Strategic Sustainability Systems:

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G3 GOING GREEN GLOBALLY School of Business,
University at Albany

• Strategic Sustainability Systems
• The G3 Program at the UAlbany School of Business
• Paul Miesing, Linda Krzykowski, Eliot Rich
• UAlbany School of Business

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Outline

• Comments About Sustainability in the MBA
  Curriculum
• Introduction to G3 and The G3 Compass
• The Players and Expectations
• The G3 Process and Results
• Neo-Classical View of Production vs. The System
  Dynamics Model
• Counter-Intuitive Results
• Sustainability Roadmap
• Tentative Schedule

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Comments about MBA Curricula

• Too theoretical and not practical
• Too reliant on traditional models and not
  reactive to current issues
• Cant create leader in a classroom
• Teach in the silos, not on the platforms

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Comments About Sustainability UAlbany Curriculum

• What is Sustainability?
• Why now? Is there money in it? What business
  models are sustainable?
• Sustainability problems are big and complex,
  hence require cross-discipline solutions (science
  and engineering, computer science, biology,
  public administration and policy, law)
• Key Challenge Very intensive, highly-collaborativ
  e, integrative, and time-consuming twelve-day
  activity that develops a prototype to solve an
  intractable problem
• Pedagogy Principles Critical thinking, whole
  systems thinking, manage complexity, experiential
  emphasis

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The G3 Compass
Natural Environment and Organizations (NEO)
World Without Walls (WWW)
Ethics Values, Integrity, Professionalism (VIP)

• Value Proposition
• Business Model

Strategic Sustainability Systems (SSS)
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Introduction to G3

• Integrative Cornerstone Group Project is
  important to
• MBAs
• Curriculum closure and consolidation (skills)
• Jobs! (resume, experience, internships)
• Knowledge about one of the most vital issues of
  the day
• UAlbany School of Business
• Reputation, research, funding, community outreach
• Our clients
• Value team recommendations to help them with
  sustainability and Going Green Globally
  initiatives

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The Players

• 2 Managing Partners and a Director
• 6 Consulting MBA Teams
• 6 Clients
• Team Coaches and Executive Life Lines (T-CELLs)
• Business Coach (one per team)
• Science Coaches (Profs. Delano and Haldar Nano
  PhD students)
• Research Coach (Mary VanUllen)
• Sustainability Life Line (Dr. Steven Ricci)
• Project and Energy Life Line (Dr. Jim Mahoney)
• 7 School of Business faculty members
• 13 Guest Speakers

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G3 Partnering Organizations
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G3 Clients
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G3 Baseline

• Survey of student sustainability values
• Sustainability issues
• Attitudes toward sustainability challenges
• Personal habits
• Calculate personal carbon footprint
• Fishbanks Simulations

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MBA Attitudes Toward Climate and Environmental
Issues
1Scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5
(Strongly Agree) 224 were born in the USA 22
have lived in the USA since mean 2005.1 SD
5.69 320 have had full-time work experience mean
3.0 years SD 2.68
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MBA Attitudes (Contd.)
224 were born in the USA 22 have lived in the
USA since mean 2005.1 SD 5.69 320 have had
full-time work experience mean 3.0 years SD
2.68 414 female, 21 male
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Student Expectations

• From Us
• Do expect us to be available and on call for you,
  give feedback on your presentations and papers
• but Dont expect us to always agree with each
  other
• From your T-CELLS
• Do have a designated rep, use e-mail, expect
  advice and direction, and use them
• but Dont expect answers from them
• From your Client
• Do ask for information and expect some
  availability
• but Dont expect a lot of time or for them to
  do your job for you

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Our Expectations

• From Individuals
• Do be committed, act professionally, and
  challenge yourself
• but Dont let your ego get in the way or kill
  the messenger who gives you constructive feedback
• From Your Team
• Do expect you to work hard, put in long hours,
  teamwork, and use feedback constructively
• but Dont expect any free riders
• From the Class
• Do have fun and learn a lot
• but Dont attack each other or treat this
  project as another classroom exercise

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The G3 Process

• Client sustainability projects
• Experts and Guest Speakers
• Energy, regulation, science, technology, finance
• Case Studies
• UAlbany, NYSERDA, WalMart
• Individual coaching sessions
• Team coach, Dr. Ricci, Dr. Mahoney
• 4 Presentations 2 Papers
• 100 Hours Per Person of Work
• all in 12 Days!

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G3 Results

• Client Recommendations
• Multifaceted and integrated
• Strategic management, marketing, finance, public
  policy, human resources, information technology,
  science, communications
• Ability to Deal With
• Pressure Deadlines Ambiguity Clients
  Managers Team members Coaches Multiple
  deliverables for multiple stakeholders
  Incredible amount of work

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Neo-Classical View of Production (without
feedback)
Input
Conversion
Output
Infrastructure
By-Products
Resources
Production Capital
Products
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Input
Conversion
Output
Internal and External Infrastructure
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Counter-Intuitive Results

• Fallacy of the Infinite Resource
• Superior returns based on non-renewable or
  slowly-renewing resources draws in capital
• Misleading signals to the market increases
  extraction and exploitation
• If extraction grows faster than replacement/
  renewal, market fluctuates and can collapse

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Counter-Intuitive Results (Contd.)

• Productivity Speeds Decline
• Improved extraction technology for declining
  resources speeds failure
• Less productive extraction technology preserves
  declining resources and protects from market
  disruption and side-effects until replacements
  are available
• Jevons Paradox Technological progress that
  increases the efficiency with which a resource is
  used tends to increase (rather than decrease) the
  rate of consumption of that resource

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Counter-Intuitive Results (Contd.)

• Change Occurs Precipitously and Non-Linearly
• Ability to absorb waste are uncertain
• Threshold effects upon reaching capacity can be
  dramatic
• Market can send invalid signals must understand
  the underlying system

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Counter-Intuitive Results (Contd.)

• Erroneous Forecasts
• Long delays for information
• Effects of waste take time to appear
• Uncertain and non-linear effects go unnoticed
• Oceans as carbon reservoirs
• Landfills as waste reservoirs
• Overshoots from market momentum
• Hard to reduce consumption and industry patterns
  once they are established

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Counter-Intuitive Results (Contd.)

• Correct investments in correct places ripples
  throughout the entire system
• Abundant opportunities to reduce resources for
  production processes, energy, by-products,
  transportation all of which are avoidable
  costs!
• Waste is an investment without customer value

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Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Source Peng, Global Strategy (Thomson
South-Western 2009)
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Business Sustainability Roadmap
Triple Bottom Line Stockholders,
Sustainability, Social Responsibility
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Tentative Schedule

• Pre-G3
• January Manage Expectations Clients receive
  information packet and questionnaire begin
  gathering information their team will need begin
  conversations about what an appropriate project
  might look like
• March Questionnaire due from the client
  project broadly defined and scoped out
• Early April Teams Formed Assigned clients and
  given completed client questionnaire, forms,
  information

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Tentative Schedule (Contd.)

• G3
• Friday am Kick-Off Science and Motivation
  Discussion about what consultants do
• 12-130 Student panel (last years group)
• 200-430 System Dynamics exercise
• 430-600 Teams meet clients and coaches
• Weekend Work - Work - Work on very specific,
  directive deliverables build the research
  component of final report

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Tentative Schedule (Contd.)

• G3 (contd.)
• Monday Energy
• Morning Panel discussion Speed dating
• Lunch With coaches
• Afternoon Work time Skype with J. Mahoney
• Tuesday Policy and Regulation
• Morning Panel discussion Speed dating
• Lunch With clients or tour of facilities
• Afternoon Work time Skype with S. Ricci

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Tentative Schedule (Contd.)

• G3 (contd.)
• Wednesday
• Morning Student presentations to faculty
• Noon Conference calls with coaches
• Afternoon Field Trips Members go to different
  site
• Evening Teams brief each other
• Thursday
• Morning Water and consumption/packaging panel
  Speed dating
• Afternoon Sustainability panel Speed dating

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Tentative Schedule (Contd.)

• G3 (contd.)
• Friday
• Morning Work time
• Afternoon Presentations with coaches and
  clients
• Weekend Work - Work - Work
• Monday
• Morning Presentations to faculty on client
  recommendations and 2 minute executive summary of
  white research papers (3-5 pages each)

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Tentative Schedule (Contd.)

• G3 (contd.)
• Tuesday Work Day
• Teams meet with Ricci, Mahoney, Coach, Client
• Wednesday
• Final presentations Lunch Group photos

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Our Own Continuous Improvement and Learning Loop

• Students move onto summer internships
• Growing success of G3
• We de-brief with T-Cells, Clients, faculty
• Make adjustment to the G3 system
• Plan for growth
• Begin planning for next iteration

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On-going Challenges to G3

• Evaluation of the program
• Success in the market as indicated by clients
• Success in the market as indicated by outgoing
  student placement
• Success in the market as indicated by incoming
  students
• Evaluation of student learning
• Resources
• Very resource intensive
• Resources change with G3 iterations
• Integration we live in silos, not on the
  platform
• Faculty and administrative commitment
• Reinforcement in curriculum vs. learning in a
  standalone project

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Take Aways

• Graduate MBAs who embrace holistic thinking and
  feedback
• Give students experience recognizing feedback
  structures
• Give students a template for identifying
  investments which are sustainable AND profitable
• Provide a business-realistic, challenging,
  experiential and academic program
• Recognize leadership also has long range vision
• Develop leaders who respond to Triple Bottom Line

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Questions?