Syllabus: Foundations for Sustainable Enterprise

In this course we examine environmental and social challenges that arise as a result of how businesses and organizations interact with their natural environment. From a managerial standpoint we explore national and international implications of business\u27 and governments\u27 responses to these challenges. Can businesses contribute to the shift towards a more sustainable future? We analytically consider both supporting and opposing answers to this question. We learn about drivers of sustainability initiatives adopted by organizations and become familiar with current debates related to sustainability among business thought leaders. Finally, we look at the challenges of adopting sustainability strategies by organizations, learn to critically analyze them and effectively communicate the results of our analyses

Leveraging A Lenient Category in Practicing Responsible Leadership: A Case Study

AbstractIn this extended case study, we examine how business leaders translate a responsible leadership mindset into practice. By studying the leadership team and stakeholders of a large US college dining provider, we found that organization executives leverage the lenient market category of local food to successfully connect with and satisfy the interests of different stakeholder groups. We show that lenient categories, those with ambiguity and unclear boundaries, could be used by organizations as strategic devices to integrate the diverse needs of their stakeholders and foster positive stakeholder relationships. Based on our findings, we develop a theoretical model to illustrate how responsible leaders take advantage of meaning structures of the market category they have adopted to achieve both financial and social benefits for a broad range of stakeholders.</jats:p

Institutional settlement and the adoption of sustainable Technologies: The case of biofuels

This paper examines the institutional factors that determine the adoption of environmentally friendly technologies, drawing upon the example of the nascent renewable energy industry of biofuels. One of such factors cited in the economic and organization literature is corruption. We argue that the political power of the actors and the institutional settlement in the field between politically powerful actors plays a more important role in influencing the adoption of environmentally friendly technologies than the level of corruption. Methodologically, the paper combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, using qualitative evidence from Ukraine and Germany, it explores the role that corruption in a country plays in adopting environmental policies. In the quantitative stage of the analysis, it uses country level data to test whether corruption is a confounding variable for the adoption of alternative energy sources, and if the use of alternative fuels is associated with the level of institutional settlement among the dominant players. The findings suggest that the power of institutional actors in initiating and promoting institutional change has a greater impact on the introduction and diffusion of environmental policies than the level of corruption in a society