sustainability_management_education_india_2011

Education for Green Business and
Sustainability/Sustainable
Management:
Urban and Regional Challenges and
Opportunities
Dr. Ulas Basar Gezgin
economics lecturer
E-mail: ulasbasar@gmail.com

• Gezgin, U. B. (2010). Education for green
business and sustainability/sustainable
management: Urban and regional challenges
and opportunities. (Paper presented at the
International Conference: Globalizing
Management Education: Issues And
Challenges For Industry & Academia. 5-6
February 2011, New Delhi, India.)

7/10/2011 sustainability & management - Dr.Gezgin 2

Abstract
• As rapid and mostly unplanned urbanization poses its
challenges for highly populated cities, climate change is
hitting the agenda by unusual weather events such as heat
waves, sea level rise, urban flooding, typhoons etc. On the
other hand, the situation is not so bleak. Green business is
burgeoning in diverse areas such as green products, solid
waste management, low-carbon vehicles, energy saving
appliances etc. While whether the positive effects of green
business would be sufficient to mitigate or adapt to
challenges brought by climate change is under discussion;
what is lacking is a holistic, integrative approach to green
business that would coordinate micro and meso efforts
within urban and regional planning framework.


Abstract
• Green business and sustainability/sustainable
management education stand out as a convincing
means for that purpose. Thus, this paper discusses
current trends in green business and
sustainability/sustainable management and lists some
recommendations for what we call as ‘the human
development hexagon’ that consists of university,
government, NGOs, international organizations, media
and industry.
• Keywords: Green business, sustainability,
sustainability management education, sustainable
management education, urban planning, and regional
planning.

Contents
• 1. Sustainability and Greening of Business and Business
Education
• 2. Classification of Business Education Programs As to
Sustainability
• 3. Non-formal Sustainability Training
• 4. Attitudes Towards Business Education About and For
Sustainability
• 5. What to Teach and How to Teach
• 6. An Example of Greening of Business Subjects:
• Green Human Resource Management
• 7. Green MBA
• 8. Discussion: Future Research and Policy Directions
• 9. Recommendations


1. Sustainability and Greening of
Business and Business Education
• Introduction of green terms into everyday
conversation: ‘green energy’, ‘renewable energy’, ‘eco-
friendly’, ‘ecological footprint’ etc
• The rise of green business and the greening of business
• 6 ‘leading green economy investments’:
• Building retrofitting,
• mass transit,
• energy-efficient automobiles,
• wind power,
• solar power and
• cellulosic biomass fuels (ACTE, 2008)


• Green Trends:
• Green collar employees (green work force)
• Global shortage of green collars
• “Energy and indoor air quality auditor,
• deconstruction worker,
• solar installer and technician,
• wind energy technician,
• wind energy mechanic,
• windsmith, ethanol plant technician,
• ethanol plant operator,
• ethanol or biodiesel maintenance mechanic,
• biodiesel laboratory technician, and
• biodiesel process control technician” (ACTE, 2008).


• ‘Economy first principle’: “We have to develop
economically first, and only after that, we can
take care of environmental problems” and “we
don’t have sufficient funds for environmental
problems, we will have them once we will
develop”.
• But some of the resources are non-renewable
and the costs of cleaning up the environmental
problems will be higher in the future compared
to in-source costs now.


• Sustainability:
• Negative View:
• How to stop environmental problems?
• Positive View:
• How to contribute to environmental resources
and capabilities?
• Education about sustainability: Focus on content.
• Education for sustainability: Focus on a change in
the frame of thinking (pedagogic approaches
integrated with real life practice).


2. Classification of Business Education
Programs As to Sustainability
• The green MBA continuum:
• No coverage
• Dedicated course
• Green as a major
• Green dual masters
• Total green integration
• 200 MBA programs in US reviewed.
• The demand for all 4 categories of the green MBA
continuum will rise as a result of the growth of green
business (Nodoushani, Collins & Nodoushani, 2008).


Dedicated Course
• One course on sustainability and/or green
issues.
• The ‘greenery’ in those programs is less
secure, as these courses can be removed in
the upcoming semesters.


Green as a Major
• A concentration of green courses along with conventional MBA courses.
• Strong competitors against green MBA in the market.
• Students prefer conventional MBA courses plus green courses.
• Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Environmental and Risk
Management major
• Columbia Business School, Social Enterprise Program
• Johnson School of Cornell University, Sustainable Global Enterprise
concentration
• Fuqua School of Business at Duke, Social Entrepreneurship concentration
• George Washington University: MBA Program, Environmental Policy and
Management concentration;
• Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, Social Enterprise
concentration


Green Dual Masters
• Allow MBA students to get a double degree with an MS program related to
environmental issues
• Teach conventional MBA courses and environmental courses separately
• Green issues are not infused in MBA courses; it is up to the students to do that.
• Yale School of Management and Yale School of Forestry & Environment
• Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and Vermont Law School: MBA/Master of
Studies in Environment;
• Stanford University: Graduate School of Business (MBA/MS in Environment and
Resources)
• Syracuse University: Whitman School of Management (a joint MBA/MS
Environmental Science and Forestry with the State University of New York College
of Environmental Science and Forestry)
• The University of Arizona: Eller College of Management (MBA/Natural Resources
dual degree)
• The University of Michigan: Ross School of Business (a three-year MBA/MS entitled
Natural Resources and the Environment)


Total Green Integration
• The focus on ecological and ethical issues as well as value-
driven business
• Dominican University: Green MBA (San Rafael, CA);
• Presidio School of Management: MBA in Sustainable
Management (San Francisco, CA);
• Bainbridge Graduate Institute: MBA in Sustainable Business
(Bainbridge Island, WA);
• Antioch University New England: MBA in Organizational
and Environmental Sustainability (Keene, NH);
• Marlboro College: MBA – Sustainability (Brattleboro, VT);
• Green Mountain College: MBA (Poultney, VT)


‘Education about and for Sustainability
in Australian Business Schools’
• Tilbury, Crawley & Berry (2004):
• Analysis of 37 Australian university business schools offering over
55 MBA programs.
• Adopted the criteria set by BGP (‘Beyond Grey Pinstripes’): Number
of sustainability-related courses, the research output related to
sustainability, extracurriculur activities etc
• (149 business schools from 24 countries joined the BGP rankings in
2009. The coverage is mainly American business schools.)
• 3 groups:
• Leading edge schools
• Good practice schools
• Acceptable standard schools


Criteria for Leading Edge Schools
• “- A considerable number of core and elective subjects based on education about and for
• sustainability and a sub-specialisation stream in sustainability;
• - Staff who have teaching and/or research expertise in the area of education for
• sustainability;
• - Staff and senior management who recognise the importance of developing
• sustainability knowledge and skills amongst business graduates. This is articulated
• through course material and promotional information;
• - MBA subject and generic outcomes or MBA graduate profiles which include
• sustainability;
• - Students are provided with the opportunity to address sustainability through their
• assignments;
• - Students’ skills are developed in areas considered important to the understanding and
• implementation of strategic change toward sustainability such as critical reflective
• thinking, systemic thinking, change management, stakeholder engagement, futures
• thinking; and
• - Extracurricular and student initiated activities such as conferences, seminars are
• offered as part of the curriculum” (Tilbury, Crawley & Berry, 2004, p.54).


Leading Edge Schools (non-Australian)
• The best performers
• Criteria: Whether sustainability is considered to be part of
graduate/exit skills and generic outcomes of the business education
program, student and industry involvement with sustainability
through the business education program, extracurricular training
etc.
• Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada;
• School of Business & Economics, University of Jyvaeskylae, Finland;
• Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, USA.
• Bainbridge Graduate Institute, USA (not a university, but awards
MBA degrees in Sustainable Business and a certificate in
Sustainable Business)
• No Australian business school is under this category.


Good Practice Business Schools
• Non-Australian:
• INSEAD, France
• Asian Institute of Management, Philippines
• Brandeis University, USA.
• Australian:
• International Graduate School of Management at the
University of South Australia
• School of Management at the Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology (RMIT) and
• Graduate School of Marine Resource Management at
the Australian Maritime College.


Acceptable Standard Schools
• Non-Australian:
• University of Wales Swansea, United Kingdom
• Instituto de Empresa, Spain.
• Australian:
• Business schools of Central Queensland University,
• the University of Canberra,
• James Cook University,
• the University of Queensland,
• the Queensland University of Technology and
• the University of Southern Queensland.


• No specialized MBA programs in sustainability in
Australia, although there were some MBA
programs with sustainability-related electives.
• 17 out 37 Australian university business school
were found to have very little or no sustainability
education.
• 3 problems:
• Shortage of sustainability-trained faculty,
• Low demand,
• and low level of interest by faculty.


• Tilbury, Crawley & Berry (2004) recommendations for Australia:
• “- Identify and build relationships with champions in the corporate sector thus providing
• a critical link between the sustainability needs of business and curriculum offerings;
• - Raise student demand and faculty support for sustainability courses;
• - Undertake a needs analysis into business requirements and expectations of MBA
• and other business graduates in the area of sustainability;
• - Provide incentives and support for MBA staff to develop their knowledge and
• skills in sustainability and education for sustainability;
• - Provide incentives and support to Business Schools to revise core courses and
• develop new optional courses to address education for sustainability:
• - Develop new resources to support integration of education for sustainability in core
• courses - in particular documenting industry case studies;
• - Develop industry partnerships that provide work placements and mentoring; and
• - Encourage integration of international experience to promote change/ research” (p.60)


3. Non-formal Sustainability Training
• The extensive role played by non-MBA providers of sustainable
education
• Australian professional sustainability training course providers:
• “Government departments and authorities (federal and state);
• Business and industry associations;
• NGOs, think-tanks and not-for-profit organisations; and
private/commercial organisations;
• Training organisations; consultants – offering training programs;
• Conference/seminar management organisations; and
• The media, including magazines and websites”
• (Tilbury, Crawley & Berry (2004, p.41).
• Government provides the highest number of sustainability training
courses.


3. Non-formal Sustainability Training
• Industrial organizations : • NGOs:
• Australian Water Association • World Wildlife Fund,
(AWA), • the Total Environment Centre,
• Waste Management • Green Skills Inc
Association of Australia, • Vox Bandicoot.
• Australian Business Council for • Training organizations and
Sustainable Energy (BSE), consultants :
• Environment Business • EcoSTEPS,
Australia (EBA)
• the Clean Air Society of • the Sustainability Centre,
Australia and New Zealand • Sustainable Learning
• the Ethical Investment Australasia,
Association. • NCS International, and
• SAI Global Assurance Services.


4. Attitudes Towards Business
Education About and For Sustainability
• The receptiveness options of higher education institutions for sustainability in
general:
• “1. Rejection.
• 2. Response to and compliance with government regulation.
• 3. Risk assessment: the increasing insurance, business and public image risks
associated with poor levels of environmental performance.
• 4. Recognition of cost savings such as reductions in energy and material use and
opportunities for recycling and transforming waste to new products.
• 5. Growing awareness of the seriousness of global and local environmental trends.
• 6. Institutional opportunity: the competitive advantage institutions see in cross-
institutional leadership in environmental performance.
• 7. Strategic sustainability: the development of comprehensive social, economic
and environmental strategies.
• 8. Full institutional commitment to the implementation of those strategies”
(Grundy, p.80).


3 Limitations of Business Education
as to Sustainability
• Specialisation vs. Integration: Sustainability as
a specialized course vs. infusing sustainability
issues into the core business subjects
• Orientation and commitment: Not all the
business schools are receptive to education
for sustainability at the same level
• “The conceptual fuzziness of sustainability”
• (Spitzeck & Siegenthaler, 2005).


Questions for Sustainability Education
in Business Schools
• “How to evaluate and monitor the integration of ESD
into business education?
• How to stimulate awareness, motivation and
commitment among faculty members and university
management?
• How to implement a stakeholder-driven cooperative
learning process towards best practice to overcome the
fuzziness of the general sustainability concept?
• And finally, how to assess the effectiveness of ESD at
business schools?” (Spitzeck & Siegenthaler, 2005, p.3).


5. What to Teach and How to Teach
• “A three- or 4.5 hour class • Self-assessment tasks,
might include • holistic approaches,
• a faculty presentation, • up-to-date curriculum
• student presentations, supported by recent case
• a role-playing activity, studies,
• a skills practice activity, • experiential and experimental
• small group feedback circles, nature of the courses,
• and dialogue about important • extra-curricular student
news items” (Stayton & engagement,
Calingo, 2008, p.7). • field practice and partnership
with external actors
• are significant contributors for
the teaching-learning
outcomes of green MBAs
(Stayton & Calingo, 2008).


5. What to Teach and How to Teach
• How to sustain green MBA programs while more overarching frameworks
such as corporate social responsibility and sustainability are getting more
popular (Stayton & Calingo, 2008).
• We don’t have an answer that would satisfy everybody. Even before that,
the assumption that we should have green MBAs rather than other forms
of sustainability education could be questioned.
• On the other hand, as the green industries are getting more and more
specialized and are in need of highly qualified staff, more green MBAs
should be opened.
• Burke (2010) questions the timing of business education for sustainable
development. According to him, the education should come earlier; as it
may be difficult to change the mindsets at adulthood. ACTE (2008) runs
high school level sustainability education programs which may prepare
MBA students for green issues beforehand. Likewise, some green courses
can be introduced into the undergraduate curriculum.


6. An Example of Greening of Business Subjects:
Green Human Resource Management
• Greening of HR stages of
• recruitment,
• performance management and appraisal,
• training and development,
• employment relations,
• pay and reward, and
• exit (Renwick, Redman & Maguire, 2008).


Green Recruitment
• The job description can specify environmental conditions of
the workplace;
• Environmental awareness, considerations and
responsibilities can be included in key selection criteria.
• From applicants’ point of view, the environmental
reputation of the company is considered as one of the
criteria to apply for the company by highly qualified recent
graduates for example in Britain.
• As a result of this finding, some companies have promoted
green campaigns not only to attract customers, but also to
differentiate themselves as ‘high-level employers’ in labor
market.


Green Performance Management and
Appraisal
• Some companies are setting ‘corporate-wide
environmental performance standards’ such as
waste management, and environmental audits
and green information systems to collect
corporate-wide data.
• Green criteria can be incorporated into
performance appraisal;
• and good green performance and practices can
be rewarded to encourage a greener course of
action.

Green Training and Development
• Recurring themes in staff training are topics such as
• waste management and reduction, energy efficiency, pollution, and
hazardous substances with regard to the area of operation.
• These are not only useful for environmental protection, but also
maximize firm’s profit in the long run by promoting efficiency and
retaining a more educated labor force.
• Many multinational corporations very well understood that green
business practices could lower costs, increase efficiency and build
up good reputation for marketing purposes.
• Environmental auditing of the operations;
• setting up an environmental committee at corporate level that
consists of HR Department members, staff and environmental
experts; and
• adding up an environmental awareness session for staff induction
program.


Green Employment Relations
• Recycling of aluminium cans in airline industry;
• Environmental attitudes surveys to identify the needs of the staff
for a greener course of action;
• Publicly rewarding staff who comes up with proactive, creative
environmental ideas;
• Encouragement of green transport options;
• A legal framework in which environmentally unfriendly practices
within the firm could be considered as a breach of contract and may
lead to dismissal;
• Encouraging staff to bring their recyclable materials to work if no
recycling option is available at home; and
• Organizing trips related to environment such as national park trips.
• Social support from management is vital for green business
practices within the firm.


Green Pay and Reward
Green Exit
• Employees can be rewarded for waste management,
• and tiny rewards can be in forms that can help
environment such as tickets for trips to a national park.
• Environmental rewarding and recognition in companies
are especially common in Nordic countries.
• At the exit stage, the staff can be informed about the
environmental issues upon their leave,
• and asked about environmental points s/he wants to
raise as a contribution to the improvement of the
company.


7. Green MBA
• Dominican green MBA focuses on 3 topics/skills:
• “- the understanding of how underlying systems work, including
ecological, social and economic systems, and the development of
critical and systemic thinking skills to make well reasoned decisions
in uncertain, often chaotic environments;
• - the team-building and other relationship skills required to lead
organizational change; and
• - the tools and methodologies that can help organizations to
steward the three capital accounts at their disposal: financial
capital, human capital, and natural capital. By nurturing and
growing all three capital accounts, organizations benefit their
shareholders, human society, and the natural world”
• (Stayton & Calingo, 2008, pp.7-8).


7. Green MBA
• Offer in green MBA is not only a green and socially
responsible curriculum; but also personal
transformation as a result of attending the program,
and a sense of community formed by e-networks,
certificates, alumni events, a newsletter and other
linked activities (Stayton & Calingo, 2008).
• Stayton & Calingo (2008): [transformation] “requires a
fundamental shift in how one perceives self, the world,
and the relationship between them. An educational
program cannot cause a personal transformation, but it
can provide an environment that supports personal
transformation, and the stimulus to catalyze it” (p.9).


8. Discussion: Future Research and
Policy Directions
• 8.1. In-service training in sustainability vs. formal education in
sustainability at school
• 8.2. Training and/or education of managers for sustainability vs. training
and/or education of environmental specialists for managerial skills
• 8.3. Educating students for green businesses (to get a job in green
businesses) vs. incorporating green issues into MBA programs
• 8.4. Sectoral MBAs vs. general MBAs
• 8.5. Sustainable management vs. sustainability of business
• 8.6. Form vs. content of the sustainability education
• 8.7. Sustainability as part of a CSR or business ethics course or module vs.
as an independent topic
• 8.8. MBA students as future decision makers vs. consumers
• 8.9. Green business by the industry vs. green business by the practices


9. Recommendations
• ‘The human development hexagon’ that consists
of university, government, NGOs, international
organizations, media and industry:
• 9.1. Recommendations for universities
• 9.2. Recommendations for governments
• 9.3. Recommendations for NGOs
• 9.4. Recommendations for international
organizations
• 9.5. Recommendations for media
• 9.6. Recommendations for industries


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