Strategic Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Overview

Effective business leadership and management in the 21st century requires a thorough understanding of the important social and environmental responsibilities and opportunities that are emerging in today’s global, transparent, and natural resource-constricted market. 

This Short Course will help you understand how sustainability and social responsibility issues are relevant for your business, and assist you in crafting strategies that focus on creating financial, environmental and social value for your organisation. 

Specifically, the Short Course will address the following key questions:

• What are the core issues behind “environmental sustainability” and “social responsibility” (CSR)?
• How can businesses utilise a “lens of sustainability and CSR” to drive innovation and strategy?
• How do you measure sustainability performance?
• How can your business strategically report and message sustainability and CSR to its key stakeholders?

Topics Covered

Over the two days of the Short Course, we will cover the following:

Foundational Points (Discussion)
Definition of environmental sustainability
Definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Sustainability & CSR Strategy (HBR Business Cases)
Harvard Business Review: Why Sustainability is Now the Key Driver of Innovation
(Nidumolu, Prahlahad, Rangaswami)
HBR Spotlight: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility (Porter, Kramer)

Value Chain Analytical Model (Stanford Case Study)
Stanford Social Innovation Review: The Greening of Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart: Sustainability Videos & Sustainability Supplier Assessment Scorecard

Value Chain Analytical Model - Applicable to NZ Business Community
Review and discussion of 1-2 business cases/case studies particular to New Zealand/Australia

Constructing a Model for Your Company
Apply the value chain analytical model to your organisations.
You will work in teams to construct the value chain for your organisation.

Who should attend

• Small, Mid-sized Business Owners
• Large Business Presidents, Executives
• VP, Director, Managers of Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing, Human Resources
• Innovation, Change Management specialists
• Sales, Procurement professionals engaged in foreign markets

Outcomes

• Construction of the “triple bottom line” - financial, environmental, social metrics to drive strategic decision making
• Value Chain Map: Construction of the “value chain” analytical model based upon HBR cases
• Construction of the value chain for Wal-Mart, based upon case study, video and scorecard
• Construction of the value chain for of 1-2 business cases/case studies. You will work in teams to construct the value chain for your organisation then present to the class for feedback. The value chain will provide an end product that you can take back to your organisation for further honing and implementation.