Looking for the Sweet SpotWhere Can Jesuit Business Schools Make Their Greatest Contribution to Global Sustainability

John Hollwitz, James A.F. Stoner, and Frank M. Werner

Schools of BusinessFordham University

International Association of Jesuit Business Schools15th World Forum – Jamshedpur, India7-10 June 2009

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

“Aspen’s biggest lever is the fact that it is world-renowned; as a result, we get

covered by the press all over the world, and a small action on our part can often influence disproportionate change.”

Auden SchendlerExecutive Director of

SustainabilityAspen Skiing Company

Getting Green Done, p.92

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

AGENDA

• Introductions• What is global sustainability?• What needs to be done to achieve a

sustainable world?• Resources of Jesuit business schools• Where is the best match• What’s do we do next

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

About John

• B.A. LeMoyne, M.A. Creighton, Northwestern, Ph.D. Nebraska, Northwestern

• Former Dean of Arts and sciences, Loyola Maryland, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Fordham

• Author –

• Research – organizational wellness, personnel selection, scenario planning, human resource accounting, Chinese/ Asian studies

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

About Frank

• B.A. Physics and M.B.A. Harvard, Ph.D. Columbia

• Former Associate Dean, GBA

• Recipient – Gladys and Henry Crown Award for faculty excellence, 1985 and 2004; Stanley Fuchs Award for impact on students, 2008

• Chairholder – James A.F. Stoner Chair in Global Quality Leadership, 1993–1994

• Author – three textbooks, five research books, novel, book chapters, journal articles

• Research – quality and finance, the goal of the firm, sustainable finance

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

About Jim

• B.S. Engineering Antioch, S.M. and Ph.D. MIT• Recipient – Gladys and Henry Crown Award for faculty

excellence in 1999, 2005• Chairholder – James A.F. Stoner Chair in

Global Quality Leadership, 2002–2007• Author – five textbooks (many editions), ten

research books, book chapters, journal articles • Research – 1960s: “risky shift,” 1970s: career

plateaus, 1980s–1990s: world class managing, quality and finance, 2000s: managing for global sustainability

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

What is Global Sustainability?

• Meeting this generation’s needs in ways that enhance the capacity of future generations to meet their needs (modified Brundtland Commission definition)

• A world that works for everyone with no one left out

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

What Needs to be Done to Achieve a Sustainable World?

ProductionnConsumptioPopulationlitySustainabi

The Sustainability Equation

Population

Consumption Production

The domain of a sustainable world

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

What Needs to be Done to Achieve a Sustainable World?

PassionLeverageImpactInitiativePriority Highest The

Initiatives That Lead to Sustainability

Impact

Leverage Passion

The domain of games where we have the greatest opportunities to

make a difference

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

What Needs to be Done to Achieve a Sustainable World?

ingDiscomfortRiskyCreativeonVerificati

Quality Check – Is the Means Big Enough?

Creative

Risky Discomforting

The domain of games that

stretch us enough to be worthy of

our passion

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

What Needs to be Done to Achieve a Sustainable World?• Others’ framings

– Senge, et. al.– ...– …– …

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Resources of Jesuit Business Schools• Special resources

– Jesuit philosophy– spiritual viewpoint

• nature of the schools’ religious traditions• diversity of faculty

– Fordham as an example

• spiritually-friendly environment– in which discussion of spiritual issues is considered

normal and not out of line

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Resources of Jesuit Business Schools• Non-special resources

– talent• skills in organizational change• skills in strategic management

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Where is the Best Match?

• Regarding consumption– Most of the world’s consumption is done by a

small fraction of the world’s population

– Those who consume in excess must consume less

• teaching the emptiness of “affluenza”

– Those without want (need!) to consume more

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Where is the Best Match?

• Regarding production– Most production is done in unsustainable, non-

renewable ways

– We must find renewable ways of production that do not deplete resources or pollute the planet

• stewardship of the earth• teaching “cradle-to-cradle”

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Where is the Best Match?

• Regarding population– The implications of 9.5 billion people pressing on

the planet’s resources by 2050

– We must find ways to limit population growth to a level consistent with sustainable production and consumption

• or find ways to dramatically increase sustainable production and consumption to meet a much larger world population

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Where is the Best Match?

• Regarding population– A sticky political issue

• the problem is and will be especially acute in the poorest parts of the world

– in the “first world” birth rates are essentially at or below replacement level

– the fastest population growth is in the “third world”

– A sticky moral/ethical issue• now we limit population by war and starvation

• how should population be limited?

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Where is the Best Match?

• Regarding population– A sticky Catholic issue

• the relationship of sexuality and reproduction• beliefs about the moment of the beginning of life

– Birth control, abortion

• the relationship of the size of the flock to the Church’s power and wealth

– Perhaps we have already fulfilled the biblical injunction to “go forth and multiply,” so now it is time to do a bit of subtraction!

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Where is the Best Match?

• Special opportunities– Regarding other faiths

• the possibility of Jesuit business schools as leaders and/or models for schools in other faith-based traditions

• the possibility of moving various faiths from emphasizing their differences to emphasizing their common ground around sustainability

• the ability to reach fundamentalist groups

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

Where is the Best Match?

• Special opportunities– Regarding population

• perhaps only a Catholic institution can have a major influence in reducing population growth

– Like Nixon “opening up” China

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

If this is a workshop . . .

• Breakout groups

• Reporting back

• Discussion

Hollwitz, Stoner, WernerIAJBS 2009 – Jamshedpur

What’s Do We Do Next?