GBUS 806
Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Andrea Larson
Late Week,
Quarter 1
Classroom 170
11:45 a.m. to 1:10 p.m.
Fall 2007
|
Class/Date |
Assignments |
Class 1
Wed 8/22 |
Topic:
Opportunity
Materials:
1. Bank of America Tower: Redesigning Skyscrapers
(UVA-ENT-0092)
2. “The Perfect Storm of Sustainability Mega-Issues: Threat or
Opportunity for
Business?” by Bob Willard (2004).
3. The New Strategic Frontier (UVA-ENT-0041)
Questions:
1. Why is BOA building a new headquarters based on sustainability principles?
2. Characterize key features of the design. What opportunities can you identify?
3. What are the innovations?
4. Speculate on the processes required to design and implement this plan.
5. What strategic implications do you see?
6. What are the implications of the two background readings for business?
Notes:
• This course has two required books: Reconstructing Earth by Braden Allenby and
Nature
and the Marketplace by Geoffrey Heal (available
at the bookstore).
• There is an assigned reading from both books for day 2 of thecourse!
• All active reading links are accessible through the course website on the
assignment pages. |
Class 2
Thu 8/23 |
Topic:
Innovation
and the Anthropogenic Earth
Materials:
1. Nike: Moving Down the
Sustainability Track through Chemical Substitution and
Waste Reduction (UVA-ENT-0098)
2. Introduction (pp 1-8) and Chapter 1
(pp 9-19) in Reconstructing Earth by B. Allenby.
3. “Human Domination of Earth’s
Ecosystems” by Peter M. Vitousek, H. A. Mooney,
J. Lubchenco, and J. Melillo, Science,
vol. 277, 25 July 1997: 494-499.
http://magmo.typepad.com/VitousekHumanDomination.pdf
(active
link)
4. Preface and Chapter 1 in Nature
and the Marketplace, by G.Heal:ix-xv and 1-19.
Questions:
1. Why did Nike focus on sustainability issues?
2. What, specifically, did the company do?
3. Identify strategic advantages and disadvantages of Nike’s actions.
4. What are your take-aways from the Allenby readings, the Science magazine article,
and the Geoffrey Heal reading in
terms of the implications of these realities for
business? |
Class 3
Wed 8/29 |
Topic: Industrial Ecology and Cradle-to-Cradle Design
Guest Speaker:
Steve Bradfield, Corporate Director
of Environmental Affairs for Shaw Industries
Materials:
1. Shaw Industries: Sustainable Business, Entrepreneurial Innovation and Green
Chemistry (UVA-ENT-0087)
2. In Allenby’s Reconstructing Earth,
Chapter 3: From Overhead to Strategic (pp 55-59)
and “Implementing Strategic Environmentalism” (pp 70-71)
3.
“Industrial Ecology” by Harden
Tibbs: pp 1-21 – finish the document if you wish
http://www.hardintibbs.com/pdfs/gbn_ecology.pdf
(active link)
4.
Chapter 4: “Waste Equals Food” in Cradle to Cradle (pp 92-117) by William
McDonough and Michael Braungart, North Point Press
(Division of Farrar, Straus
and Giroux) (2002): 92-117.
5. Chapter 1: “Humanity and Environment” in Industrial Ecology by T.E. Graedel and
B.R. Allenby, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs: NJ
(1995): 1-15.
6. Chapter 2: “Industrial Ecology” in Industrial Ecology and the
Automobile by T.E.
Graedel and B.R. Allenby, Prentice
Hall, Upper Saddle River: NJ (1998): 8-25.
Questions:
1. What are the competitive advantages of EcoWorx and cradle to cradle design for
Shaw?
2. Identify the drivers behind Shaw’s innovation with EcoWorx. Why did carpeting
companies lead in this area?
3. How does the EcoWorx innovation offer an example of industrial ecology? Be
specific.
4. What are the implications of industrial ecology design parameters for conventional
companies? For business education? |
Class 4
Thu 8/30 |
Topic: Entrepreneurial Process and Leadership
Materials:
1. Walden Paddlers (UVA-ENT-0027)
2. “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and
Sustainability Strategies at Walden Paddlers,
Inc.” by Paul Farrow, Richard R. Johnson, and
Andrea L. Larson, Interfaces: An
International Journal of the Institute for
Operations Research and the Management
Sciences, May-June
2000, vol. 30, no. 3: 215-225.
3. Chapter 4: “Alice in Wonderland:
Environmental Management and the Firm” in
Allenby's, Reconstructing Earth: 77-81.
Optional Reading:
The following reading is optional but highly recommended if you
do not have background on environmental and sustainability topics.”
• An Overview of the Historical Context for Sustainable Business in the
United States, 1960-2000 (UVA-ENT-0034)
Questions:
1. Draw a time-line from the point at which Paul Farrow identified an opportunity to the
end point of the case.
2. Draw a network diagram of this venture with Paul Farrow at the center, suppliers to
the left and buyers to the right. Include all
participants in your diagram.
3. How did Paul Farrow accomplish what he did?
4. What would you expect his decision to be at the end of the case? |
Class 5
Fri 8/31 |
Topic: Climate
Change, Innovation, and Market Opportunity
Materials: (Click on the active links
below)
1. “Clean Energy Trends 2007” by Joel Makower, Ron Pernick, and Clint
Wilder,
CleanEdge (March 2007):
http://www.cleanedge.com/reports/Trends2007.pdf .
2. “The Business of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities” by John
Llewellyn,
Senior Economic Advisor, Lehman Brothers (February 2007):use
the links below
http://search1.lehman.com/query.html or
http://www.lehman.com/press/pdf_2007/TheBusinessOfClimateChange.pdf
3. Working
Group I (scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change),
Working Group II (vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems
to climate
change, negative and positive consequences of climate change,
and options for
adapting to it),Working
Group III (options for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and
otherwise mitigating climate change).
4. “Getting Ahead of the Curve: Corporate Strategies That Address Climate
Change” by
Andrew Hoffman, Pew Center on Global Climate Change (October
2006).
http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-in-depth/all_reports/corporate_strategies/
Questions:
1. Why is climate change a strategic issue for firms?
2. What are the business opportunities?
3. What are the major forces driving the development of clean energy?
4. How are firms creating competitive strategic advantage?
|
Class 6
Wed 9/5 |
Topic: Mobility
Materials:
1.
Hybrid Cars: Responding to New Technology in the Industry
(UVA-ENT-0067M)
(This is a multimedia case, that can be assessed
through
this web address:
http://it.darden.virginia.edu/hybrid/start_here.html.
2. “Clean Commerce: Business Strategy at
the Headwaters,” by A. Larson and K.P.
O’Brien – review for an understanding of the headwaters
concept and discussion of
Toyota.
3. Chapter 2: “Basic Economics” in Nature and the Marketplace,
by G.Heal: 21-42.
Questions:
1. Why is Toyota the leader in hybrid technology?
2. What are the key drivers of mobility technology? |
Class 7
Thu 9/6 |
Topic:
Real Estate
Development (and ski resorts)
Guest Speakers:
Aaron
Revere, Darden MBA
Materials:
1. East
West Partners: Sustainable Business Strategy in Real Estate and Ski
Resorts (UVA-ENT-0093)
2.
Aspen Skiing Company’s Testimony to the US House of Representatives,
Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral
Resources,
Oversight Hearing; “Towards a Clean Energy Future: Energy Policy and Climate
Change on Public Lands” comments March 15, 2007 by Auden Schendler, Aspen
Skiing
Company. (5 pages)
http://www.aspensnowmass.com/environment/images/ASC_House_Climate_Testimony.pdf
(active link)
3. “Greening the Piste” by Don. C. Smith,
Refocus (Nov-Dec 2004): 28-30. Article is
available through the Darden Library search engine Science Direct (3
pages):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B73D8-4F26XDH-Y-1&_cdi=11464&_user=709071&_orig=search&_coverDate=11%2F01%2F2004&_sk=999949993&view=c&wchp=dGLzVzz-zSkWz&md5=cc88a8caa01db6edb009bbed8bbca727&ie=/sdarticle.pdf
(active link)
Questions:
1. What factors are driving EWP to incorporate sustainability
approaches into its
strategy?
2. Given the task Aaron Revere had when he went out to California identify
no less than
five (5)
of the most significant challenges that faced him in this
job. Use the draft case
information, your knowledge of business, and your own experience and
imagination
to try to anticipate what you believe Aaron will tell you were his major
challenges. |
Class 8
Wed 9/12 |
Topic: Fuel Cells
Guest Speaker:
Erika Herz, Darden MBA, formerly with UTC
Power
Materials:
1. UTC Fuel Cells: Innovation Inside a
Large Firm (UVA-ENT-0018)
2. Fuel Cell Technology and Market
Opportunities (UVA-ENT-0016)
Questions:
1. What was the opportunity for UTC? The product concept?
2. How did the company view “environmental” concerns?
3. Are fuel cells sustainability technologies?
4. What were UTC’s management challenges for the UTC fuel cell business at
the end
of the case? |
Class 9
Thu 9/13 |
Topic: Product Design
Guest Speaker:
Joe Rinkevich, Product Design Expert/Consultant,
Bio-Fuels Entrepreneur
Readings / Websites: (Click on the
active links below)
Explore and familiarize yourselves
with the websites and readings below:
• CommonWealth Biofuels LLC:
www.cwb100.com
• National Biodiesel Board:
www.biodiesel.org
• Biodiesel Magazine:
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/
Also, review info/reading on Wal-Mart Business Sustainability
• Wal-Mart Corporate Website:
www.walmartstores.com
Read:
• “The Green Machine” by
Marc Gunther, Fortune, August 7, 2006
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/08/07/8382593/index.htm
• “How Many Lightbulbs Does
it Take to Change the World? One. And You’re Looking
at It,” by Charles Fishman:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/108/open_lightbulbs.html or through
Fast Company Magazine:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/108/index.html |
Class 10
Wed 9/19 |
Topic: Entrepreneurship,
Innovation, Sustainability
Guest Speaker:
Adam Lowry, President/Founder, Method Inc.
Materials:
1. Method: Entrepreneurial Innovation, Environment, Health, and Sustainable
Business
Design (UVA-ENT-0099)
2. Go to
www.methodhome.com and review company
web site. (active link)
3. Go to Target to see product lines and positioning in the store (purchase
and test
Method products as needed in your apartment -optional but
recommended).
4. Read: Introductory pages, Executive Summary and Chapter 5: Sustainability
Science Literacy and Education that Enables the Adoption of
More Sustainable
Practices in the Chemical Industry in “Sustainability in the
Chemical Industry Report,”
National Research Council (2005).
(Report is in the course folder.)
5. Toxic Chemicals: Responding to Challenges and Opportunities
(UVA-ENT-0043)
Questions:
1.
What
is Method’s strategy?
2. Why is Adam confronted
with the PLA dilemma?
3. What should he do? |
Class 11
Thu 9/20 |
Topic:
Green Chemistry/Clean Materials
Guest Speaker:
John Warner, Founder Warner-Babcock
Institute and the Beyond Benign
Foundation; and Co-Author of Green Chemistry:Theory and Practice
Materials:
1. SC Johnson’s Greenlist™: Health,
Ecology, Profits (UVA-ENT-0086)
2. Coastwide Labs: Product and Strategy
Redesign in Commercial Cleaning
Products (UVA-ENT-0096)
3. “Meeting the Challenges to
Sustainability through Green Chemistry,” by
Paul Anastas, Green Chemistry, (April 2003)
http://www.rsc.org/ej/GC/2003/b211620k.pdf
(active link)
4. Introduction and Chapters 1-4 in
Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice,
P. Anastas and J. Warner, Oxford University Press: New York (1998):
1-55.
5.
“Green Engineering and Sustainability,” by Paul Anastas, Environmental
Science & Technology (Dec. 1, 2003): p. 423.
6. “Life-Cycle Approaches for Assessing
Green Chemistry Technologies,” by
Rebecca Lankey and Paul Anastas, Industrial Engineering &
Chemical
Research, vol. 41 (2002).
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/article.cgi/iecred/2002/41/i18/pdf/ie0108191.pdf
(active
link)
Questions:
1. What are the “principles of green
chemistry” and what implications do
they have for how we select materials and design products?
2. Identify the drivers of redesign
toward benign chemistry.
3. What are the implications of Green Chemistry applications for economic
value added and the financial and strategic performance of
the firm? |
Class 12
Thu 9/27 |
Topic: Bio Materials, Biofuels and
Khosla Vventures Investments
Guest Speaker:
Patrick Gruber, Entrepreneur/Founder NatureWorks (Cargill); CEO of Gevo;
Founder of Green Harvest Technologies (PLA Products)
Materials:
1. NatureWorks (UVA-ENT-0089)
Questions:
To Be
Determined! |
Class 13
Fri 9/28 |
Topic: Wind Energy and Emissions
Trading
Guest Speaker:
Giles Alexander Jackson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Byrd School of Business, Shenandoah University
Materials:
1. Introduction to Wind Energy
(UVA-ENT-0017) (new!)
2. Chapter 17: “The Challenge Ahead” by Bob Olson and David Rejeski (pp 160-175)
in Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow: Shaping
the Next Industrial
Revolution, Island Press, 2005.
Assignment:
Come to class prepared to discuss the Wind Energy Note. |
Class 14
Wed 10/3 |
Class:
Student Presentations
Readings:
Chapters 2 and 3: “Basic
Economics” (pp 21-41) and “Markets and Ecosystems”
(pp 43-60) in Nature and the Marketplace by Geoffrey Heal.
|
Class 15
Thu 10/4 |
Class:
•
Student Presentations
• Course Overview and Conclusion
• Course Evaluations |
Final Papers Due Mon 10/15
5:00 PM |
FINAL PROJECTS AND
PAPERS DUE THE LAST DAY OF EXAMS, Monday,
October 15, 2006, by 5:00 PM. My assistant, Debbie Quarles, will place
a
box outside her office, Room 135 in the Faculty Office Building. |
Updated:
02/26/14 02:40 PM
|
