Climate Change Education Preparing Future and Current Business Leaders: A Workshop Summary (2014) / Chapter Skim
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4 Current Efforts and Approaches to Incorporate Climate Change Education into Business Schools
4 Current Efforts and Approaches to Incorporate Climate Change Education into Business Schools
Pages 21-32
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From page 21... ...
CURRENT CLIMATE EDUCATION EFFORTS AT TOP BUSINESS SCHOOLS To answer the question about how top business schools are addressing climate-related issues, Sundaram, working with staff from the National Research Council, examined publicly available information from the websites of a convenience sample of 13 business schools (see Table 4-1) : • Every school addresses the topic in some fashion, either directly or under the banner of sustainability or energy.
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22 CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION: FUTURE AND CURRENT BUSINESS LEADERS TABLE 4-1 Climate Change Education-Related Activities at 13 Selective U.S. Business Schools Academic Centers Climate, Energy, Focused on or Sustainability Climate- Climate, Specializations Focused Energy, or or Dual-Degree Classes Sustainability Opportunities Harvard Business School -- Yes -- Yale School of -- Yes Dual degree Management Stanford Graduate -- Yes Dual degree School of Business Columbia Business Yes -- -- School Haas School of Business, -- Yes Yes University of California Berkeley University of Chicago, -- -- -- Booth School of Business Tuck School of Business Yes Yes Dual degree at Dartmouth College MIT Sloan School of -- Yes Yes Management Kellogg School -- -- -- of Management, Northwestern University Ross School of Business, -- Yes Dual degree University of Michigan Wharton School, -- Yes Yes University of Pennsylvania Darden School of -- Yes Yes Business, University of Virginia UCLA Anderson School -- -- Yes of Management TOTAL 5/13 spec 2/13 9/13a 4/13 dual aNone is exclusively climate-focused -- all address broader issues of environmental sustainability, with climate as a portion.
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From page 23... ...
remarked earlier that "thousands of courses that focus on social and environmental stewardship, offered by MBA programs around the world, are listed in the Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey […] Even among these, only 14 have ‘climate change,' ‘global warming,' or ‘carbon' in their titles, and these are mainly electives that reach only a small fraction of students." Sundaram provided a closer analysis of the two courses that explicitly address climate change: his own course at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College entitled "Business and Climate Change" and a course at the Columbia Graduate School of Business titled "Carbon Finance." The goals for the Business and Climate Change course include • developing awareness of climate change and the opportunities/ challenges it presents for leaders of shareholder value-maximizing businesses; • understanding the emerging "climate economy" and what it means to a company, its industry, and the global economy; and
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He then provided a brief analysis of two other courses, one at Harvard and one at the University of Michigan, that include climate change within the larger context of environmental concern, resources, or sustainability. The goal for Harvard Business School's "Environmentally Sustainable Strategy and Operations" course overall is to help students judge company effectiveness by • understanding or navigating strategic and operational challenges posed by problems like climate change and water shortages, as well as emerging regulatory threats and activist pressures; • identifying how these issues provide opportunities for competi tive advantage by increasing revenues, reducing costs, mitigating risks, and raising rivals' costs; and • learning how to respond to growing demands from buyers, inves tors, and activists for greater transparency and accountability for the environmental impacts of their companies' operations and supply chains.
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. The latter FIGURE 4-1 Relationship between course design and student experience in addressing climate change at business schools.
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of those quadrants might best address the needs and specific goals of a particular business school, he explained, will vary by local conditions. Sundaram closed by reflecting on what seems a common trajectory for addressing cross-cutting concepts in business schools, such as globalization, the digital economy, or business ethics, and he predicted that climate change would go through a similar transition.
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From page 27... ...
Organized in a similar way as the established Global Initiative, Entrepreneurship Initiative, and Leadership Initiative, it received instant recognition within HBS. The initiative focuses on developing and making available free online resources, such as environment-oriented cases, or entire course modules for 4-6 weeks of course material.
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From page 28... ...
Hoffman stated that it would be "deadly" to frame the relationship between climate change and business as corporate social responsibility. Instead, climate change and sustainability are taught at his university as shifting markets, consumer demand, operational efficiency, compliance, etc., in other words, core concepts that are at the heart of a business school education.
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CLIMATE CHANGE AS PART OF BROADER SUSTAINABILITY, OR AS A SEPARATE TOPIC? Hoffman asked the panel about the pros and cons of addressing climate change directly versus under a broader framework, such as sus
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Responding to a workshop participant's question, the panel speculated that interest in climate and sustainability might be highest among undergraduates and lowest in participants who attend executive programs. MBA students may wonder about the payoff in learning about climate change, and PhD students might worry about their professional identity and their chances on the academic job market.
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From page 31... ...
Some called for basic understanding in order to locate business decisions within the context of climate change, while others pointed out that a more in-depth understanding of climate science might not be necessary, particularly when this expertise and knowledge can be brought in through collaboration and cooperation. For example, Hoffman wondered whether a company that produces electric vehicles needs to understand climate change or would be better off with a deep appreciation of market fundamentals to succeed.
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