Principle 3 | Method

We will create educational frameworks, materials, processes and environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership.

Through a combination of new coursework and existing classes, Haworth College of Business students are exposed to curricula aimed at enhancing their attitudes and abilities in the area of responsible management.

Responsible management

BUS 4500: Business Ethics and Sustainability

The Haworth College of Business is the only college at Western Michigan University to require a sustainability class for all of its majors. The first cohort enrolled in the class during the Fall 2015 semester. In 2017/18 academic year, 576 students were enrolled in a section of BUS 4500. The class includes a mix of case studies, service-learning, and guest lectures by sustainability professionals. In addition to reviewing ethical theories, the class focuses on all three triple bottom line components exposing students to ways business can be a force for good.

BUS 3960/6960, India: Sustainability in the Developing World

This study abroad experience is distinctive at WMU for several reasons. First, it is the only trip to India and is the only study abroad focused on sustainability. Also, it is WMU’s only interdisciplinary study abroad. In addition to serving our business students, the course is cross-listed in WMU’s College of Health and Human Services (IPE 3050/6050) as Social Justice in India.

The course includes a combination of site visits to leading Indian multinational firms as well as NGOs delivering services to India’s most marginalized populations. On any given day we might be meeting in an executive board room hearing about a firm’s CSR and sustainability commitments, and following that with a visit to an urban slum hearing from women in a self-help group discussing social enterprise initiatives. The two week trip includes a week in Bengaluru and a week in either north India (Delhi) or south India (Cochin).

MGMT 3500: Managing Diversity

The aim of this course is to inform students on managing an increasingly diverse U.S. workforce. Issues such as gender, age, race, religion and disability are examined as they relate to effective human resource management. Students are challenged with a project in which they act as the human resource manager for a Michigan bank with approximately 1,000 diverse employees. Students are asked to advise the bank on effective programs for supporting employee resource groups.

ACTY 3990: Sustainability Accounting

Accounting information forms the basis for evaluating the ability of an organization to address current business needs, successfully develop a long-term strategy and manage risk for all products, systems, supply chains, and processes to preserve resources for future generations. Sustainability-specific topics include short-term budgeting and control for economic sustainability; evaluation of sustainable projects using capital budgeting and simulations; short-term sustainable decision making during the entire product life cycle; mandatory accounting and reporting of environmental contingencies in the United States and internationally; activity based and life cycle costing of sustainable operations. Conventional cost and management accounting concepts are discussed, with a focus on sustainability issues.

MKTG 3330: Sustainability Marketing

This course in an introduction to the role of sustainability marketing in the Michigan, U.S. and global economies. Emphasis within this course is on how organizations create customer value, social value and environmental value through strategically driven marketing action. Topics covered include buyer and consumer behavior, market segmentation, product planning, service quality, promotion, pricing, and managing channel relationships all within the framework of sustainability.  At the completion of the course, students should be able to speak the language (know core marketing concepts and terms as they relate to sustainability); see the forest (how sustainability has become key to understanding how marketing interacts with business environments); and the trees (become familiar with the four P’s and other marketing concepts to learn how marketers use this knowledge to make sustainability decisions); think like a sustainability marketer (understand how a marketing professional with a sustainability emphasis would approach business decisions).

MGMT 3120: Sustainability Operations

This course provides students with an understanding of the design, implementation, management and continuous improvement of sustainable operations. It provides frameworks, tools and techniques for making short and long term sustainable operations decisions that are consistent with the business strategy of the organization. Topics covered may include: corporate social responsibility; triple bottom line management; sustainable operations challenges and opportunities; environmental legislation and regulation; ISO 14000 and ISO 26000; closed-loop supply chains; life cycle assessment; sustainable product and process design; lean systems; quality management; remanufacturing, reduce, reuse and recycle processes; LEED certification; operations ethics; and the measurement and communication of sustainable operations performance.

BUS 3960: Study Abroad in Thailand

Dr. Thaweephan Leingpibul leads WMU business students on a short term study abroad to Thailand. While there, the group visits different royal projects to learn about creating business for people with limited opportunity. In 2017 and 2018, the trip again included a visit to the coffee village at Chaingmaihich which is a showcase for the production of organic coffee. The trips in 2017 and 2018 also included a sustainability project at the Koh Yao Fisherman village in southern Thailand. This eco-cultural business shows students how villagers sustain the mangrove forest and maintain the traditional fisherman lifestyle to help promote cultural tourism and home stay operation, which significantly helps contribute to their income during the monsoon season. 

 

Sustainability topics embedded in other courses 

LAW 3800: Legal Environment

An introduction to the legal environment in society is provided. An examination of the role of law in society, the structure of the American legal system and the basic legal principles governing individual conduct.

In spring 2018, sections of the class were introduced to Aaron Phelps, a partner at Varnum whose practice has focused on complex commercial and environmental litigation. Phelps shared his experiences as a litigator for a variety of cases, including his current representation of Rockford, Mich. area residents in lawsuits against Wolverine Worldwide associated with groundwater contamination. Phelps has a strong background in the environmental area, having represented clients in a variety of matters, including air permit disputes, civil enforcement proceedings and contested case hearings. He has prosecuted appeals of permit denials and successfully challenged MDEQ rules as unconstitutional.

MGMT 6170: Leading People and Organizations

This course is designed to promote our MBA students with an understanding of human behavior and assist them in developing their leadership skills. The course helps students discover methods to enhance human performance and promote sustained organizational success.

In fall 2017, Dr. Melissa Intindola partnered teams of MBA students with leaders of area nonprofit organizations who needed help with specific strategic challenges. Students learned from these professionals about running organizations with limited resources. Topics that were addressed included employee selection and retention, fundraising, and cultural challenges. Student assistance was provided to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Aacorn (providing life enrichment opportunities and residential options for adults with developmental disabilities), the YWCA, and the Recovery Institute of Southwest Michigan.

Interdisciplinary Sustainability Simulation, “CATCH”

Catch is an online systems dynamics simulation game. The present form was developed by a large interdisciplinary team led by two faculty members, Dr. Harold Glasser, professor of environmental and sustainability studies, and Dr. Alan Rea, professor of business information systems. The team is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students from computer science, design, environmental studies and information systems. Catch has been presented at various conferences and gatherings such as the Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for Education for Sustainability Development, the 9th World Environmental Education Congress and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education conference. With the help from colleagues around the globe, the game materials have been translated into French, German, Mandarin, Simple Chinese and Spanish.

Catch simulates individual and collective management of a generic "common pool" renewable natural resource over a 10-year period. The game is played with 3-6 "companies" of 2-20 players each. The players act as fishing companies, which operate on the Cape of Good Hope. Gameplay is guided by a game manager who provides the rules, runs the game simulation and the browser-based interface, and leads the post-game debrief. The debrief combines data and figures generated from the gameplay, information from the scientific and policy literature, and insight from the game observers to support a sophisticated, inquiry-based conversation on the management of renewable natural resources.

A standard Catch game session requires approximately 3 hours to introduce, play and debrief. At the end of each game session, game managers are provided with interactive charts and downloadable PDFs, which document game decisions, the capital accumulated by each company, and the state of the fishery over time. These materials enable the players to use data to explore the effects of their assumptions and strategies; discuss both the experience of being confronted with a multi-faceted goal and what it means for them to "win;" refine their understanding of limits, equity, and the role ecosystem services, and much more. Because of these broad intersections, the Catch debrief can be tailored to a diverse array of learning objectives and environments. Ultimately, Catch helps governments, universities, and other organizations address the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4, quality education.

MGMT 2800: Introduction to Supply Management

This course introduces the integrated/cross-functional core concepts of supply chains from product/service development and launch through customer service and redemption. The primary focus is on critical analysis and the decision-making tools necessary to develop and manage supply chains that deliver customer requirements and contributes to the organization's overall competitive advantage. Dr. Sime Curkovic’s sections of the class have a heavy emphasis on creating sustainable supply chains. He exposes students to issues associated with globalization, health and wellness, and human trafficking.

MGMT 4360:Technology Entrepreneurship

This course provides students with a unique understanding of how technology-focused firms are created and technologies are commercialized. Topics include intellectual property, technological convergence, industry creation, technology standards, modularity and technology strategy.

As part of the class, instructor Barcley Johnson traveled to the San Francisco bay area in spring 2017 with a competitively selected e²Team of 13 students. The trip included an intensive immersion with successful WMU alumni along with attending the Lean Startup Conference, featuring sessions on sustainability. 

While in California, the students were also able to visit the startup Juice Beauty, an innovator in sustainability and environmental responsibility, founded by Bronco alumna Karen Behnke. Juice Beauty is an environmentally responsible cosmetic and hair product company based in northern California.

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