Redefining Good Business: Spring 2008



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MORE NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Haas Ranks #1 in CSR on Financial Times Global MBA 2008 List

 

Financial Times

The Haas School was ranked #1 in corporate social responsibility in the Financial Times Global MBA 2008 Rankings of full-time MBA programs published on January 28. This is the first time in the seven years of the annual survey the top ten programs by academic discipline were identified. Inclusion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the FT's top academic discipline list signifies its rapidly growing visibility and importance in the business world.

 

“We have been fortunate to receive some great recognition for our Center. This FT rating catapults us out into the global CSR-leadership stage and makes us more proud than ever of the Center's faculty, staff, and, most importantly, our Haas MBA students – who have continued to drive us forward with their intense desire to use the power of business to make a better world," said Kellie McElhaney, executive director and professor at the Haas School's Center for Responsible Business.


Coupled with the recent #2 ranking in CSR by The Wall Street Journal for the second consecutive year, the Haas School is leading business education in CSR teaching, research, and experiential learning opportunities for students, which is offered through the Center for Responsible Business. The Center works closely with a host of companies - including Gap Inc., Hewlett-Packard, McDonald's, Intel, eBay, and Levi Strauss - on strategic consulting engagements, research projects, case competitions, and fellowship opportunities.


Adds McElhaney, “We are honored that a reputable global publication such as the Financial Times now counts corporate social responsibility among its substantive fields of recognition within MBA rankings, solidifying its place among good business strategy.”


The trend article, "Making an impact", which focused on career opportunities in CSR and sustainability, also acccompanied the rankings. The article highlighted the increasing number of MBA graduates who are looking for jobs that exhibit at least an element of corporate social responsibility. The trend – a 37 per cent increase per year in the number of postings for CSR jobs since 2004 – is reflected in recent research by Net Impact and Ellen Weinreb CSR Recruiting, both based in the US.


In addition to placing #1 for corporate social responsibility, the Haas School also ranked #4 for entrepreneurship and #5 for information technology. The school placed #15 for top American business schools.


The FT rankings are based on data collected from two main sources: alumni and business schools. A total of 156 business schools were included in the rankings, and this year an online questionnaire was sent to more than 23,000 members of the graduating class of 2004 from each school. The FT always surveys graduates three years after they have completed the degree, to assess the effect of the MBA on their subsequent career progression and salary growth.


For complete rankings, visit http://www.ft.com/businesseducation/globalmba2008

 

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Sustainability Projects Receive $2 Million


UC Berkeley LogoTwenty-three projects aimed at helping humans live more sustainably - including a new MBA fellowship - have been granted a total of $2 million through the newly launched, interdisciplinary Sustainable Products and Solutions (SPS) Program at UC Berkeley. In the first round of project funding, the SPS Program received overwhelming interest from UC Berkeley master's and doctoral students, who submitted proposals that cumulatively sought three times the available funds.


Based at the Haas School's Center for Responsible Business, the SPS program was developed in partnership with the College of Chemistry. The SPS program was created to administer and grow a $10 million, five-year gift from The Dow Chemical Co. Foundation to provide students and faculty across campus with educational and research opportunities focused on sustainability.


One project that won funding will create a new fellowship for Berkeley MBA students to help members from the other winning teams develop viable business plans to bring their products to market. A new course will be created in the spring to support the MBA fellowship program. Haas Associate Professor Catherine Wolfram and Adjunct Professor Andrew Isaacs, co-executive directors of the Center for Energy and Environmental Innovation, will teach the course.


"This program gives us the opportunity to fund seminars, student competitions, research, internships, field projects, and fellowships that will help graduate students bridge research, theory, and practice in sustainability," says Kellie McElhaney, executive director of the Center for Responsible Business and program director for the SPS Program.


Darfur Stoves Project Other winning projects include cost-effective water purification and hygiene technologies, renewable fuels, and new courses and seminars on sustainability. Three projects focus on distributing efficient cook stoves in China, Senegal, and Darfur. The stoves, developed at Berkeley, offer environmental benefits and save lives by decreasing the time women and children spend gathering wood in dangerous areas.

 

The 23 winners received grants ranging between $4,000 and $150,000 each.


"Our intent is to do something like this annually, and to get other foundations engaged as well," says Tony Kingsbury, executive-in-residence at the Center for Responsible Business' Sustainable Products and Solutions Program.


Proposals were required to be interdisciplinary, account for all aspects of the life cycle of the product or solution, and help solve global sustainability challenges. Students from more than a dozen schools and departments on campus submitted projects.


Funding decisions were made by a steering committee of faculty across campus. The Dow Chemical Co. is not involved in the SPS program's decision-making nor does it have any rights to the research. All research funded by the program will be the property of UC Berkeley.


For more information about the funded projects, visit http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/responsiblebusiness/SPSProgramProjects.htm


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Haas SRI Fund Starts Trading with $1 Million Gift

 

Haas SRI Fund TeamThe Haas School's new socially responsible investment fund started trading this spring, thanks to a $1 million donation from Haas alumnus Al Johnson, BS 1962 and MBA 1969, and his wife, Marguerite.

 

Launched in September 2007 with a $250,000 gift from Haas School alumnus Charlie Michaels, BS 1978, and his wife, Doris, the Haas Socially Responsible Investment (HSRI) Fund is managed by a team of Haas MBA and Master's in Financial Engineering (MFE) students in consultation with an investment advisory committee and Haas faculty. Alumnus Larry Johnson, BS 1972, also gave $75,000 to support the fund.

 

The six inaugural principals of the Fund - Margot Kane, Michael Pearce, Clayton Schloss, and Elizabeth Singleton, all full-time MBA 2008, and financial engineering students Ambuj Chaudhary and Lance Durham, MFE 2008 - have worked tirelessly to take the Fund from concept to launch in just nine short months. They set-up operations and a governance structure, established research relationships, and executed their first trades in April.

 

The HSRI Fund is the first student-run investment fund at Haas and the first student-run, socially responsible investment fund at a leading business school. It exposes students interested in corporate social responsibility or finance to the investing world's complexities, challenges, and rewards.

 

Dedicated supporters of UC Berkeley, the Johnsons are very active in the UC Berkeley campus community and Al is currently a trustee on the UC Berkeley Foundation.

 

"The Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund struck me as a very interesting approach to investing because it's not just about the bottom line," says Johnson, a general partner with WTI Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif. "The fund also looks at companies' social responsibility in addition to financial characteristics. In many respects, the fund combines Marguerite's passion for social welfare and my passion of business."

 

"The goal is to provide long-term, positive absolute returns while adhering to predetermined social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance guidelines," says Michael Pearce. "Investment decisions will be made based on both traditional financial and business evaluation criteria as well as detailed socially responsible investment criteria."

 

This spring, the six principals selected their successors - first-year MBAs, Matt Blair, Ben Biddle, Limiano Chang, Megha Doshi, Mike Lee, and Brandon Purcell - and incorporated them into the Fund’s operations. These new principals bring diverse experiences in equity trading, hedge fund research, SRI research, social impact measurement consulting, and Peace Corps volunteer work to the table. They take over management of the Fund this month and will soon identify three new MFEs students to join them on the management team.

 

"It is my fervent desire to invest in companies that improve the lives of the world's poor, the so-called bottom-of-the-pyramid," says Lance Durham. "Through the Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund, I can investigate and invest in firms that serve these people. I am extraordinarily enthusiastic about it."

 

To download a copy of the Haas SRI Fund's first annual report, click here (Requires Adobe Acrobat).

 

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Clean Energy Dominates 2008 Global Social Venture Competition

 

MicroEnergy Credits Corp.A plan to make clean energy affordable around the world to poor, rural households without access to electricity won the grand prize at the 2008 Global Social Venture Competition on April 18 at the Haas School of Business.

 

The winning team, MicroEnergy Credits Corporation (MECC) from Columbia Business School in New York, received the $25,000 cash prize.

 

The MicroEnergy plan is to tap the $30 billion carbon emissions cap-and-trade markets to make energy-efficient resources such as solar electric lighting, efficient cook stoves, and local bio-gas cooking fuel accessible and affordable to poor households. To make these investments possible, the team is working with existing microfinance institutions already operating in the rural communities around the world that are off the electric grid.

 

Founded by Berkeley MBA students in 1999, the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) promotes the creation and growth of new ventures whose financial and social goals are key elements of their business plan. Each competing team must have at least one MBA student from an accredited business school on its management team.

 

In addition to Haas, the competition counts Columbia Business School, London Business School, Indian School of Business and Yale School of Management as partners. Thammasat University in Thailand and ESSEC Business School in France joined the University of Geneva and a consortium of business schools in Korea called Social Venture Competition Korea this year as outreach partners. The GSVC is co-sponsored by the Center for Responsible Business and the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Haas School.

 

All three of this year's winners are promoting clean energy concepts.

 

The second place award, along with a $10,000 cash prize, went to Bio Power Technology, which uses agricultural waste to create electricity. The team comes from Prasetiya Mulya Business School in Indonesia.

 

BioVolt, a team from MIT's Sloan School of Management, won third place and a $5,000 cash prize. It has developed a microbial fuel cell to bring low-cost, clean, renewable energy generation to off-grid rural, remote customers worldwide.

 

The Social Impact Assessment prize of $5,000 went to SMART, short for Sustainable Marine Adventures and Responsible Tourism. The team from the Thammasat University in Thailand was recognized for presenting the most innovative and rigorous analysis of their venture's potential social and/or environmental impacts.

 

This year's Global Social Venture Competition celebrated the preliminary round entry of a record 245 teams from 23 countries, up from 160 teams last year.

 

Sponsors include Omidyar Network, which gave a $300,000 gift last year to support the competition for three years; Goldman Sachs Foundation; Hewlett-Packard; and Morrison & Foerster LLP.

 

For more information, go to www.gsvc.org.


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Gap CSR Case Competition Attracts Record Interest

 

Winning Team for Gap Undergrad Case CompetitionA record number of UC Berkeley students competed in the 2008 edition of the Gap Inc. Undergraduate Corporate Responsibility (CSR) Case Competition - an annual event that challenges undergraduate students to address real- life business issues in a socially responsible manner.

 

Now in its fourth year, the competition is sponsored by Gap Inc., the Center for Responsible Business, and the Berkeley Students for Responsible Business Club. The finals of the competition were held at Haas on April 29.

 

The winning team was composed of Stephanie Sison, Gloria Ong, and Virginie Suos, all BS 2009; Chriselda Chua, Economics 2009; and Valerie Cuyegkeng, Integrative Biology 2008. Their team defeated 25 competitors to win the $1,000 cash prize.

 

This year, participants were asked to make recommendations to a fictitious apparel company for developing an accountability framework to measure social and environmental performance. Undergraduates made suggestions for invigorating and holding employees accountable for social and environmental goals and identifying the elements to insure success of an accountability structure. For example, the winning team recommended a comprehensive accountability structure with five inter-connected elements: leadership and vision, planning and delivery, monitor and review, rewards, and communication.

 

The second place team was also singled out for their excellent work. Winning gift certificates to Banana Republic, the team was comprised of Chris Chang, Brittany Hinchliff, and Emily Tung, all BS 2008; Jennifer Gines, Economics 2008; and Carey Oh, Mass Communications 2008.

 

At the competition finals, Marcus Chung, Haas MBA Alumnus (MBA 2004) and Gap's senior manager of social responsibility, strategic planning, and communications, spoke to students about the company's social responsibility initiatives and how details of the case related to similar challenges Gap is facing.

 

Finalists' presentations were judged by Kindley Walsh Lawlor, Gap's senior director of strategic planning and environmental affairs; Jennifer Malkin, MBA 2008; Silvia Lacayo, MBA 2009 and Gap Inc. CSR Scholar; and Tony Kingsbury, executive-in-residence at the Center's Sustainable Products & Solutions Program.


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McDonald's CSR Fellows Explore Company's Waste Management Practices

 

Following visits to local area McDonald's and the company's headquarters in Oak Brook, IL, two Haas MBA students took a deeper look at McDonald’s US restaurants this spring, sharing their insights and making recommendations to corporate executives on how to improve the environmental performance of the company's domestic operations.

 

First-year, Mira Inbar, and second-year, Steve Odom, advised the company as part of the McDonald's CSR Research Fellows Program, a partnership between the Center for Responsible Business and McDonald's Corporation.

 

The students surveyed franchisees on the variety of environmental programs currently occurring throughout the United States, and focused specifically on opportunities for enhancing McDonald's recycling and waste management efforts. Their efforts culminated with a report on their recommendations and presentation to McDonald's management on May 15.


"We see tremendous value working with the students from Haas. They learn a great deal about our company and the opportunities and challenges we encounter everyday," said Brian Kramer, McDonald's Senior Manager for Corporate Social Responsibility. "Through this process, they provide us with a fresh perspective on the topics of study and share valuable insights regarding our communication of corporate social responsibility."

 

The fellows spent three months surveying franchise owners and operators, interviewing stakeholder groups, and researching the efforts of competitors to help inform their recommendations, which included specific actions the company could take to improve and expand McDonald's sustainable waste management practices in the US.

 

Both Inbar and Odom entered the fellowship with a background in environmental conservation and a strong interest in sustainable business practices. Previously, Inbar worked with the international conservation organization, ForestTrends, and Odom has consulted for The Dow Chemical Company's Sustainability Group and is a former Peace Corps volunteer.

 

This 2008 study follows two prior McDonald's Fellow projects: one on sustainable fisheries in 2007 and a 2005 study exploring the beef supply from "fork to farm". The Center and McDonald's launched this new unique educational opportunity in 2005 to give Haas MBA students first-hand exposure to the myriad CSR challenges and opportunities businesses face on a daily basis.

 

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New Offering of MBA Strategic CSR Projects Course Highlights Busy Semester

 

Jo MacknessThe Center for Responsible Business added two new courses to its MBA roster this spring: a two-unit version of our popular Strategic CSR & Projects class, which was taught by Haas alumnae (MBA 2004), Jo Mackness, and the student-led speaker series, Environmental Strategy in Business: How Leading Companies are Redesigning "Business as Usual".

 

Highlighting a busy semester, the new version of the Strategic CSR & Projects course received more than twice as many proposals as staffed, including a great mix of projects from both large and early stage companies. The course also featured guest speakers from Hilton Hotels, Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting, and Gap Inc., among others.

 

"I was delighted by the diversity of companies and projects that students chose," said Mackness, who is also Ernst & Young's CSR Integration Leader. "We really ran the CSR gamut - there was something to meet everyone's interests!"

 

Projects ranged from the development of a full-blown CSR strategy for a firm relatively new to the space, to the launch of a new "green" service for a start-up technology company, to recommendations for addressing a key supply chain issue for a large firm. Project sponsors included Business for Social Responsibility, Sungevity, Green Harvest Technologies, Cisco Systems, Williams-Sonoma, Navigant Consulting, and LifeScan, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company.

 

“While the students in the course came in with an amazing amount of prior CSR-related experience - ranging from the Peace Corps and international development, to the Department of Energy, to public health and environment non-profits - not all of them had solid consulting expertise,” said Mackness. The course aims to build their consulting capabilities while enhancing their CSR skills.

 

The feedback on the projects from corporate liaisons has been very positive. One company executive, after hearing the Haas students present their recommendations to its executive team, described the presentation as “transformational”.

 

UN Convention on Biological DiversityAnother course offered to MBAs this spring was the speaker series,

Environmental Strategy in Business: How Leading Companies are Redesigning “Business as Usual” - a student-organized offering.

 

Exposing students to the ways in which companies are redesigning “business as usual”, the course invited guest lecturers from leading firms - such as Clif Bar, Dell, HP, Method, Patagonia, and Starbucks - to Haas to discuss emerging best practices and cutting-edge innovations.

 

A product of the course will be a booklet - available in June - produced in collaboration with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The booklet includes student analysis of the challenges and opportunities discussed in each class session, as well as general insights into the business case for environmental sustainability. It also highlights many of the Haas School's social responsibility initiatives and discusses specific ways that business schools may become more engaged in these issues.

 

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Center Hosts Stonyfield Farm CEO, Wal-Mart Sustainability SVP for Spring Peterson Lectures

 

The Center had a busy Spring semester welcoming two engaging business leaders, Gary Hirshberg from Stonyfield Farm and Matt Kistler from Wal-Mart, to the Haas School as part of our Peterson Lecture Series on Corporate Responsibility.

 

Gary HirshbergIn February, Gary Hirshberg, President and CE-Yo of the world's largest organic yogurt company, Stonyfield Farm, joined Haas students, faculty, and staff to discuss his recently published book, Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, which draws on his experience founding and building Stonyfield Farm into a $300 million business.

 

For years, Hirshberg’s positive outlook and business success has inspired thousands to recognize their ability to make the world a better place, and his presentation on how consumers and businesses can be forces for positive and tangible change was quite motivating to members of the audience.

 

In April, Senior Vice President of Sustainability for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Matt Kistler, drew more than 120 faculty, staff, students, media, and business professionals for his lunchtime talk. He spoke about three main sustainability goals Wal-Mart announced in 2005 and discussed the company's progress on these goals, which include being supplied by 100% renewable energy, creating zero waste, and selling products that sustain resources and the environment.

 

Matt KistlerDuring his talk, Kistler also discussed one of Wal-Mart's recent initiatives - the introduction of private label fair trade coffee at the company's Sam's Club stores. He was joined by members of this fair trade partnership: Bethany Koch from Rainforest Alliance, Tadesse Meskala of Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-Operative Union in Ethopia, and Dave Rochlin of Transfair USA.

 

Both events were co-sponsored by the Berkeley Net Impact Club.

 

Created in 1997, the Peterson Lecture Series on Corporate Responsibility brings thoughtful and diverse leaders to Haas to address topics related to business ethics, corporate responsibility, the environment, and social entrepreneurship. Through the Series, the Center creates a unique opportunity for provocative dialogue about the evolving role of business in society with engaging, high profile speakers.

 

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Haas Team Wins Entrepreneur’s Choice Award at 2008 Sustainable Venture Capital Investment Competition

 

Haas MBA Team Over spring break, a team of Haas MBAs won the entrepreneur’s choice award at the annual Sustainable Venture Capital Investment Competition (SVCIC) at UNC’s Kenan Flagler School of Business. The SVCIC is a national business school case competition that integrates conventional venture capital with the unique financing needs of social entrepreneurs.

 

Representing a diverse mix of first- and second-year students, the winning team of Jennifer Malkin and Nick Pearson, both MBA 2008, and Kevin Casey, Megha Doshi, and Will Wright, all MBA 2009, competed against teams from other top business schools, including Columbia, Kellogg (Northwestern), Ross (Michigan), Stern (NYU), Kenan-Flager (UNC), and Wharton (Pennsylvania).

 

The Center for Responsible Business supported the team's participation at the SVCIC through its Levi Strauss Small Grants Program.

 

The motto of the SVCIC is “real companies, real VCs & real results” The team evaluated four operating businesses in diverse industries, including waste composting, non-toxic paint, organic children’s food, and solar energy. The Haas team chose to invest in an organic baby food company with both current operating strengths, and a significant positive social and environmental impacts at all levels of the value chain.

 

The SVCIC is a unique competition that requires not only valuation, risk and presentation capabilities, but also the ability to quantify the social and environmental impact of each business. The Haas team applied valuation, risk assessment, marketing, and sustainability analysis tools learned in the classroom to real-life social entrepreneurship cases. Teams conducted industry research, held due diligence interviews with each entrepreneur, measured the social and environmental impacts of each business, and made a decision to invest in one of the four business plans. Teams then presented their invesemtn decision to ten judges, all of whom are social venture financing professionals.

 

Judges included Haas 2007 Alumni, Wes Selke of Good Capital, as well as other venture capitalists from Goldman Sachs, SJF Ventures, CEI Finance, The Conservation Fund, Cherokee Investment Partners, and Sherbrooke Capital.

 

The SVCIC requires students to think creatively about the social impact measurement and the integration of social responsibility into social enterprises. Twenty-five percent of each team’s score depended on analysis and quantification of the social impact of each business. Identifying which social impact metrics were most important, determining the negative social impacts of each business, and considering potential social impact risks were crucial to establishing a realistic and meaningful social impact analysis.

 

The Haas team recognized not only the positive impacts on health, environmental, and global poverty of the organic baby food company in which they chose to invest, but also probed the entrepreneur on potential negative impacts and risks, such as high sodium and fat content in some products and the issue of access to healthy, organic foods to underserved communities. The team separated itself from the competition by creating an innovative proof that correlated consumption with reduced diabetes and health care costs among consumers as well as lives saved through a partnership the firm initiated in Africa.

 

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The Berkeley Bottom Line: First-Year MBAs Blog from the Skoll World Forum

 

Rather than lounging on a beach for spring break, three first-year Haas MBAs spent their time blogging about the future of social entrepreneurship at the 2008 Skoll Foundation World Forum - the seminal gathering of social entrepreneurs from around the world - held at Oxford University’s Said Business School from March 26-29.

 

This year's bloggers, Omar Garriott, Mike Lee, and Roxanne Miller, each with a background in the field, took over the reins of the original Berkeley Bottom Line from 2007 Forum attendees and Haas Alumni, Rob Kaplan, Ellen Martin, and Edwin Ou.

 

Acting as reporters, conference participants, and ambassadors for Haas among a community of true global social change agents, the bloggers' task was to communicate the tenor of the week - as well as the content of the sessions and organic conversations in the halls - to the masses of interested people who could not attend in person. Giving a largely personal and readable account of the Forum, the Berkeley Bottom Line was the featured blog on Social Edge during the entire week of the event.

 

Excitedly embracing their role, the Berkeley Bottom Line interviewed countless social entrepreneurs and attended the full range of breakout sessions, to not only gather content and inspiration for the blog, but also to expand and deepen their own personal networks. They blogged about - and heard directly from - social entrepreneurship luminaries Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Jeff Skoll, Bill Drayton, and Dr. Paul Farmer, to name only a few.

 

The days were long, but also energizing. All three returned to Haas post-spring break with a renewed vigor to maximize their Haas experiences and pursue careers in social ventures.

 

The Center for Responsible Business supported the Berkeley Bottom Line's attendance at the Skoll World Forum through its Levi Strauss Small Grants Program.

 

The 2008 Berkeley Bottom Line blog may be accessed at: http://socialedge.org/blogs/berkeley-bottom-line-2008.

 

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2008 Social Enterprise Education Design (SEED) Fellows Announced

 

In collaboration with the Center for Responsible Business, the Social Enterprise Education Design (SEED) Fellowship Program is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2008 SEED Fellowships. The SEED Fellowship program provides UC Berkeley graduate students who seek social enterprise careers with internship opportunities at leading firms in the sector, a network of other Berkeley students passionate about the field, and a cash stipend to make social enterprise internships financially competitive.

 

The six fellows - five MBAs and one PhD candidate in Energy and Resources - will be working on issues from clean water to microfinance to developing local sustainable fishing practices. All will be utilizing the power and skills of business to tackle complicated social and environmental issues.

 

The 2008 SEED Fellows are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though initially focused on MBA students at the Haas School of Business, the SEED Fellowship is open to all graduate school students in the UC Berkeley community. While the SEED Fellowships provide value for students, it also provides benefits for participating resource-constrained social enterprises through screening of potential internship candidates and stipends that allow the enterprises to recruit graduate-level talent and offer compensation in line with student expectations.

 

To become a SEED Fellow, students must apply to the program with essays, a resume, and a commitment to participate in program development for the following academic year. Students are selected based on professional experience and goals, demonstrated interest in social enterprise activities at UC Berkeley, and finally their commitment to developing the SEED Fellowship Program and the advancement of social enterprise programming on the UC Berkeley campus.

 

This is the second year the program has awarded fellowships to social enterprise-minded graduate students at UC Berkeley. In 2007, seven SEED Fellows were funded through the program.

 

In addition to the Center for Responsible Business, the program is also supported by the University of California's Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), the Big Ideas @ Berkeley Initiative, and the UC Berkeley Bears Breaking Boundaries Contest.

 

For more information, visit the SEED Fellowship Program website.

 

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MORE NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

 

New Course, Faculty for Fall 2008 Semester

In addition to our popular MBA offerings, Social Enterprise and Social Investing, the Center for Responsible Business will add a new course, Metrics of Sustainability, to the Fall MBA elective slate.

 

Taught by Tony Kingsbury, executive-in-residence of the Center's Sustainable Products & Solutions Program, the course will expose students to the complex field of corporate and product specific sustainability measures, exploring the metrics in all three legs of the sustainability stool (financial, environmental and social).

 

This past semester, we welcomed a new lecturer to the Center Faculty, Jo Mackness, Haas Alumnae (MBA 2004) and CSR Integration Leader with Ernst & Young. Jo taught the 2-unit version of our popular Strategic Corporate Social Responsibiliuty & Projects MBA course with great success.

 

In the Fall, Jo will teach the Undegraduate version of the Strategic CSR & Projects course, replacing Kevin Sweeney, who led the course for the past three years. Kevin has recently joined the Alliance for Climate Protection - a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort aimed at halting global warming founded by Nobel laureate and former Vice President, Al Gore.


For a complete list of Center Course offerings, visit:
http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/responsiblebusiness/Teaching.html

 

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Berkeley-BSR Corporate Responsibility Leadership Workshop: Embedding CSR In Your Operations and Management

 

Co-sponsored by the Haas School's Center for Executive Development and Center for Responsible Business - in collaboration with Business for Social Responsibility, this two-day program is designed to strengthen executives’ efforts to integrate corporate responsibility with their business strategy — because it's just good business. Corporate Responsibility (CSR) explores the opportunities and challenges related to investment decisions. As CSR goes mainstream having an understanding on new insights and emerging trends is more crutial than ever. You will learn how to improve economic performance while contributing to society. This robust and complex field integrates core business objectives and competencies to create positive social change and business value.

 

Featured Faculty:

 

 

 

 

 

For more information visit: Berkeley-BSR Corporate Responsibility Leadership Workshop: Embedding CSR In Your Operations and Management

 

Contact Details

To enroll and for further information please: Call Bart Decker at 510.642.9167 or email: decker@haas.berkeley.edu.

 

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2008 Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing: Call for Studies

 

Deadline: June 30, 2008

 

The annual Moskowitz Prize is the only global award recognizing outstanding quantitative research in the field of socially responsible investing (SRI). First presented in 1996 by the Social Investment Forum – the national trade association for the socially and environmentally responsible investing (SRI) industry, the Prize came under the umbrella of the Center for Responsible Business at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 2005. The Prize is named for Milton Moskowitz, one of the first investigators to publish comparisons of the financial performance of screened and unscreened portfolios.

 

The $5,000 Prize competition is open to authors of studies relevant to social investing. Studies from all business disciplines are welcomed, but should be of a quality suitable for publication in an academic journal. The prize-winning study is selected by a panel of judges from academia and the investment industry, and will be accepted for publication in the Journal of Investing. Honorable mention or additional monetary prizes may be awarded at the judges’ discretion. The Moskowitz Prize is administered by an independent group of volunteers in cooperation with the Center for Responsible Business.

 

For more information visit: 2008 Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing: Call for Studies

 

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Just Good Business: The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand

 

Just Good BusinessForthcoming book from Kellie A. McElhaney, executive director of the Center for Responsible Business and adjunct assistant professor & John C. Whitehead Faculty Fellow, Haas School of Business

 

(Published in November 2008)

 

Every major company has a corporate strategy based on business objectives and competencies of the firm. Most major companies claim to have a corporate social responsibility strategy, most of which are not linked to business objectives or competencies of the firm. These companies are adopting CSR practices, but aren't reaping the benefits of these initiatives because A) they aren't strategic and B) they're failing to communicate them effectively. Fortunately, closing the CSR story-telling gap can represent great opportunity for savvy companies who want to seize it. Just Good Business shows leaders and managers how to develop a unifying strategy for guiding their CSR work. She walks readers through the process of connecting their CSR efforts to the company's core corporate strategy, business objectives, and core competencies. She then shows with her 7 Principles of Branding & CSR why it's critical to embed CSR initiatives into larger corporate strategy, and to tell their CSR story.

 

Available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

 

Just Good Business: The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand (Requires Adobe Acrobat)

 

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Blogging from Abroad: Gap Scholars Reflect on International Business Development Projects

 

The Global Initiatives at Haas student group has officially launched a blog to highlight Haas students who will be involved in enterprise in developing countries over the summer.

 

The blog will include posts from students on trips sponsored by the International Business Development Program, the global management consulting program managed by the Haas School's Clausen Center. These include strategic projects with non-profit and business clients in Brazil, Vietnam, El Salvador, and Zambia, among others. Each project team will spend three weeks in country, starting this week.

 

Two of the Center's Gap Scholars, Silvia Lacayo and Megan Ryskamp, will be featured on the blog. Silvia will travel to Zambia to work on a project for Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), whose aim is to reduce poverty and promote food security among the rural poor. Megan will travel to El Salvador to work on a project for SalvaNATURA, a non-profit organization focused on sustainable agriculture certification.

 

The blog will also include students with summer internships in emerging markets and will highlight interns working for Infosys in India, Good Morning Africa in Ghana, and the Clinton Foundation in Uganda, among others.

 

To check out all of the projects on the Global Initiatives blog, visit www.gihberkeley.org.

 

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Center in the News

 

The Daily Californian - May 5
Program Funds New Sustainable Projects quotesTony Kingsbury, executive-in-residence for the Sustainable Products & Solutions Program at the Center for Responsible Business.

 

BusinessWeek - April 21

The Do-Good Disconnect quotes Kellie McElhaney, executive director for the Center for Responsible Business, on whether corporate responsibility pays and Elizabeth Singleton, MBA 2008 and principal of the Haas SRI Fund, on her interest in finding a company in which to make a difference.

 

Contra Costa Times - April 2

Wal-Mart Riding Green Bandwagon features the Center-sponsored Peterson Lecture Series with Wal-Mart Sustainability Senior Vice President, Matt Kistler, on April 1.

 

Aspen Institute Center for Business Education - March 2008

A Closer Look at Applied Sustainability Centers research report, featuring the Center for Responsible Business, sheds light on the operations of some key centers and what they do to influence the world of practice. The report is part of the Aspen Institute's Sustainability Center Research Initiative.

 

Business Week - November 20

Student Funds Get Responsible quotes Michael Pearce, MBA 2008 and principal of the Haas SRI Fund, on the launch of the new Haas SRI Fund at Haas.

 

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Support Our Mission: Become a Corporate Partner


Center Corporate Partners - A select group of companies who provide financial support to the Center, helping to further our mission by creating opportunities for education and innovative scholarship at the Haas School. With their support, the Center's Corporate Partners receive a series of benefits, including various, unique partnership-building opportunities.

If you are interested in becoming a Corporate Partner, please contact the Center’s Director, Katharine Brewer, at kbrewer@haas.berkeley.edu or 510-642-5581.

Individual Partners - You may also make an individual gift to support the Center's mission to educate all of our stakeholders on the roles and responsibilities of business in society. Visit our Give to Cal website now to lend your support!

For more information on supporting the Center, click here.


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