Business Strategy & Sustainability

Business as a general rule has a hard time with the concept of environmental sustainability. Business is about making money. Sustainability is about protecting the planet and the creatures (including humans) on it. The time scale for business is measured in quarters, annual results, three to five year plans, etc. Climate change, deforestation, reduction in biodiversity, etc. occur over decades or even centuries. It’s difficult to bridge the gap.

Sustainability, or to be more precise, the men and women who are deeply concerned about it, often have a difficult time with business. For many activist and government administrators, the fundamental motives of business are opaque and even suspect. Even entrepreneurs involved in developing new environmentally friendly technologies often fall short when thinking through how to fund their development and actually make a return on any potential investor’s money.

The purpose of this course is to attempt to bring the worlds of business and sustainability a little bit closer together. Its approach is not to provide a passionate argument based on hopeful assumptions, but to seek out common understanding in two directions.

In the first place, the course provides a framework for managers, CEOs and members of boards of directors to think about sustainability in their own language. That means discussing the issues in terms that recognize their fiduciary responsibility to their partners, customers, employees and shareholders.

At the same time, the course provides insight on how firms operates to people passionate about sustainability. It is my hope that with this new perspective, they will be able to engage with business in a positive and pro-active way and in so doing, have a positive impact on the environment while influencing the broader business community.