FRANK G. ZARB SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Report
Dr. Janet A. Lenaghan Dean
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Zarb Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Report Sustainable business is an emerging area of interest and the Zarb School believes we can be a market leader in the area. As such, we plan to incorporate sustainable thinking into our curriculum and integrate green standards into our business plan giving us an overall competitive advantage.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES RELATED TO SUSTAINABILITY AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Student awareness of ethical and social responsibility issues is a key stated learning goal in both the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. The ethics goal states, “each student will demonstrate awareness of the ethical and the social responsibility issues in business.” In 2014, a second objective was added: “Each student will identify stakeholders and their conflicting values in the situation presented to them.” A summer internship program was established at AstraZeneca in Johannesburg, South Africa. This internship blends a global internship with corporate social responsibility. Previously, students worked on a program to increase breast cancer detection and treatment in underserved African communities. Under the advisement of Dr. Edward Zychowicz, Josh Metzler presented an honors thesis entitled “Sustainable Investing in the 21st Century: What are ESG Factors and How Do They Interact With Corporate Success?” to the Department of Finance, in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with Honors. The new 52,000-square-foot business school building, opened in December 2018, was designed and built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification standard, with the United States Green Building Council. The Business Building includes parking support for sustainable transportation including electric charging stations and priority/reserved parking for hybrid vehicles.
CURRICULUM / RESEARCH / CONFERENCES
Augmented business ethics-related materials were added to BBA 100, a required course for all undergraduate business majors, laying a more robust foundation at the outset of students’ business studies. The fortification of the business ethics component in this firstyear sensitizes students to essential concerns as they move into higher-level coursework. • Sustainability was added to the BBA 100 course culminating with an address by Steve DePalo, McDonald’s Director of Sustainability. Student understanding of ethics and social responsibility is periodically assessed in several required courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Additions to the curriculum include the following courses:
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MGT 157F: Sustainability for Business Innovation Course Description: Through this course students will develop a holistic view of sustainability as a core business strategy. They will understand how to identify actionable solutions that meet the scale of the challenge’s businesses face in current society. Further, students will be able to articulate the role of business in addressing societal challenges. By the end of the course students will be able to clearly propose integrated bottom line business solutions. MGT 228: Organizational Strategy for Sustainability Course Description: This course presents theory and practice related to organizational strategy for sustainability. It frames ecological and economic sustainability as strategic imperatives, and explores sustainability policies, decisions and actions in all aspects of the organization, including product and/or service development, supply chain, production, delivery, and disposal or recycling. Using action-based strategy as a background, the sustainability practices of many organizations are explored and critically assessed in terms of their pragmatic value. Innovations for sustainability in products and services are explored in light of current literature on organizational strategy. MKT 257A: Sustainable Marketing Course Description: Marketing Sustainability is a concept of growing importance in marketing and business. Based on ideas of environmental and social sustainability, sustainable marketing seeks to meet the needs of the current generation while recognizing the longer-term needs of society. This course develops the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully market sustainable products and services. At the end of the course students will be able to understand the key elements of developing a successful marketing strategy and branding approach for a sustainable marketing offering. The course also reviews global trends and issues that influence sustainable product success. HUHC 021E: Sustainable Investing Course Description: The course provides an overview of sustainable investing as an investment discipline that considers environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria to achieve the twin objectives of long-term competitive returns and positive societal impact. Sustainable investing aims to identify investment opportunities that augment financial returns with the potential to make progress in addressing global challenges such as environmental degradation, social inequality and negligent business practices. The historical development, current practices and emerging trends in sustainable investing are surveyed. Coverage is provided of approaches to implementing sustainable investing such as ESG integration, impact investing and socially responsible investing (SRI) screening. ACCT 124: Financial Accounting Theory and Practice II Course Description: Study of US and international accounting theory and procedures and the special problems that arise in the application of underlying accounting concepts to financial accounting. Focus on the application of accounting information as a basis for decisions by management, stockholders, creditors, and other users of financial statements and accounting reports. Conflicts and shortcomings that exist Frank G. Zarb School of Business – Page 3
within the traditional structures of accounting theory, including ethical aspects, are also discussed. o As part of this course, students will be assigned a series of articles to read relating course topics to sustainable accounting initiatives. Students will independently find examples of companies producing sustainability reports. The final deliverable will be a written assignment due at the end of the semester. • FIN 101: Introduction to Finance, Financial Markets and Institutions Course outline includes NEW DEVELOPMENTS: FINTECH, CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY Instructors may incorporate these topics along with different chapters as covered in the course. a. …The course instructor, at his/her discretion, may refer the students to different links. b. A demonstration and discussion of the CSR Index, available through yahoo finance and/or other sites at the instructor’s discretion. • FIN 110: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance Course outline includes NEW DEVELOPMENTS: FINTECH, CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY Instructors may incorporate these topics along with different chapters as covered in the course. a. Related to fintech. b. Related to CSR and Sustainability Integrating Sustainability Into Capital Markets – Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol 25 number 3. • FIN 203: Managerial Finance Course outline includes NEW DEVELOPMENTS: FINTECH, CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY Instructors may incorporate these topics along with different chapters as covered in the course. a. Related to fintech b. Related to CSR and Sustainability Integrating Sustainability Into Capital Markets – Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol 25 number 3. CFO Research Services in collaboration with Jones Lang LaSalle. (2010). “The Role of Finance in Environmental Sustainability Efforts”. Accessible at: V. Kasturi Rangan, Lisa Chase, and Sohel Karim. (2015). “The Truth About CSR”. Accessible at: https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-truth-about-csr. c. A demonstration and discussion of the CSR Index, available through yahoo finance and/or other sites at the instructor’s discretion Faculty continue to engage in research articles in sustainability with topics ranging from economics to organizational change. The Center for Financial Services and Markets, which promotes faculty and student study in the global marketplace, hosted a program on “The State of Sustainable Investing” in fall 2017. The program featured Cary Steven Krosinksy, author, lecturer, and advisor on the Frank G. Zarb School of Business – Page 4
theory and practice of sustainable investing. Mr. Krosinksy was also a lecturer at Brown University and Yale University as well as editor for The Journal of Environmental Investing and Co-Founder and Director of Carbon Tracker and Real Impact Tracker. In fall 2016, the Center for Financial Services and Markets hosted “A Symposium on Sustainable Business” that brought together faculty, students and industry experts to examine emerging trends in environmentally conscious reporting, compliance, and investing. The keynote speakers were Steve Lyndenberg, founder and CEO of The Investment Integration Project, and Catherine Banat, portfolio manager, impact investing, RBC Global Asset Management. (see attached flyer and program)
PLANNED ACTIVITIES RELATED TO SUSTAINABILITY AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
EMBA course in Sustainability in Business being incorporated in curriculum. Development of courses in “Global Sustainability in Europe” for spring 2021. Faculty discussing moving toward a policy to manage document production instead of relying on technology to provide students access to information. The Department of Management and Entrepreneurship is no longer printing course syllabi. In conjunction with the Plant Department, Zarb is creating a monitoring system to show sustainability efforts within the LEEDS certified Business School Building.
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DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING, TAXATION AND LEGAL STUDIES IN BUSINESS Journal Article, Academic Journal – Vogel, Glen M. “Public Sector Corporate Social Responsibility.” Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy 84. 2018 (2018): 6214. DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND BUSINESS ANALYTICS Journal Article, Academic Journal (Revising to Resubmit) - Affisco, John F., Javad Paknejad, and Farrokh Nasri. "ENVIRONMENTAL AND SETUP COST REDUCTION IN THE SUSTAINABILITY-ADJUSTED JELS MODEL." Conference Proceeding (Published) - Affisco, John F., Javad Paknejad, and Farrokh Nasri. Environmental Cost and Setup Reduction in the SustainabilityAdjusted JELS Model. Northeast Decision Sciences Institute, 2015. Journal Article, Academic Journal (Submitted) - Affisco, John F., Javad Paknejad, and Farrokh Nasri. "Environmental and Setup Cost Reduction in the SustainabilityAdjusted JELS Model." International Journal of Production Economics. Conference Abstract (Published) - Affisco, John F., Javad Paknejad, and Farrokh Nasri. Synergy in the JELS Model with Sustainability. Decision Sciences Institute, 2014. DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Journal Article, Academic Journal (Published) - Flynn, Dave. "Sustainability and Agriculture." Archives of Business Research 6. 8 (2018): 148-164. Journal Article, Academic Journal (Published) - Flynn, Dave. "Making Fish Culture Sustainable." Archives of Business Research 5. 2 (2017): 147-162. Journal Article, Academic Journal (Published) - Flynn, Dave. "Sustainable Rice Culture in Asia." World Journal of Social Science 2. 2 (2015): 14-26. Journal Article, Academic Journal (Published) - Flynn, Dave. "Sustainable Development and Water Resource Scarcity." Archives of Business Research 2. 5 (2014): 12-28. Conference Proceeding (Published) - Flynn, Dave. Sustainability and Farming. 2018. Conference Proceeding (Published) - Flynn, Dave. Sustainable Development and Palm Oil Production. Proceedings of the Pan Pacific Business Association, 2017. Conference Proceeding (Published) - Flynn, Dave. Making Fish Culture Sustainable. 2016. Conference Proceeding (Published) - Flynn, Dave. Making Sushi and Other Fish Culture Sustainable. 2015. Journal Article, Professional Journal (Published) - Martorana, Paul V. and Charles H. Smith. "The Pattern in Jade: The Vision of Possibility and Challenge of a Sustainable Future." World Futures 74. 2 (2018): 104-115. Journal Article, Academic Journal (Published) - Martorana, Paul V. and Charles H. Smith. "Cultivating The Sage’s Creative Vision: Insights from Perennial Wisdom on Approaching Organizational Change and Sustainability." Journal of Corporate Citizenship 2016. 62 (2016): 78-92.
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Working Paper (In Preparation; Not Yet Submitted) - Nikbakht, Ehsan and Martorana V. Paul. A Sustainability Focus Improves Corporate Performance During Crises. Journal Article, Professional Journal (Published) - Martorana, Paul V. and Charles H. Smith. "The Pattern in Jade: The Vision of Possibility and Challenge of a Sustainable Future." World Futures 74. 2 (2018): 104-115. Journal Article, Academic Journal (Published) - Martorana, Paul V. and Charles H. Smith. "Cultivating The Sage’s Creative Vision: Insights from Perennial Wisdom on Approaching Organizational Change and Sustainability." Journal of Corporate Citizenship 2016. 62 (2016): 78-92. DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Conference Proceeding (Published) - Gong, Junxue and Songpol Kulviwat. The Influence of Social Networking for SMEs on Improving Social CRM. San Francisco, CA: American Marketing Association Summer Educators’ Conference; Innovation & Sustainability in Marketing, 2017.
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