Engage with the CRB in June

The CRB is on the road this month, attending and leading discussions at a number of local and global events. We hope to see you there!

• 6/3-6/7 – We will be attending and speaking at the following events at the Sustainable Brands conference, in San Diego:
  • 6/6, 2-3pm – Executive in Residence Tony Kingsbury participates in a panel entitled “Making Green Chemistry Marketable”.
  • 6/6, 3:30-4:30pm - Professor Kellie McElhaney leads a panel entitled, “Beyond CSR Reporting: Maximizing Value from Sustainability Communications”.
  • 6/7, 2-3pm – Executive in Residence Tony Kingsbury leads a session entitled “Are All LCA Tools Created Equal? How Design Tool Choices Influence Decision-Making and Ultimate Impact”

• 6/11-6/13 – Executive Director Jo Mackness presents on Developing Responsible Leaders: Educating & Empowering Students for a Sustainable Future at the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Sustainability Conference in Tampa, Florida.

• 6/14 – the CRB will participate in key events for Rio+20, which will bring together the private and nonprofit sectors, academia, and governments to discuss the global sustainability agenda.  Executive Director Jo Mackness will be blogging from the Corporate Sustainability Forum and the 3^rd Global Forum for Responsible Management Education (PRME).

• 6/20-6/27 – Professor Kellie McElhaney will be teaching at Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year CEO retreat in Silicon Valley

See you soon!

-The CRB Team

So You Say You Want to Work in Sustainability?

By Katie DeWitt, First Year Berkeley-Haas MBA Student 

Coming from a nonprofit and government background (at business school we’re called “poets”), I came to Haas with the aim of getting some private sector experience in my areas of interest, social impact and environmental sustainability, and hoping that was possible.

After a year of coursework, extracurricular activities, conferences, case competitions and networking, I have come across more opportunities than I could ever have imagined existed.

The most fulfilling thing about my first year at Haas has been learning – not only by listening and studying – but also by doing. I have had the opportunity to work on two client-facing consulting projects, one assessing the feasibility of a new urban wind technology and another applying sustainability frameworks in a traditional corporate setting. I have participated and placed in three major MBA competitions: the Leading for Impact Challenge, the Department of Energy Better Building case competition, and the Global Social Venture Competition. And I have been able to connect and work with people who share similar interests through holding leadership positions in Net Impact (VP of Sustainability, a new role we created this year!) and the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative.

Even inside the classroom, my group projects and interactive learning activities have proved challenging and stimulating. For example, in my Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility course, which is part of Haas’ flagship BILD curriculum, one of our lecture topics was about change management and pitching a sustainability projects across an organization. Instead of sitting and taking notes while Professor Romero-Hernandez told us how this works, we had to figure it out ourselves.

Through an online, real-time simulation (every minute was a day), we had 90 days to get our company’s key stakeholders on board and convert 90% of our employees from awareness to interest to adoption. We were provided background on the employees’ positions and interests, with a web illustration of how they are connected inside the organization both personally and socially, and an organizational chart. To manage change, we could publicly announce project milestones and goals, hold one-on-one meetings to explain the initiative, and so on. If we chose a good path with the correct people, we would progress, while just one misstep would cost us credibility within the company. Let’s just say we all learned fast that blast emails are not the way to go…

In my Environmental Management and Public Policy course, which is cross-listed with the Goldman School of Public Policy, I have gotten the chance to engage with students from outside of Haas who are also working on environmental issues, but from a refreshingly different perspective. Our class topics, such as Wal-Mart’s credibility as a leader in corporate sustainability, or whether Greenpeace crossed the line in attacking Shell on the Brent Spar platform, often spark a friendly and healthy debate. My main takeaway from the course is that cross-sector collaboration is a necessary – though often challenging and frustrating – piece of any impactful and lasting environmental initiative, an appropriate lesson to learn in a class populated with students from across Berkeley’s professional schools.

To be sure, I was not the only one who arrived at Haas with just a spark of a sense for what I wanted to accomplish in the world. But after my first year I am more deeply focused on building particular skills in change management and supply chain analysis with an eye toward influencing decisions that companies make to improve their environmental and social impact.

Heading into my internship with the Environmental Defense Fund this summer, I feel equipped to make informed recommendations around corporate energy efficiency upgrades and look forward to continuing to build my toolkit. The answers I will continue to press towards in my second year are not about what, but how to promote sustainable products and policies more rapidly and effectively, through more cool classes like Cleantech-to-Market and Energy and Society.

There is a wealth of resources at Haas and at UC Berkeley to be taken advantage of in the area of sustainability. The hardest part is definitely fitting them all in. If only business school were a five-year program!

Inclusive Innovation: A Conversation About the Future of Finance

By Jo Mackness, Executive Director, Center for Responsible Business (MBA ‘04)

More than three years from its most serious crisis in decades, the global banking and financial services sector still faces an uncertain future. Its central role to economies worldwide makes it one of the most critical influences on economic recovery and social progress—one reason why its role in society has led to division and discord. Since the crisis, stakeholders seeking to influence how the financial sector operates and is structured have joined the debate on all sides.

As a follow-up to a report we recently published with research partner GlobeScan, we hosted an event last week in lower Manhattan to discuss “The Future of Finance”.

What does it mean to be responsible, inclusive, and sustainable in the financial services sector?  This topic, which makes regular appearances in the press these days, was the primary focus as 75 professionals and MBA students gathered to hear Berkeley-Haas Dean Rich Lyons moderate an engaging and enlightening conversation with three companies that are leading “inclusive innovation” from three very different corners of the financial serves sector. Panelists envisioned a future where stakeholder perspectives are taken into account more widely than they are today, delivering value not only to the firm’s bottom line but also to society more broadly (think: servicing the “unbanked”, financing access to medicine in emerging markets and creating programs that prevent domestic foreclosures).

To panelist Peter Knight, President and Co-Founder (alongside Al Gore and David Blood) of the investment management firm Generation, “staying humble” is the key to embracing inclusive innovation and shared value.  Citing the fact that the holding period for stocks has diminished from seven years to just seven months, Peter also stressed the importance of moving beyond living quarter-to-quarter.

To panelist Tarrus Richardson, founder of private equity firm IMB Development Corporation which invests in mid-size women- and minority-owned companies, economic empowerment was of the utmost importance in this conversation.  Tarrus emphasized that in addition to stripping carbon from the air as part of the corporate sustainability agenda, companies mustn’t overlook their potential to deliver economic and social value to our increasingly diverse communities.  With purchasing power of women and minorities in the US adding up to nearly 70% of the total, and credit afforded to this same group flatlining at just 2% (while it rises for all other groups), Tarrus challenged the audience of seasoned finance professionals and prospective MBA students to do “big things in big ways”.

The final perspective, from panelist Pam Flaherty, CEO of Citi Foundation and Director of Corporate Citizenship at Citi, emphasized the value that executive-level leadership can play in creating an environment in which inclusive innovations can flourish. She highlighted the leadership of Citi’s CEO Vikram Pandit, which has led the company’s unwavering focus on staying true to the basic functions of banking and serving the true interests of customers above all else.

Ironically, these words of wisdom graced the audience just hours before Gregg Smith’s now famous  “Why I am Leaving Goldman Sachs”  Op-Ed piece went live , calling into question the firm’s culture, leadership practices and uninclusive client focus.

The evening concluded with some inspired words that align with Dean Lyons’ concept of path-bending leadership and Berkeley-Haas’ defining principles: question the status quo, student always, confidence without attitude and beyond yourself. Noting the central role that sustainability is and will continue to play in driving economic development in the coming decades, Peter encouraged the audience by reminding them that “you don’t have to give up value for values” while Tarrus offered that if we all spent just 10% of our time and money giving back to things that matter, the world would be in a very different place.  Words to live by…

Engage with the CRB in March!

The CRB is redefining good business this month with students, professionals and faculty engaged at all levels!  Join us at one of our upcoming events:

• Thurs, 3/8 – the CRB’s Omar Romero-Hernandez exposes 20 undergraduate students to corporate responsibility in a lecture at Haas focused on the importance of “materiality analysis” and how businesses can integrate  environmental responsibility while maximizing shareholder and stakeholder value.
• Tues, 3/13 – the CRB’s Jo Mackness along with Haas Dean Rich Lyons addressed 60 alumns and professionals to discuss the “Future of Finance” in NYC.  Download Future of Finance report.
• Tues, 3/13 – the CRB’s Tony Kingsbury addressed over 200 professionals at this year’s “Sustainability in Packaging” Conference with a lecture entitled “Are All Lifecycle-Oriented Tools to Evaluate Packaging Created Equal?”
• Fri, 3/16 – Those attending the “Beyond Yourself” Consumption Function & Fashion show will see Haas students along with the CRB’s own Professor McElhaney model water<less jeans in our first annual sustainable apparel fashion show, followed by a splash in the dunk tank… all while enjoying local, organic food, beer and wine!  6-9pm at Haas.
• Mon, 3/19 – Professor Kellie McElhaney keynotes on “Shaping Your Corporate Social Identity” at the Annual Conference on Corporate Contributions in Orlando, Florida.
• Tues, 3/20 – the CRB’s Jo Mackness leads her second in a series of four Net Impact-sponsored Issues in Depth Calls.  Join the webinar to hear from executives at Intuit, with a focus on “Driving Sustainability from a Functional Role: Product Management”
• Weds, 3/21 – from 12:30-2pm, the CRB and the Blum Center for Emerging Economies hosts “Networked for Sustainability: Cisco and the City of the Future” at Blum Hall
• Weds, 3/28 – Jo Mackness leads her third of four discussions on “Driving Sustainability from a Functional Role: Supply Chain Management” – this time in conversation with Yonnie Leung, Principal of Environmental Sustainability at PG&E.

Levi’s Sustainability Undergraduate Case Competition

What happens when you bring left-brainers together with right-brainers? This semester, the Center for Responsible Business (CRB) partnered with California College of the Arts (CCA) to find out. Sustainable fashion design students from CCA were paired with students from UC Berkeley to work on the Levi’s Sustainability Undergraduate Case Competition. Participants were asked to create innovative solutions on how Levi Strauss can “close the loop profitably” with denim recycling, reuse, and resale.

Last Spring, the Center for Responsible Business worked with Target to put on an undergraduate case competition that utilized social media to engage students. This semester, we continued to challenge students to communicate their ideas through a 2-minute YouTube video and blasted helpful hints and tips on Facebook and Twitter during the two-week case competition.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the case competition was the CRB’s partnership with CCA. Three students from UC Berkeley were matched with two fashion design students, and  the cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams were asked to collaborate on a solution, integrating design thinking with business knowledge. Each team’s final deliverables included not only a YouTube video and oral presentation, but also a physical prototype of the proposed solution or product.

Asking the teams to provide a physical prototype of their idea allowed students to commit and engage fully in developing their solutions. The prototypes included jean jackets, raw materials for textile production, a new type of stitching, a jacket made from recycled denim yarn, replacement pant pieces, and even handkerchiefs. The winning team – with members Zahin Ali, Leslie Chen, Cecilia Xia from UC Berkeley, and CCA students Jean Saung and James Zormeir – proposed that Levi’s create a one-of-a-kind “Levi’s Strauss” handkerchief. These handkerchiefs,made from recycled denim and cotton, have various uses, from napkins to a bracelet accessory. Although the team “shared a variety of ideas right off the bat,” team member Leslie Chen said, “what really brought our team together was when Jean thought up of the handkerchief idea. The conviction and energy we each had from the idea really fueled us for the rest of the presentation preparation process.” Check out their video:

Jo Mackness, Executive Director at the CRB, was equally pleased with the outcomes of the competition. “The teams from the different schools were challenged to come together and develop a solution that was not only creative, but business viable, and of course environmentally sustainable,” she said.  “We were trying to create an experiential learning opportunity that mimics the cross functional context within which students will eventually operate in the ‘real world’ —interestingly, it was the students who collaborated the best—really embraced their team mates’ ideas, who came out with the best all around solutions.”

The goal of the competition was to further Levi Strauss’ commitment to sustainability by developing innovative ways to “close the loop profitably”. UC Berkeley and CCA students came together successfully to not only tackle the case from both a design and business perspective, but more importantly, apply the skills and knowledge they learned in the classroom (and studio, for CCA students) to a real-world business challenge.

We were blown away by each team’s creative and rigorous solutions to this case and look forward to what students have to offer in next year’s case competition!

—Rosalind

From the Haas UG Blog: Dean’s Speaker Series, Haas Events Galore

This entry was originally posted on the Haas Undergraduate Students Blog.

As undergraduates, we have access to extremely exciting and interesting opportunities on the Haas campus. I have recently been impressed by the access we have to events that I had always imagined were limited to Haas MBAs. A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of listening to Mike Lewis, author of The Big Short and Liar’s Poker, speak about the current financial situation, his career, and personal thoughts for business students today. I admit that I have only read sections of his books in the long hours I’ve spent in airport bookshops, but I was thrilled to receive an email announcing his visit. I had heard that Lewis lived locally and has children enrolled in nearby schools, but it is not often that he gives “talks” or visits universities. Listening to his conversation with the co-faculty director of the Center of Responsible Business Kellie McElhaney, was a real treat. Most importantly, it gave me an introduction to the many events and opportunities that are available to Haas students.

Mike Lewis’s visit was part of the Dean’s Speaker Series, which brings distinguished individuals who are leaders in business and other organizations to Haas. Future guests include John Chambers, Chairman & CEO of Cisco, and Donald Knauss, Chairman and CEO of Clorox.

I also had the pleasure of watching a free screening of Inside Job, by Oscar-nominated director Charles Ferguson earlier this week. The film provided a very clear and revealing investigation of the 2008 financial crisis, and I found it to be extremely engaging and well done. This event was co-sponsored by the Center of Responsible Business and is one of many events on their full calendar. The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation also has a calendar full of events worth exploring. So… mark down some dates and take advantage of what Haas offers, because it may be one of these events that catapults you into a new area of interest or stimulates a conversation or thought you had never before considered.

—Alicia Salmeron

Doing CSR and Communicating CSR

To a CSR novice like me, my project could not be more ideal. In addition to the fact that the project was about designing a holistic CSR strategy, the initial document from our soon-to-be client was asking the following question: “We are already doing responsible practices. Do we still need a CSR strategy?” For me, this was the most intriguing question amongst all the project descriptions submitted by multiple potential clients.

Assuming that all corporations are seeking highest possible return on investment, the answer to this question should be “yes”. What I learned throughout the project was that, just like any other corporate strategies, CSR also requires four key elements to be able to create highest impact on whatever investment made. Those elements, I believe, are 1) goals/objectives, 2) area of focus, 3) the approaches to create strategic differentiation in engaging those areas, and 4) effective ways of leveraging capabilities/competencies of the company.

On top of these, what I found personally enlightening was the importance of “communication” of a company’s CSR initiatives. CSR, I found, is a great platform to cultivate the company’s brand equity especially to newly arising customer segments who are more sensitive to social or environmental issues. As such, it was evident that CSR is a great framing tool for many kinds of activities that are done within the company for various reasons such as enhancing financial performance, complying to regulations, retaining human assets, to name a few. Therefore, it was a small revelation to me to find out that in creating CSR strategy, “what and how to communicate” is as important a question as and inseparable from “what and how to do“.

Well, the story doesn’t end here. This learning led me to another puzzling question. If “doing” is never enough or complete for the company without “communicating”, should the company only do what can be communicated (or bragged about) in CSR?

My client company has been doing many things both in internal and external CSR domains. Some of them were not very valuable for the purpose of strategic differentiation when it is narrowly defined. However, as employees have strong faith in their company’s core philosophy of “doing the right thing”, encouraging them to do whatever employees believe to be worthwhile causes seem to be helpful for the company to maintain (or even invigorate) its mantra.

So, I think the answer to the aforementioned question is yes and no. The answer totally depends on how we define “communication”. As CSR can is a great branding scheme toward potential customers, it is also a great platform to deal with various interests of various stakeholders such as enhancing employee satisfaction. So the bottom line is that there can be many areas of engagement that are not particularly differentiated or requested by certain stakeholders. If not distinguished or requested, there’s no point talking about it. The story won’t stick with specific segment of stakeholders. Therefore, in devising a CSR strategy, we need a clear idea of ‘who (e.g. customers, employees, or governments, etc.) we will be talking to’ and ‘how we need to do so’. A seemingly generic initiative from a customers’ lens, can be something at the very heart of what employees are passionate about. If your strategic goal and asset is related with cultivating devoted employees, letting them know that company values their commitment to that initiative can also have high strategic value.

—Sehoon

Everyday CSR: Your Personal Social Responsibility Strategy

At the conclusion of the school year, energy is high and spirits are lifted at the promise of a new season of barbeques, picnics, swimming in the ocean, camping trips, and summer blockbusters. While people can see the summer as an escape from the doldrums of the rest of the year, this time can also be used strategically, by maintaining one’s sense of social responsibility and creating value for the causes that we believe in the most.

Our last assignment for Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility was to create our own Personal Social Responsibility Strategy. This introspective, reflective assignment took me by surprise for it made me realize that my current PSR actions, core competencies and life objectives were extremeley misaligned. I realized that one of my core life objectives – to live an active and healthy lifestyle and to inspire others to do the same – was not supported by my core competencies of organization, planning and a love of running races and triathlons, nor was it supported by my current actions – studying, group project meetings, and putting anything before exercise and before myself.

I did a 180 degree turn and decided that I needed to be strategic and align my core competencies, current actions and life goals. This summer, I am pursuing projects with event organizers to put on races that contribute to social causes. In particular, I am focused on benefitting women’s health and girl’s development organizations. The idea of bringing lots of people together to swim/bike/run for a larger cause while also forming a community of racers is thrilling, for I know that this is something I truly, in my heart, want to do, and I know that I will be achieving a larger impact than I have been achieving with my random acts of kindness here and there.

So, my challenge to you is, what is your Personal Social Responsibility Strategy? Are your current actions, core competencies and life objectives in alignment? If not, what needs to change? Is it sustainable? How can you make a positive impact in the world every day?

To hold myself accountabe, I will revisit my plan often to remind myself of the spectacular day when I made a 180 degree turn. Take the time to create your own strategy. I’d be curious to see what you come up with.

—Grace Samala

2010 Fifa World Cup and CSR

New ways to communicate like Facebook and Twitter have the potential to turn the World Cup into something much bigger and more important than just a soccer game. Four years ago, the world cup took place in Germany, where the upper echelon of social media whizzes participated only. Since 2006, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook have exploded onto the scene of everyday life and are extremely popular in sports. Additionally, companies, since 2006, have placed a growing emphasis on the importance of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. With the evolution of CSR and social media growing and expanding every day, it may be interesting to look at various ways true change, hope and resources can be brought to such a poverty stricken area as South Africa.

The World Cup will be played on a giant global this June and this brings about many attractive CSR issues, concerns and opportunities for people and companies alike. The numbers statistically surrounding these social media networks is astounding. Nowadays, Twitter has 105 million users while Facebook has roughly 400 million users. The real time social media opportunities that will come about are overwhelming. Being that soccer is arguably the most popular sport in the world, the buzz around this sporting event will be beyond belief. People will be itching to share opinions, reactions, and triumph all over the world. They will also have the opportunity to share ideas that could benefit the people of South Africa more than ever. Positive change can be accomplished through social networking.

Now how will this be done? Africa, being the 3rd world country that it is lacks resources socially and economically. Therefore, bringing much needed resources to Africa such as food, water and better medical support can be accomplished. For this to occur, the meager reality of the area must be brought to light and made public on a global level. Social media has the opportunity to accomplish just that.

The buzz created surrounding social media networks is extremely large nowadays. Social media and CSR opportunities fit perfectly into such a media covered sporting event. Fans will be able to interact in real time by sharing this knowledge in conversations which can produce meaningful action on these matters. Hopefully, some of the dialogue and time spent on these social media sites will generate conversations on issues off the soccer field; issues that can help the people of Africa.

Some players will most likely be tweeting on the sidelines, unless banned by their team or country, and will get involved and create facilitators for these real life problems. These online conversations have the potential to produce awareness that has never been seen before in South Africa. One step to improvement deals directly with conservation and is already being demonstrated by a giant global corporation. Nike, being the tycoon of the apparel industry really has to opportunity to benefit this society. Nike is putting sustainability to good use. A few of soccer’s most recognizable faces Ronaldo, Robinho and Park will be wearing jerseys that are the most technologically advanced and are made from 100 % polyester. If this kind of awareness can be demonstrated, greater benefits to Africa will be seen.

Nike on a corporate level made it clear that all of their national teams will be wearing these jerseys. Each jersey is made from up to 8 recycled water bottles. Consequently, Nike will be diverting 13 million plastic bottles from landfills into jerseys, quite an accomplishment. Nike is exemplifying one way a large company plans to conserve.

Experts are estimating with all of the tourist traffic in South Africa during the World Cup that food shortages in the area are almost impossible to avoid. Certain reports suggest that food prices have risen in the past 6 months, making it tougher for locals to eat. Half of the population lives in poverty in South Africa and the escalation in food prices will obviously negatively affect these people. Starvation is already one of the biggest inhibitors for the general population of South Africa. Social workers cited rising food prices as a major factor in a 30% increase in child abandonment in 2003. Therefore, social media plays a major role in bring access and aid to South Africa. Green efforts toward sustainability and conservation must remain popular these people truly get the help they need.

—Chad Vivolo

Help your company and professional immigrants…

Helping others enhance their careers has long been a passion of mine. I am especially dedicated to assisting professional immigrants with restarting their careers in the US. Being an immigrant myself, I deeply associate with this cause and having had hiring manager responsibilities prior to getting my MBA, I am also deeply aware of the difficulties one is facing when trying to hire highly qualified employees.

I first experienced difficulties professional legal immigrants face in 1999 when I moved to California with my family. My mother was a 20-year tenured medical doctor, but for her to restart her career in the US, she would have to go through years of recertification and residency. She decided to obtain a certificate in engineering and to pursue a career in medical device companies. Of course I am biased, but my mother is a very smart individual and an accomplished professional. Despite that, she had difficulty finding a job because we were unaware of the “American way” of securing employment, starting with how to write resume and CL and continuing to completely lacking a professional network. Luckily, my mother’s intelligence and luck, combined with my resume writing efforts allowed her to restart her career as a Verification and Validation Engineer at a med device company only a year after we immigrated!

Memories of helping my mom find a job never faded. I was waiting for an opportunity to give back to the immigrant community. Once my own career was on track, I started looking into starting an NGO that would support legal immigrants in their career search in the US. In my research, I came across Upwardly Global (www.upwardlyglobal.com), a San Francisco based social entrepreneurial volunteer organization that assists foreign-born professionals with restarting their careers in America; I knew that was a match made in heaven.

At Upwardly Global, I took on all available volunteer positions, including providing jobseekers individual mentoring and group training. My greatest joy was seeing how my work greatly impacted immigrants’ lives. As a hiring manager, I saw the benefits of hiring immigrants first-hand. After a 6-month search for an Accounts Payable specialist with expertise in accounting, I hired one of the Upwardly Global job seekers, Tatiana from Byelorussia, to work on my team at my last pre-MBA employer Tumbleweed Communications. Tatiana confessed that regaining employment boosted her self-esteem, positively impacted her family dynamics, and provided funds for extracurricular activities for her daughter.

Please consider giving a highly qualified immigrant a chance when making your next hiring decision! When you look through the pile of resumes, do not throw away those that have foreign education – just because they got their degree at the best University in Bolivia, does not mean they won’t be your superstar hire! This will both benefit your company and give a highly qualified professional a chance to continue their career in a new country.

—Natalie