financial markets, globalization, climate change, corporate governance, healthcare, education, development, entrepreneurial activity, to name a few — all of these critical concerns in today's world economy require a broader perspective and a deeper sensitivity to the ways in which market forces can be brought to bear not just to create and sustain wealth, but also to address and alleviate some of the most vexing societal problems. Far from being exclusive to one another, wealth generation and social benefit can go hand in hand. Yale's dual focus on business and society creates leaders who fundamentally understand that essential synergy, and who are uniquely suited for success and for positive impact, in every sector, in any field, anywhere in the world. Three broad themes, each with its basis in the Yale SOM mission, characterize the essential qualities of a Yale MBA. Taken together, they personify Yale's distinct model of leadership: Leading and managing across boundaries Yale SOM has always been dedicated to the premise that value can be created by moving across boundaries — literal boundaries between nations, notional boundaries between cultures, organizational boundaries between sectors, or the conventional boundaries between academic disciplines. The Yale integrated MBA curriculum teaches students to find new solutions by drawing resources from all parts of an organization, an economy, a society. Transforming positive values into personal, professional, and institutional commitments Any organization is shaped by the people within it. Leaders, in particular, through their decisions, actions, and enthusiasm, give form to their companies and can make a tremendous positive difference. The Yale MBA program teaches students the importance of identifying their purpose and their passions, and of putting their values-fairness, creativity, honesty, accountability-into practice. Bringing creativity and discipline to complex management problems Creativity engenders innovation — new solutions, new ideas, and new approaches. Discipline supplies the habits of mind necessary to analyze innovations for both strengths and weaknesses, and to devise the most feasible plan for making a new proposal work in practice. Yale has long embraced the entrepreneurial spirit of invention — and its power to reshape business and society — while teaching the hard skills that make innovative ideas work.
