Module Paper- Building A Sustainable Enterprise (3 Pages)

SYLLABUS

Course Title: Building a Sustainable Enterprise

Introduction and Welcome

Human population continues to grow as does the pace of global development. Our lifestyles and billions of others throughout the world continue to improve. We have better healthcare, longer lives, more opportunities, improved communication, more leisure time, more disposable income and this is happening for billions of people around of globe. However, the global challenge is that there are billions more around the world who have been left out and who want a part of this improved lifestyle the industrial revolution and technology have created. As a result, we continue to exploit our planet and its resources and, in the process,, we have created problems such as climate change, pollution of our environment, resource limitations, overpopulation, social dislocation and compromised financial markets. Clearly a new business paradigm based on more than just unfettered capitalism and profit making needs to be considered.

Over the past 20 years a new business concept has arisen, that of a “sustainable enterprise”. This concept promotes enterprises that have a long-range view of their mission and an understanding of their obligations to society. Sustainable organizations are those that are learning to better balance their responsibilities to their shareholders against those of stakeholders like employees, customers and their communities. These organizations are introducing practices that are eco-friendly, they are recycling, they are reducing energy consumption, and they are practicing product stewardship by taking responsibility for their products from cradle to grave. All of this is being done with one eye on the profit line and with the other on ensuring that resources and society are not compromised for future generations. In essence, many companies today are asking “What can we do to help improve the planet while conducting our business?”

As current or future business leaders it is important that you have knowledge and information about sustainability and creating a sustainable enterprise. More and more companies are beginning the realize the benefits of sustainability and those that have not reached that point yet need people in their organizations that can begin sustainability practices. Applying sustainable business practices in both developed and developing nations presents some interesting business opportunities which we will explore throughout this course. Much of the discussion around sustainability hinges around the availability, usage, and conversation of resources and as such we will discussing resource issues in this course specifically through our viewpoint of energy and energy usage. As a result, we will devote a fair amount of time to studying energy efficiency and energy savings programs.

In this course we will be studying sustainable enterprises through a series of case studies as well as drawing from the business press. This class will be taught through a combination of formal lectures, case studies, and discussions. We will be applying the knowledge you gain in this course by having you, beginning around week 4, define a sustainability project within your own company or enterprise that you will need to propose and analyze for your final project.

I look forward to developing a new and/or broader understanding of sustainability as a business philosophy and practice with you over the next few weeks!

Required Text Materials

1. Farver, S. Mainstreaming Corporate Sustainability, 2013, Greenfix.

2. Hawken, Paul, Lovins, Amory, and Lovins, L. Hunter, Natural Capitalism, Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, 1999, Little, Brown and Company

3. Meadows, Donella, Thinking in Systems. 2008, Chelsea Green Institute,

4. Anderson, Ray, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist – Profits, People, Purpose – Doing Business by Respecting the Earth, 2009, St. Martin’s Press.

5. Weekly Readings, prepared by Professor Mooiman

6. Package of Case Studies from Harvard Business School.

RECOMMENDED READING:

· I recommend that you routinely peruse two weekly business periodicals: The Economist– www.Economist.com as well as the Wall Street Journal – www.wsj.com

Catalog Description

Adopting a systems approach, this course will study the concepts of sustainable development and business success. Resources such as food, water, energy and raw materials will be examined and issues of conservation and exploitation and their effect on a business enterprise will be considered. Students will examine how in a business profitability and sustainability interact in the triple bottom line concept. Topics include product stewardship, energy efficiency, supply chain management and models for sustainable business enterprises.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Understand in detail the concept of sustainability and how it applies to human society as a whole

2. Understand the applicability of sustainability to business enterprises

3. Have a basic understanding of systems concepts and their applicability to organizations and society

4. Describe how resources such as energy, water, raw materials used by a society and businesses and how to minimize these through waste reduction, recycling and formal improvement programs

5. Understand how the costs and benefits of sustainability programs can be determined

6. Have an appreciation the steps involved in establishing formal sustainability programs in enterprises and the reasons for success and failure

7. Propose a business plan for a sustainability project in their organization or enterprise and quantify the costs and benefits

8. To answer the question “What can I do to help improve the planet while conducting the business of my organization?”

9. Have an appreciation for the interaction between local communities and business and develop the ability to study and analyze business development issues faced by communities

Course Format

100% Online with weekly live videoconference case study discussion sessions.

Course Teaching and Learning Methodology

To accomplish course objectives, there will be a combination of formal lectures, presentations, live online discussions, assigned readings, weekly homework assignments, case analyses, quizzes and final projects.

Expectations of Students

1. This is a course with some quantitative subject matter and with an emphasis on cost/benefit analysis. Most of the calculations are straightforward and require college level math skills. You will need to be familiar with Excel and using spreadsheets for your calculations.

2. Be sure to allocate enough time weekly to read the assigned material, follow the Powerpoint presentations, complete the homework assignments, read and analyze the case study, participate in the weekly case study discussion and work on your final project. The workload at times may be intensive.

3. Make wise use of resources provided including the required and recommended reading, the course instructor, other students, and current publications.

4. Regular student participation in class and online is very important aspect of this course and a key part of your grade.

5. Complete each section of the course by the required date. Late assignments will receive half credit if turned in within 7 days of the due date. No credit will be given for assignments turned in seven days past the due date.

6. All weekly assignments are due by midnight of the day preceding the start of the next class – normally this is Sunday midnight.

7. Homework assignments, quizzes, discussion participation, and the final project are the primary forms of evaluation. Each submission should be clear, concise and the use of appropriate grammar, form and bibliography are expected.

8. Excessive absences as well as lack of online participation will result in the student being dropped from the course. No communication from you for two consecutive weeks for whatever reason is cause for me to initiate an administrative withdrawal. Please note that the withdrawal does not excuse course payment unless withdrawal is during the first week of class. Except in the case of extreme emergency there are no "Incomplete" grades in this course.

9. Please do not attempt to work ahead. I will be modifying and updating the course as we go along. I might even change and update the course and subject matter the day before the next class.

10. Module Paper: This should integrate not only principles learned in this class but how they relate to the MBA in Leadership program. This paper is usually due before the last unit.

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Course Requirements

1. Case Study Discussion Class Participation

Every week there will be a live online class session for all students to discuss the case study assigned for that week. The participation grade will be based on the quality of what you contribute to the class and not on how much you say in class. Participation in the case study discussion requires the submission of a 1 to 2 page summary of the case highlighting the key issues before the discussion starts.

2. Reading Reflections

Students are required to submit a 2 to 3 page summary highlighting the key points in each assigned reading for the week. Bullet point format will be fine.

3. Homework:

There are 12 homework assignments. Each assignment is explained in the homework assignment section of the unit.

4. Short Presentation

Each student will present two 10-minute online presentations on a course related topic.

5. Final Project

The final project will be to research and propose a sustainability project within your own company or enterprise. The proposal should be in the form of a business plan that should include a quantitative cost benefit analysis which clearly lays out all assumptions. Be sure that it applies to a process or operation that you can obtain adequate and detailed information about. Additional details and a scoring rubric will be supplied.

6. Module Paper:

This should integrate not only principles learned in this class but how they relate to the MBA in Leadership program. This paper is due by the end of Week 11.

Safeguards                                                                                                                                 

Back up every piece of work you do on disk, and make a hard copy. If you experience computer difficulties, you are responsible for solving your own technical problems. The Help Desk is available 24 hours a day for course-related problems. Heavy Internet use occurs during the evening hours of 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. You might want to consider logging on at other times if possible.

Deadlines

Odd things happen in cyberspace: emails get lost; servers disconnect temporarily; logins are impossible. Don't wait for the last moment to get things done. Allow time to meet deadlines. Reply and check for replies on every email sent and received. You are responsible for getting the work to me on time.

Reference Style

Please cite all references using APA style. You will find style tips at the APA online site located at http://www.apastyle.org/previoustips.html. Specific help in citing electronic sources can be found at http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html. A free link to the current APA Style Guide is available from Purdue University at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/001. Additional help in the APA citation style is available at http://thewritedirection.net/apastyle.htm. A sample APA style paper may be found at http://dianahacker.com/writersref/. Once there, follow the link to Model Papers, and download the APA paper. Use it as a reference on what your paper should look like. The most important formatting aspects are: cover page, Reference Page, appearance of the headers, and in line references. Finally, although with some flaws, it is a good idea to use the online Citation Machine available at http://citationmachine.net/.

As a word of advice, please, do not wait until the last moment to complete your work. If you do, you run the risk of experiencing unanticipated problems that might prevent your from completing your work on time. Whenever possible, consider alternative schedules.

Course Schedule

There are twelve units to be covered during the term. Each week will cover one unit.

Week #	Unit Title	Topics Covered
1	What is Sustainability and What is a Sustainable Enterprise?	· Introduction · What is sustainability? · The sustainability movement · Sustainability challenges · Case study of a sustainable enterprise
2	An introduction to systems theory and its applicability to a sustainable enterprise	· What is systems theory? · Thinking in systems · Applications of systems theory · Systems thinking and sustainable enterprises
3	The Path to Sustainability	· How and why do companies get on the road to sustainability · EHS and ISO 14000 · Sustainability Frameworks · Global Report Initiative
4	Design for Sustainability	· Designing sustainable products · Cradle to cradle concepts · Waste minimization
5	Life Cycle Analysis	· LCA concepts · Life cycle management · Life cycle costing
6	Energy Efficiency - Part 1	· Energy efficiency basics
7	Energy Efficiency - Part 2	· Cement industry · Industrial energy usage · Energy efficiency at home ·
8	Energy Efficiency - Part 3	· Buildings and energy efficiency
9	Water and Water Resources	· Water resources · Uses of water · Sustainability and water
10	Metals and Minerals	· What is stuff made of? · Mining industry · Energy minerals · Strategic minerals and metal shortages
11	Food and Sustainability	· Agriculture and food resources · Energy and agriculture · Sustainable agriculture
12	Wrap up and End of Term Presentations	· Presentations · Pulling the pieces together · A roadmap for the future