ENVS 16 Business and the Environment Fall 2014 Class location: Life Sciences Center 105 Class Meeting time(s) 10:00-11:05 Monday, Wednesday, Friday Instructor: Office Location: Email: Office Phone: Office Hours: X-hours: D.G. Webster Fairchild 104 [email protected] 603-646-0213 11:05-12:00 MWF or by appointment See schedule Course Description In recent years, consumers and producers alike realized the limits of the Earth’s natural resources. As a consequence, many companies have jumped on the “green business” bandwagon, seeking ways to make their products more environmentally attractive while also increasing profits through improved processes and technological innovations. Much of the literature on green business is micro-level. It explains why and how companies strive to reduce their impact on the environment. We will spend the first half of the course at this level of analysis. There is also a growing literature on the shift to a “green economy”. We will spend the second half of the course learning how the greening of businesses fits into the green economy discourse. This requires understanding of how green business is both impacted by and has impacts on larger, macro-level elements such as business cycles, macroeconomic policy, international trade, and sustainable development. Throughout the course we will focus on using real-world data to explore these different facets of business-environment interactions. Course Objectives There are many different perspectives on corporate environmentalism. Some authors view green business in simplistic terms, seeing it as either the salvation of the world or a mere gloss over age-old corporate greed. Students in this class will learn about green business as a complex and emergent phenomenon, with both positive and negative aspects. They will have to think critically about the private costs and benefits of going green, but will also learn about the public value of voluntary greening, green regulation, and green or “sustainable” economic development. Furthermore, students will apply this knowledge by building their own case studies of a specific green business. Expectations This is a seminar-style course. Each session is designed to encourage active participation so students should complete all reading assignments prior to the date the material is to be covered in class. My expectations regarding written assignments are quite high, both in terms of the breadth of the required research and the quality of the written and oral presentation of findings (see my Writing Guidelines posted with the syllabus on Canvas). 1 Exams: We will have both a midterm and a final for this course. The midterm will include 15 short answer questions and requires that students answer 2 out of 3 essay questions. The final is cumulative and consists of 30 short answer questions and 3 out of 5 essay questions. Projects: Each student will also complete a case study of a specific “green” business that he or she chooses in the first few weeks of class. No two students are allowed to study the same business. There are several assignments/events in the first two weeks of class that will help students select their businesses. This timing is deliberate, since students should consider the availability of data on a company before choosing it for their case study. Cases will be compiled via a web site where each student will create his or her own “Green Business Profile” or GBP for short. We’ll use Google Sites to build the pages. This is a fairly simple site-building tool but if you need help figuring it out please make an appointment to see Prof. Webster in the first two weeks of the course. Web pages will be graded twice, once a few days before the midterm and again at the beginning of the pre-examination break. Sites will be graded on clarity, organization, comprehensiveness, effective use/presentation of data, and correct citation of evidence. Comprehensiveness means that I expect the sites to cover all of the main points from the readings/lectures/discussions. As described below, homework for the course is designed to help students prepare their GBPs in a comprehensive manner. Most of the other expectations for the sites are covered in my Writing Guidelines (posted on Blackboard). The main purpose of the site is to allow the student to apply what he/she has learned using a method that is increasingly important in the modern economy. That said, students should maintain rigorous academic standards for all information and analysis contained in the site. This is not a blog or an opinion page but a well-researched, cohesive online case study of a green business, inside and out. Pictures and graphs are strongly encouraged but sources must be cited for these as well. All sources must be cited as described below; they can be cited on a separate “references” page as long as references are hyperlinked. Homework: Aside from a few short assignments in the first two weeks of the course, homework consists of case-study/site building. Each student should post a short essay applying what he/she learned from the reading to his/her green business on the Blackboard discussion board. The thread for each day contains a few pertinent questions to help students focus their research (and directions for any non-GBP homework, which will also be turned in via the discussion board). I strongly recommend reading the homework prompts on the discussion board at least a week in advance so that you can plan ahead; particularly during the first week of class. Unless otherwise noted, posts are due by 9 am every day that we have class and should be no more than 200-300 words long. Entries should be clear, concise, and well supported with data. Sources should be cited for all information not original to the student. Citations do not count in the word count. These posts can be used to build the foundation for the student’s GBP but will need to be updated and improved based on class lectures/discussions and feedback from Prof. Webster. Students get 5 “freebees” on homework—that is, the lowest 3 post grades will be dropped. Students should use appropriate citation in all writing assignments. All information not original to the student should be cited in text (not as footnotes but as parenthetical citations) using the author-date method in the Chicago style. This style was chosen because it is common in the sciences, it is relatively simple, and it provides the two most important pieces of information 2 about a source—the author and the date—without disrupting the reading experience. On-line sources not associated with a peer reviewed journal or well-established periodical source are not acceptable—do not cite Wikipedia or similar sites unless specifically permitted in the assignment. However, for the GBPs you may use information posted on company web-pages, though you must acknowledge any implications regarding potential bias. These web-sites provide tips and examples for citing sources: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/sources/ http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html Required texts: Anderson, Ray C. 1998. Mid-Course Correction. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green. 207 p. Esty, Daniel C. and Andrew S. Winston. 2009. Green to Gold. New Haven: Yale University Press. 366 p. Hawken, Paul. 2010. The Ecology of Commerce, Revised Edition. New York: Harper Business. 224 p. Jackson, Tim. 2011. Prosperity Without Growth. Washington, DC: Earthscan. 264 p. Winston. 2014. The Big Pivot. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. 344 p. Other readings/videos are posted on our Library Reserves page or can be found via web-links provided. Recommended but not required: Bragdon, Joseph. 2006. Profit for Life. Cambridge, MA: The Society for Organizational Learning, Inc. Dauvergne, Peter and Jane Lister. 2013. Eco-Business: A Big-Brand Takeover of Sustainability. Boston: MIT Press. Harvard Buisness Review, ed. 2008. Profiting from Green Business. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. Makower, Joel. 2009. Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business. New York: McGraw Hill. McElroy, Mark W. 2011 . Corporate Sustainability Management. Washington, DC: Earthscan. Sachs, Jeffrey D. 2008. Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet. New York: The Penguin Press. 3 Grading Class Participation Blackboard posts Green Business Profiles Midterm Final 5% 15% 40% 15% 25% Academic Honor http://www.dartmouth.edu/~reg/regulations/undergrad/acad-honor.html Student Needs Students with disabilities enrolled in this course and who may need disability-related classroom accommodations are encouraged to make an appointment to see me before the end of the second week of the term. All discussions will remain confidential, although the Student Accessibility Services office may be consulted to discuss appropriate implementation of any accommodation requested. Student Accessibility Services (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~accessibility/facstaff/) Academic Skills Center (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/) The Academic Skills Center is open to the entire Dartmouth Community. Here are some common reasons why you might visit the ASC: • You're getting B's but you want to get A's • You don't feel comfortable talking in class • You're attending class regularly but you feel like you're missing important points • You feel like you're a slow reader • You're spending hours studying for foreign language but still not “getting it” • You feel like you don't have enough time to get everything done • You're not sure how to take notes • You want to sign up for a tutor or study group • You're not sure if you should get tested for a learning disability The Research Center for Writing, and Information Technology (RWiT) (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rwit/) The Student Center for Research, Writing, and Information Technology (RWiT) is a place where you can meet with an undergraduate tutor to discuss a paper, research project, or multi-media assignment. The RWit tutors are trained to help you at any phase of your process. Whether you are brainstorming or planning, drafting or structuring, tweaking or polishing, the RWiT tutors can provide feedback that will help you to create final products of which you can be proud. 4 Course Schedule (May change to accommodate guest presenters & student needs) Date 15-Sep 17-Sep 18-Sep 19-Sep 22-Sep 24-Sep 25-Sep 26-Sep 29-Sep 1-Oct 2-Oct 3-Oct 6-Oct 8-Oct 9-Oct 10-Oct M W X F M W X F M W X F M W X F 13-Oct 15-Oct 16-Oct 17-Oct 20-Oct 22-Oct 23-Oct 24-Oct 27-Oct 29-Oct 30-Oct 31-Oct 3-Nov 5-Nov 6-Nov 7-Nov 10-Nov 12-Nov 13-Nov 14-Nov M W X F M W X F M W X F M W X F M W X F Topic Introduction Market forces Readings/Assignments E-waste article Hawken 2010, 1-44 What is a "green" business? Win-win solutions Eco-design intro Esty & Winston 2009, 1-64; Green Product Survey Esty & Winston 2009, 65-104; GB Framework (groups) Hawken 2010, 45-101; Life Cycle Description Lifecycle Analysis Tuck library orientation Site-set-up class, LCA workshop Guest Speaker: Benoit Rosin; http://www.eiolca.net/ library pre-test; short list of businesses Select your business day; bring laptops with STELLA Ecoetrepreneurship Brand management Business Norms Anderson 1998, 1-61 Esty & Winston 2009, 105-194 Hawken 2010, 121-136 Whole system design Anderson 1998, 101-137 Corporate Sustainability Management McElroy & van Engelen, Chpts 1-2 (Blackboard) Modern challenges Winston 2014, 1-92 1st half of GB Web Page due by 9 am "Radical" strategies Winston 2014, 93-192 MIDTERM EXAM Partnering Pivot Winston 2014, 193-266 Discussion with Andrew Winston; attend evening Sustainability Cafe Demand in the green economy Jackson 2011, 1-49 Growth and consumption Jackson 2011, 50-102 Ecological macroeconomics Jackson 2011, 103-156 International trade Hawken 2010,103-119 Regulation Hawken 2010, 137-171 Ecoetrepreneurship Revisited Anderson 1998, 149-181 Discussion with John Replogle; attend evening Sustainability Cafe Standards & transparency Levy & Newell 2005, 223-248 Agriculture Levy & Newell 2005, 135-165 Regulation revisited Levy & Newell 2005, 73-104 Fair vs. free trade Pardee Center 2010, 33-51 5 17-Nov M Synthesis Jackson 2011, 157-204 21-Nov F Final GB Web-site due by 5 pm 25-Nov Tu FINAL EXAM @ 8 am, location TBA 6
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