Sustainable Enterprises

People, profit and planet succinctly describe the strategic goal of sustainability, a business concept focused on identifying the innovation in business models and strategies required to balance outcomes on "the triple bottom line.? This module enables participants to evaluate the role of innovation in every element of the business model on the path to sustainability.

Innovation leading to increased productivity is a fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy. Sustainability is defined as a `continuous and holistic process of seeking to eliminate harm to ecological systems, enhance the vitality and health of social systems, and improve the long-term financial performance of a business and its operations?. The path to sustainability demands innovation in the management of human, economic, and environmental resources to generate collective well being, as reflected in the triple-bottom-line concept. This case-based module exposes students to the innovation process and current perspectives, frameworks, concepts and practices of sustainability in business.

The module will immerse students in the innovation process and the contribution of social, economic, and environmental responsibility to sustainability. It offers insights about proven strategies, tools and techniques that stakeholders can use to infuse sustainability into business organizations of all types and sizes, as well as contribute to the organization's long-term success. Faculty will use cases to coach students to design, explain, promote, and implement strategies to design and bring a sustainability culture into any organization.