NOVA University network 5-6 May 2011

NOVA Seminar on Education for Sustainable Development in a Nordic Life Science Perspective

Sustainability a gateway in business studies Sustainability studies

Ashkan Pakseresh Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU Department Economics, Uppsala. aspa0001@stud.slu.se
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Outline
Introduction
Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

Why business studies and sustainability

General economic perspectives towards sustainability Sustainable value framework Why business and economic sustainability education

SLU, SD and business studies

Results from my thesis
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Last word

Sustainable development means improving quality of our life

Improving the quality of our life implies a change in our learning. As UNESCO s DirectorGeneral Kochiro Matsuura stresses: "Education in all its forms and at all levels Education is not only an end in itself but is also one of the most powerful instruments we have for bringing about the changes required to achieve sustainable development. (UNESCO, 2005)

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UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development

In December 2002, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the years from 2005 to 2014 the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). Stakeholders from around the world have been invited to strengthen their contribution to sustainability through a focus on education. A key part of creating a bright green world is educating today's students and younger professionals in the ideas, materials, and techniques that'll help to make it.

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Education is the engine of change

How: Promoting and improving quality education Reorienting educational programmes Building public understanding and awareness Providing practical training (UNESCO, 2005) Hence, in recent years we are witnessing the emergence of sustainability interdisciplinary programms including business studies.

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From economic perspective

There are two contradicting opinions about the effects of sustainability engagements on economic success (Schaltegger and Wagner 2006). Traditionalist view Revisionist

Traditionalist view of neoclassical economics, assume that every environmental and social activity reduces economic success due to cost increases.

Revisionist on the other hand, argue that there is a positive relationship between business practices advancing socioenvironmental objectives and business success

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Figure 1. Two contradicting economic views (Schaltegger and Wagner 2006).

Revisionist views
This positive relation is due to: Enhanced resource productivity (Porter &van der Linde 1995).
e.g. Cost reductions due to energy efficiency (e.g. Christmann, 2000)

Selling new solutions and innovations to other companies (Esty &Porter 1998).
e.g. Working as beacon to others (McElhany, 2008, 230).

Reduced costs of compliance and better margins

Competetive advantages through research on new technologies and products (Porter &van der Linde, 1995).
e.g. technology productivity or customer acquisition through the introduction of natural or organic products (e.g. Burke and Logsdon 1996; Schaltegger and Wagner 2006). The global market for fair trade products was valued at about Institutionen fr ekonomi $US 900 m in 2005.

Figure 2. Management of sustainability performance by linking environmental and social management with competitiveness and economic success (Schaltegger and Wagner 2006, 4).
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Sustainable value framework

Hart (2007, 88) defines Sustainable Value Framework with its four areas of value creation.

Figure 3. Sustainable value framework (Hart & Milstein, 2007, 88).

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SD as marketing concept
By the Brundtland Report s definition, sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987, 8). Palmer (2000) defines marketing as being about marshalling the resources of an organization so that they meet the changing needs of customers on whom the organization depends . In fact sustainable development can be seen as a marketing process.
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History of business and sustainability

year 1987 1994 Concept
Brundtland s report

Dimensions

Burtland report defined SD to signal a new paradigm of global economic development sustainable companies must have social equity, environmental preservation and economical prosperity. 10 universally accepted principles of responsible businesses in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption. 87% of Fortune 1000 CEOs believe sustainability is important to a company s profits
Value Framework with its four areas of value creation.

Elkington s TBL

2000

Kofi Annan s UN Global Compact

2005 2007 2007

PriceWaterhouseCoopers report Hart s Sustainable Value Framework McKinsey & Company report

90% corporate leaders are more committed to SD comparing 5 years ago.

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Hence
Businesses are increasingly incorporate sustainability principles in their strategies. For the business community, sustainability is more than mere window-dressing. In short short: Companies by adopting sustainable practices, can gain competitive edge, increase their market share, and boost shareholder value. What's more, the growing demand for 'green' solutions has constructed major new markets in which sharp-eyed eco-entrepreneurs are gathering rewards.

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Charter et al. (2006, 9) have argued Companies should begin to prepare for a more sustainable millennium by re-examining the social and environmental impacts of their strategies and to doing so they need educated staff. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (2006, 21), for example, argues that In order that an organization can build its sustainability credentials, an all pervading culture needs to be developed for staff to recognize opportunities and to deal with them.

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Sustainability, captures center stage at Business schools

Many business programs integrate sustainability perspectives, make their students become change agents in corporate value creation based on economic, social and environmental values. These studies provides students with the essential capabilities and outlook to build a sustainability management approach.

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Sustainability education needs

 Considering globalization and future oriented Equity opportunities  Sustainable development educations  Interdisciplinary educations

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Sustainable development means having a different vision of the world

As Bjrn Porsteinsson (NOVA annual seminar, 2010) states: internationalization of higher education is one of the ways a country responds to the impact of globalization yet, at the same time respects the individuality of the nation .

Source: Porsteinsson, B. (2010), Internationalization in higher education , powerpoint presentation page 6, NOVA annual seminar, (2010) on new strategy and "The Knowledge Triangle, Education, Research and Innovation , Selfoss, Iceland 6-7 May. Institutionen fr ekonomi

So far
In addition as First and Khetriwal (2010) point out majority of the green business studies covers the environmentally aspects of sustainability behavior and other dimensions of sustainability largely disputed. But as Lankoski (2000) states that economic performance is a multi-causal subject, and thus any causal effect on overall economic performance by a single explanatory factor (such as, for example, environmental performance) is likely to be biased. On the other hand, There is a debate on the applicability and inclusiveness of the sustainable measurement tools (Mark-Herbert and Roraius, 2010) . Regarding our project we concluded that stated the conception of green (sustainable) branding is relatively unexplored in the academic literatures. But we are witnessing the signs of emerging scholar attentions toward green business in line with stakeholder view and triple bottom line definition of Institutionen fr ekonomi sustainability.

Last word
As evidenced so far in this presentation, the severity of global issues that exist in the modern world have created enormous implications in the global business landscape. As a result, there is a clear opportunity for business schools worldwide to move beyond simply being good offering high quality education and obeying the law to doing good good. More to the point, there is a clear opportunity for the Universities to position themselves to take the lead in creating business leaders that will work to drive and shape a sustainable world. Sustainability is a gateway of business studies however, it needs to be taken to the deeper levels and covers all business sub-disciplines sub-disciplines.
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and Thank you

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References

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Mark-Herbert, C. & Rorarius, J. (2010), Tools for Corporate Assessment of Sustainable Development, in: A. Hallin, & Tina Karrbom Gustafsson, ed. 2009. Organizational Communication and Sustainable Development. ICTs for Mobility. Information Science Reference, Hershey, NY. Chapter 6, pp 100-115. McDonald, S. & Oates, C. (2006), Choosing to be sustainable: tracing complex decisions, available at: http://homepages.see.leeds.ac.uk/~leccwy/7.pdf McElhaney, Kellie A. (2008). Just Good Business; The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. NOVA annual seminar, (2010), Internationalization in higher education, page 6, presented by Bjrn orsteinsson , vice rector , Agricultural University of Iceland. Available at: http://www.novauniversity.org/page.cfm?open=92&MenySidor_id=88 Pakseresht, A. & Mark-Herbert, C. (2010), Brand equity and corporate responsibility- A review of brand valuation methods. Master thesis dissertation published in SLU University, Uppsala, 2010 with No: 629, ISSN 1401-4084. Palmer, A. (2000), Principles of Marketing, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Schaltegger, S. & Wagner, M. (2006), Managing the Business Case of Sustainability. Sustainability Performance, Competitiveness and Business Success, Sheffield: Greenleaf. SLU, website, Knowledge for a Sustainable Future: SLU in Third Place in New Ranking [published 201103-24 ], Available at: http://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/fristaende-sidor-eng/whats-on/news/2011/3/slu-inthird-place-in-new-ranking/ UNESCO, 2005, UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development , The DESD at a glance , Education for Sustainable Development (ED/PEQ/ESD), Institutionen fr ekonomi Division for the Promotion of Quality Education, France, available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-forsustainable-development/