University of Colorado, Boulder
The New Corporate Environmentalism
Sociology 4047 (44516)
9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m., M-F
234 Ketchum Arts and Sciences
Professor: Dr. John M. Jermier
Office: Ketchum Arts and Sciences 207A
Office Hours: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. MW, and by appointment
Office Phone: 303-735-4090
Home Phone: None
Electronic Mail: Facsimile 303-492-8878; Internet john.jermier@colorado.edu;
This is an advanced course designed to provide an analytical framework for thinking about new developments in organizing for a sustainable future. It will familiarize participants with several key themes and concepts that are relevant to transforming organizations from traditional production systems to systems that can contribute significantly to building more sustainable economies and societies.
In the first part of the course, participants will gain exposure to research on the state of the world’s ecology and to some of the major problems that shape debate about a global environmental crisis. Participants will also gain a deeper understanding of the traditional paradigm that underlies existing patterns of consumption–“Affluenza,” and the traditional paradigm that underlies existing systems of production—“McDonaldization.” In the remaining parts of the course, the concept of sustainability will be developed as an alternative worldview, ethical perspective, business model, approach to organizing, and system of performance enhancement. If the course is successful, you will be able to provide a critique of the traditional paradigm, explain the rationale for a counter-paradigm, and discuss practical ways the new paradigm can be applied in consumption and in organizing systems of production.
Course Readings
Sissel Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing the Future of Business through Nature, Genius and Compassion. Sheffield, U.K.: Greenleaf Publishing, 2003.
Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.
Selected articles and books chapters will be available through a special website. The URL for the website and a formal reading list are attached to this syllabus.
This course does not have a prerequisite but the concepts and reading material will be more useful to you if you have some background in basic sociology, environmental social science, and organizational and management studies. The purpose of this class is not to provide an introduction to any of these fields. Instead, you will be asked to move quickly into advanced studies of corporations and into a mode of critical thinking that uses perspectives from sociology and environmental studies to analyze contemporary corporations.
The New Corporate Environmentalism
Sociology 4047
Dr. Jermier, Page Two
Course Requirements
The final grade will be computed as a weighted average of three inputs: (1) a multiple-choice, short answer and essay exam covering readings and all classroom material--40% total; (2) homework, quizzes, daily assignments and presentations–40%; and (3) active participation in all classroom sessions–20%. Active participation means each class member is expected to attend every class and contribute to classroom discussions of assigned readings. Preparation for each class is essential. It is likely that at least some classroom presentations based on the assigned material and/or independent research will be required. The final grade may be adjusted upward by the professor in cases where classroom participation has been highly effective. The professor will adjust the final grade downward in cases where classroom attendance and participation have not been satisfactory.
No make-up exams or quizzes can be given.
Taping of classroom sessions is not permitted because it can be disruptive and because it can inhibit creativity and the free exchange of ideas.
Discussion Topics
M 5/15 Introduction to Course
T 5/16 State of the World, Part I
W 5/17 State of the World, Part II
R 5/18 Traditional Paradigm for Organizing Consumption
F 5/19 New Paradigm for Organizing Consumption
M 5/22 Traditional Paradigm for Organizing Production
T 5/23 New Paradigm for Organizing Production: Galileo and Innovation
W 5/24 New Paradigm for Organizing Production: Gandhi and Compassion
R 5/25 New Paradigm for Organizing Production: Ants and Organicism
F 5/26 New Paradigm for Organizing Production: Emerging Ant Colony I
M 5/29 Memorial Day Holiday
T 5/30 New Paradigm for Organizing Production: Greening Colorado (Field Trip or Class
Reports)
W 5/31 New Paradigm for Organizing Production: Emerging Ant Colony II
R 6/1 New Paradigm for Organizing Production: Emerging Ant Colony III
F 6/2 Final Exam
The readings for each class period are listed on a separate sheet. Information about the daily assignments and presentations is listed on a separate sheet.
M 5/15 No Reading
T 5/16 **Group Reports on Websites
--United Nations Environmental Program (2006) website (www.unep.org/). Check Newscenter, Issues, Meetings and Events, Publications, and other sections (Group 1)
--”Earth on Edge” (2006) website (www.pbs.org/earthonedge/). Check Ecosystems and other sections (Group 2)
--Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) website. Check “Ecosystem and Human Well-Being” Report (www.millenniumassessment.org//en/Products.aspx) and “Framework for Analysis” (www.millenniumassessment.org/proxy/document.48.aspx). (Group 3)
**Steve Connor (2005). “The state of the world? Is it on the brink of disaster?” The Independent/UK, March 30, 1-6.
**Bill McKibbon (2005). “The emotional core of The End of Nature,” O&E, 18: 182-185.
**Ross Gelbspan (2005). “Global warming and political power,” O&E, 18: 186-192.
**Karen Charman (2006). “Brave nuclear world?” World-Watch, May-June, 26-31.
W 5/17 **Anne Platt McGinn (2002). “Reducing our toxic burden,” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2002. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 75-100.
**Thomas D. Beamish (2001). “Environmental hazard and institutional betrayal,” O&E: 5-33.
**Danielle Nirenberg (2006). “Rethinking the global meat industry.” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2006. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 24-40.
R 5/18 **Present and Discuss Current Events (Individual Class Members)
**Michael Mayerfeld Bell (2004). “The ideology of environmental domination. Ch. 6 from An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. 127-146.
**Gary Gardner et al. (2004). “The state of consumption today.” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 3-23.
**Gary Gardner (2005). “Hungry for more: Re-engaging religious teachings on consumption.” World-Watch, September-October, 26-30.
F 5/19 **Michael Mayerfeld Bell (2004). “The ideology of environmental concern. Ch. 7 from An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. 147-172.
**Present and Discuss Readings (Groups)
--Michael Renner (2004). “Moving toward a less consumptive economy.” In Linda
Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 96-121. (Group 1).
--Hilary French (2004). “Linking globalization, consumption, and governance.” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 144-163. (Group 2).
--Gary Gardner & Erik Assadourian (2004). “Rethinking the good life.” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 164-177. (Group 3).
M 5/22 **Present and Discuss Current Events (Individual Class Members)
**George Ritzer (2004). “An introduction to McDonaldization.” Ch. 1 from The McDonaldization of Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. Preface + 1-23.
**Gareth Morgan (2006). “Mechanization takes command: Organizations as machines.” Ch 2 from Images of Organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 11-31.
**Gareth Morgan (2006). “The ugly face: Organizations as instruments of domination.” Ch. 9 from Images of Organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 301-344.
**Brian Halweil & Danielle Nierenberg (2004). “Watching what we eat.” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 68-95.
T 5/23 **Preface to In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK.
**Presentation on Galileo and Creativity/Innovation (Group 1).
**Ian I. Mitroff et al. (1994). Framebreak: The Radical Redesign of American Business.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Preface + Chs. 1 (3-13), 7 (121-128), 8 (129-139).
**Present and Discuss Readings (Groups)
--Paul Hawken et al. (1999). “The next industrial revolution.” Ch. 1 from Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company. 1-21. (Group 1).
--Minna Halme (2002). “Corporate environmental paradigms in shift: Learning during the course of action at UPM-Kymmene.” Journal of Management Studies, 39: 1087-1109. (Group 2).
--Erik Assadourian (2006). “Transforming corporations.” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2006. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 171-189. (Group 3).
--Katherine Mangu-Ward (2006). The age of corporate environmentalism. Reasononline, February 13. (Group 3).
W 5/24 **Presentation on Gandhi and Compassion (Group 2).
**Ray Anderson (2003). “Introduction: Envisioning the prototypical company of the 21st century. In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 17-30.
**Jennifer R. DuBose (2000). “Sustainability and performance at Interface, Inc.” Interfaces, 30: 190-201.
**Present and Discuss Readings (Groups)
--Thea Singer (2001). “Can business still save the world?” Inc.Com Magazine, April, 1-11. (Group 1).
--Richard Welford (1997). “Rediscovering the spiritual dimension of environmentalism.” In Richard Welford (Ed.), Hijacking Environmentalism: Corporate Responses to Sustainable Development. London: Earthscan Publications. 211-227.
--Allen L. White (2003). “Improving sustainability disclosure: The Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 202-212.
R 5/25 **Presentation on Ants and Social Organization (Group 3)
**Gareth Morgan (2006). “Nature intervenes: Organization as organisms.” Ch 3 from Images of Organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 33-71.
**Present and Discuss Readings (Groups)
--Gretchen Daily & Katherine Ellison (2003). “Understanding nature’s services to societies.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 32-39. (Group 1).
--Sissel Waage (2003). “Reconsidering business from a systems perspective.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 40-60. (Group 2).
--Karl-Henrik Robert (2003). “Integrating sustainability into business strategy and operations: Applying the Natural Step approach and framework.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 61-79. (Group 3).
F 5/26 **Present and Discuss Current Events (Individual Class Members)
**Present and Discuss Readings (Groups)
--David Hudson & Lynette Preston (2003). “Sustainability and dematerialization at Hewlett-Packard.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 82-92. (Group 1).
--Derek Smith (2003). “Engaging in change management: Transformation through sustainability strategy at Norm Thompson Outfitters.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 93-108. (Group 2).
--Matthew A. Klein (2003). Growing a sustainable business: Establishing and financing new ecologically and socially restorative ventures. In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 126-142. (Group 3).
**Analyze and Discuss Shorebank Case
--Shorebank Chicago Case (Distributed in Class)
--Jennifer Sokolove (2003). “Banking on sustainability: A case study of Shorebank Enterprise Pacific.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 169-200.
**Analyze and Discuss Bank of America and the Carlsbad Highlands Foreclosure, Parts A and B (Case 1 on website).
M 5/29 Memorial Day Holiday
T 5/30 Class Reports on Sustainable Colorado or Field Trip
**Ann Goodman (2000). “Implementing sustainability in service operations at Scandic Hotels,” Interfaces, 30: 202-214.
**Lisa Mastny (2002). “Redirecting international tourism.” In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2002. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 101-126.
W 5/31 **Present and Discuss Current Events (Individual Class Members)
**Lorinda R. Rowledge et al. (1999). “Patagonia.” In Mapping the Journey: Case Studies in Strategy and Action Toward Sustainable Development. Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf Publishing. 95-122.
**Lisa Mastny (2004). Purchasing for people and the planet. In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 122-143.
**Present and Discuss Readings (Groups)
--Sissel Waage & Juli Torok (2003). Organizational change for sustainability. In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 214-222. (Group 1).
--Hilary Bradbury (2003). Catalyzing action and organizational change: The role of personal and group (re)vitalization in sustainability initiatives. In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 223-241. (Groups 2 and 3)
--Sissel Waage (2003). “Conclusion: A shift towards sustainability within companies and the financial services sector.” In S. Waage (Ed.), Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi: Designing The Future of Business through Nature, Genius, and Compassion. Sheffield, UK. 242-243. (Groups 2 and 3).
R 6/1 **Present and Discuss Current Events (Individual Class Members)
**Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus (2004). “The death of environmentalism: Global warming politics in a post-environmental world.” (www.grist.org).
**Present and Discuss Readings (Groups)
--Sharon Livesey (1999). “McDonald’s and the Environmental Defense Fund: A case study of a green alliance.” Journal of Business Communication, 36: 5-39. (Group 1)
--Paul Argenti (2004). “Collaborating with activists: How Starbucks works with NGOs.” California Management Review, 47: 91-116. (Group 2)
--Edwin R. Stafford et al. (2003). “Forces driving environmental innovation diffusion in China: The case of Greenfreeze.” Business Horizons, 46: 47-56. (Group 3)
**Jennifer L. Turner & Lu Zhi (2006). Building a green civil society in China. In Linda Starke (Ed.), State of the World 2006. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 152-170.
F 6/2 Final Exam
**To access readings that are not in Ants, Galileo, & Gandhi or State of the World 2004, type in the following URL: http://www.coba.usf.edu/jermier/summer06/
Add the name of the author to the end of the URL to bring up the reading as a pdf file. For example, to retrieve the article by Argenti that we will discuss on R, 6/1, type in
http://www.coba.usf.edu/jermier/summer06/argenti.pdf
ARGENTI.pdf
ASSADOURIAN.pdf
BEAMISH.pdf
BELL6.pdf
BELL7.pdf
CASE1.pdf
CHARMAN.pdf
CONNER.pdf
DUBOSE.pdf
GARDNER.pdf
GELBSPAN.pdf
GOODMAN.pdf
HALME.pdf
HAWKEN.pdf
LIVESEY.pdf
MANGU-WARD.pdf
MASTNY.pdf
MCGINN.pdf
MCKIBBEN.pdf
MITROFF.pdf
MORGAN2.pdf
MORGAN3.pdf
MORGAN9.pdf
NIERENBERG.pdf
RITZER.pdf
ROWLEDGE.pdf
SHELLENBERGER.pdf
SINGER.pdf
STAFFORD.pdf
TRASH Folder
TURNER.pdf
WELFORD.pdf
Classroom Presentations
During the Maymester term, you will be asked to make three types of classroom presentations. Each presentation will require background reading and other preparation. The purpose of these presentations is to give you an opportunity to enrich the classroom sessions with your own learning inputs and to help develop the course as a true seminar.
When requested on the assignment sheet, you should come to class prepared to discuss a current event in the news relating to the course. Select an event from various news sources, read the story, and be prepared to summarize key points about the story in less than 5 minutes. Photo copy or print the news article (provide complete source bibliography) and turn it in to me on the day we discuss it.
You can draw your article from newspapers, periodicals or other reputable sources. You might also want to review the following websites because they provide a news clipping service. Subscriptions to these sites are free online. If you select a story the news clipping services is featuring, you should also go to the original source and read and print that article.
Daily Grist (www.grist.org)
Environment News Service (www.ens-newswire.com/)
Rachel’s News (www.rachel.org/home_eng.htm)
Planet Ark (www.planetark.org/)
Early in the term, we will form small groups who will be semi-randomly assigned to present readings and classroom material and lead the discussion to bring out the key learning points. As a group, you should determine how you want to handle these presentations. You should strive to perform as a team, making sure that everyone’s inputs are expected, respected and used. Normally, we will be able to summarize and discuss a reading in 15 minutes or less.
On three consecutive days (5/23-5/25), we will begin the class with a group presentation on Galileo and creativity, Gandhi and compassion, and Ants and social organization, respectively. When your group is scheduled to present, do enough background research to be able to educate class participants on the basics and some fine points related to these figures and be prepared to elaborate the metaphor. For example, who was Galileo? What kind of life did he live? What did he accomplish? What can we learn about creativity from him? Raise questions for the class to consider, as appropriate. We will devote approximately 15 minutes to each metaphor.
Choose an organization in Colorado that has accomplished something special in the area of environmental protection or restoration. Prepare a 1500 word, 6 page summary of the organization’s accomplishments and present your research on the organization in class. We will devote about 20 minutes of class time to each presentation. More information about this assignment will be presented early in the term.