Accenture Assists oikos Hamburg to Define their Strategy

In December oikos Hamburg has won a workshop with the consulting company Accenture Strategy, which is a partner of oikos since a long time. Now on the 15th of March 2016 we – 7 enthusiastic and highly motivated oikees from Hamburg – meet with two consultants at the University of Hamburg in order to learn more about concept and tools for strategy making in the workshop. But we didn’t want to only speak about strategies in general, but also work on a strategy for oikos Hamburg.

In the beginning we got to know different methods as well as tools and the consultants explained the possible application options with examples of their daily experiences. In the first concept, called “strategy house”, the vision together with the mission and the self-image are the roof for different focus topics. The focus topics are then specified by belonging activities, goals and key performance indicators. Furthermore, we learned more about the “Theory of Change” and applied it to oikos Hamburg. According to this theory the input and activities of an organization result in the output, outcome and finally in its impact.

Additionally, we worked out three key questions that are relevant for oikos Hamburg. This questions were specified in a stepwise process in order to come up with necessary activities in the end. Many of the resulting activities are already performed by oikos Hamburg, but the new activities should be included in an action plan. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to prepare the action plan in the workshop.

We would have loved to have more time to speak about the strategy of oikos Hamburg. In upcoming months, we plan some internal workshops to determine our strategy, because we noticed that this process needs much time and care.

Written by Pauline Sprenger, oikos Hamburg member 2016

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oikos International

posted March 28, 2016

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oikos Newsletter March 2016

February was a win a for many of us. A universal plea was heard and Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar to give a talk on Climate Change. Moving on to the world of oikees, we got together and questioned how to feed the world at the oikos Winter School. There also was the LEAP webinar on fundraising and partnerships by Michèle Joanisse who works as Head of External Relations at DNDi in Geneva. As March approaches, we gear up for the oikos Spring Meeting in Lille, France which will be followed in April by the oikos Asia Meet in Vellore, India. There are also some very final reminders in this newsletter, such as the opportunity to apply to become the next oikos President, participating in the oikos PhD Finance Academy and more.
 
Happy reading!

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oikos International

posted March 23, 2016

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LEAP Webinar | The Importance of Responsible Education

On 7th of April 2016 at 5pm (CET) will take place the LEAP Webinar on “The Importance of Responsible Education”.  Mehdi Majidi will be sharing his experience with the oikos community.
 
Register now here:
 

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About Mehdi Majidi

24428ddDr. Majidi is a university professor and international consultant in sustainable socioeconomic development and cross-cultural management. He has served as the Chair of International Business Administration (IBA) Department at the American University of Paris (AUP) and Director of a graduate program he created on cross-cultural and sustainable business management. In these positions he has strategized and implemented a new vision across the department to integrate business management education with liberal arts and aligning its learning objectives with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (UN PRME) objectives creating a balanced technical skills and holistic understanding educational approach. His recent professional interest and academic research are focused on cultural values and sustainable development while extending his work toward secular spirituality and sustainability. He advocates social entrepreneurship as an effective initiative for socioeconomic transition toward sustainable development.
 
His consulting projects include assessment of innovative projects and innovations for commercialization, educational curriculum development, professional training programs, industrial development, workforce development, and the design of a solution to measure, monitor, and evaluate the dynamics of the socioeconomic progress of a country based on international standards indexes. He has worked at, and consulted for, Coopers and Lybrand (C&L), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)’s Global Consulting and IBM Global Business Services, at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the World Bank and the National Technology Transfer Center of Kazakhstan (World Bank grant initiatives).
 
Read more about his projects here.

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oikos International

posted March 23, 2016

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Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: The Sustainability Equation?

In order to achieve a sustainable growth and to respond to social pressures, firms develop their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy. Corporate Governance, especially the board of directors, plays here a strategic role by integrating the environmental, social and societal objectives in the decision-making process. Based on the French case, this dissertation analyzes how corporate governance may foster CSR inside firms. First, I demonstrate that CSR motivation is an important trigger of CSR awareness. Second, I study how the composition of board of directors theoretically affects firm outcomes. Third, I evaluate three CSR demands from shareholders, stakeholder and society in terms of board composition (independence, stakeholder representation and gender diversity inside the boardroom) and their impact on firm performances. I conclude with some recommendations in terms of public policy and regulation to foster sustainable development through firms.

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oikos International

posted March 22, 2016

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CSR and Human Rights Under the Light of a Game Theory Approach

The thesis will demonstrate Bilancini and Boncinelli (2014)’s model of two players with a signal-sending player making an offer of two types, namely high quality and low quality, and sending either high or low signal on the offer; and the signal-receiving player who perceives and processes the signal in either of two elaboration levels, namely high elaboration or low elaboration with the emergence of coarse thinking. Different strategic and psychological behaviors result in expected utilities that define equilibrium states. The game proves to be a suitable model to explain Giuliani (2014)’s definition of low-road, window-dressing and rights-oriented clusters as per CSR adoption and human rights practice. The concept of window-dressing cluster/firm will be analyzed under the model with regard to the reverse-signaling phenomenon where a low quality player sends high signal and vice versa which is compatible with the silent CSR cluster/firm concept.

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oikos International

posted March 22, 2016

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Become the First oikos Associate!

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oikos members across the world engage on a broad range of sustainability topics – both through extracurricular activities as well as in the classroom and their research. Their agendas range from A as in alternative economic indicators to Z like zero carbon future. More information here!

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oikos International

posted March 21, 2016

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#EntreMind As Theme of the Spring Meeting 2016

Wherever the oikos community goes, they bring the sun, even where it almost never shines: Lille. On Thursday March 17th, after an intense Presidents’ Meeting the previous day, oikos members from around the world were welcomed at the EDHEC Business School by the oikos Lille team. The Spring Meeting 2016 kicked off with a very important Legislative Meeting. We elected next Executive Board members, three more Full Chapters and the next oikos President: Levan Pangani. Once finished with the intense Legislative Meeting, members were taken on a small Lille tour and finished an unlimited “Tarte Flamande” meal at a typical restaurant in the city centre.

On the second day and first official conference day, Ignace Schops and Francois Tasmowski came to visit by giving an interactive lecture on the entrepreneurial mindset both inside, and outside, corporate formats. As pioneers in the field they inspired members and followed intense discussions. The day then moved onto 4 workshops and 6 oikos Learning Circles, led by oikos members. Learning Circles on Finance, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Fashion, Management and Energy were executed where members had the opportunity to learn by doing and engage in true experiential learning with each other. The evening ended with delicious French “Gallettes” and “Crepes” as dinner.

On the third day participants started the day with a challenge called “Hold Up”. With the mission of solving a challenge for an NGO working on fishery sustainability, participants went through an original methodology to come up with realistic and implementable solutions. The guest was impressed and happy with the results oikos members proposed. The day continued with the oikos Project Fair and the introduction of the call for applications for the First oikos Associate. The day ended with a Pitch Contest where small groups gave their best pitches for more sustainability in cities of their choice. The winning team came up with the “Good Jim” a gym that generates energy for multiple purposes whilst you work out. The final dinner was composed of another regional dish and beer elected as best in the world.

See you at the FutureLab 2016!

You may also read more on the oikos Vienna blog here.

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oikos International

posted March 20, 2016

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oikos Featured in UN PRME Student-Driven Organisations

As partners of PRME, oikos attempts to raise youth voices towards a more responsible management education. Last week we were featured as one of the top student-driven organizations that universities around the world should have to improve their students’ leadership formation.

Read the entry here: http://primetime.unprme.org/2016/03/07/global-student-networks-engaged-in-sustainability-in-management-education

It is never too late to engage in the oikos journey. Contact us or start a chapter, see how to do so here!

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oikos International

posted March 11, 2016

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Undress

More information here.

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oikos International

posted March 11, 2016

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oikos Model WTO

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oikos International

posted March 11, 2016

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