Sustainable Business

This course employs a systems approach to understanding the intersection of business and nongovernmental organizations and the Earth system. The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, and how they are interrelated, are explored with a focus on climate change. Systems thinking emphasizes relationships and interdependencies — students learn to identify the connections between the planet and an organization by considering whole systems, rather than component parts, and discern systems within systems. Students apply systems thinking and their knowledge of the Earth system to analyze organizations and address sustainability challenges, including resource use, waste management, and climate change.

Sustainable business strategies leverage the integration of economic, environmental, and social aims into a firm’s goals, activities, and planning, with the aim of creating long-term value for the firm, its stakeholders, and the wider society. Decision makers have to balance these goals, but often have difficulties seeing how their decisions contribute to sustainable development at the system level. This class will give leaders the tools to formulate and execute strategies to meet the current needs of the firm and its stakeholders while protecting, sustaining, and enhancing all resources that will be needed in the future.

Ecological economics addresses the complexity inherent in the process of determining how we decide, utilize, and prioritize resources in a way that does not jeopardize the future well being of natural and human systems.  This course will focus on how economic and political systems interact to generate varied outcomes in relation to the goals of sustainability, justice, and economic well-being. Alternative measurement systems will be compared to neoclassical tools for their ability to measure progress and students will consider private and public sector approaches for creating a transition toward a more sustainable and just society.  Throughout the course, we will focus on what “works” and place significant emphasis on relating the material to students personal and career goals.

The Keystone Project course is the culminating experience of the program study. The Keystone Project will consist of an independent research study and/or a professional action project.  A suitable project involves both secondary (library) and primary (field) research on a topic pertinent to the field of management, leadership and human services. Students engage in the process of planning, collecting, analyzing and presenting data. As a result, students move from consumer to creator of new knowledge. The culminating product is a written report of the investigation and a presentation to the course professor and peers.