This research aims to answer the following question: How to advance in the development of competences aimed at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in business administration education? An exploratory literature review was conducted to discuss human competences for the SDGs and to propose advances for their conception and development in undergraduate courses in Business Management. The discussion was based on the guidelines established by the main body engaged in the cause, UNESCO. Education for sustainable development (ESD) guided the proposal of this study for the operationalization of competences for the SDGs, organized into: i) information used in the development of competences for the SDGs; ii) how competences should be defined; iii) competency based ESD content; iv) expected results from the operationalization of competences and v) who is involved in the process.