oikos at PRME Global Forum

Author: Oliver Braunschweig, co-founder and co-president of oikos NYC.

On July 18th and 19th 2017 a group of fine, dedicated, critical, and engaged teachers, professors, and heads of Academic programs and schools came together to celebrate and collaborate. It was the ten year anniversary of the UN PRME, the Principles on Responsible Management Education. PRME is the “largest organised relationship between the United Nations and business schools, with the PRME Secretariat housed in the UN Global Compact Office”, and it focuses on the SDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals. As the president of oikos NYC I was so lucky to participate and represent the oikos network at this celebration.

I was very positively struck by the genuine drivenness, interest, and critical approach to learning that I encountered there. Of course, my personal experience there offers only a small glimpse into the actual makeup of this network of schools and of the people active in it, but I was impressed by what I saw. The discussions I had there with professors, lecturers, heads of educational programs, and activists were engaged and constructive. The workshops I was lucky enough to participate in used innovative and engaging educational approaches, and educators were eager to share their ways to engage students to better understand the multiple facets of what it means to be an active member of society. The PRME being about Business Education this meant looking for ways to go beyond a simple focus on profitability, but to include political, social, and ecological issues as well, or rather: to make sure that profitability is aligned with these other aspects of sustainable development.

Out of the many projects shown there, I’ll quickly present two which left an impression on me for one reason or another, the third being the one I presented there on behalf of oikos international. Further below you’ll find a few more links to diverse projects, videos, and articles:

One educator who was present at PRME had started a movement where students would wear their clothes inside-out for a few days every year. This started a lot of conversations about who made the clothes we wear, raised awareness, and even went as far as to give rise to demands for companies to publish information about the social impact of their supply chain.

Another really cool tool which was developed and presented at PRME17 is GapFrame .  Its basic goal is to give a good overview over the SDG-compatibility of countries at a glance, enabling people to quickly understand the most important challenges for each country. (Check out their awesome video explaining how it works or read one of the Academic papers underpinning the tool here) But for all of those who would like to know it at a basic level: It plots how well countries, regions, and industries do when it comes to the SDGs and a few more issues. Through this, it gives scores based on how urgent action is, following the 80/20-rule, i.e. focus on where you’re worst first, because it will be the most rewarding course of action.  I immediately thought that this is a great way to prompt students to see through the thicket that the SDG might seem like at a first glance. And it might help focus new research in order to get closer to a long-term livable world.

As part of the student representative, I was able to present the oikos PRME Research Hub. It is a place where students can upload their own research and work on issues related to issues of sustainability (and to the Sustainable Development Goals in particular). Instead of having all of these term papers be lost in a folder on a computer, this creates an easily searchable repository for many pieces of work created every year at schools and universities, and it allows students to publish research while retaining full ownership over their work.

In ending this short report, I would like to congratulate the whole UN PRME team on a very successful ten year anniversary. It gave room to celebrate, to look forward to more SDG education, to learn, and to share ideas. The days went very smooth and the speakers were very well-chosen which let shine through how much care was put into organizing the conference. In total, it is my opinion that the team made the most out of the conference and it is indeed a great pleasure to have been there.

And here are, as promised, a few more resources in case you’re looking for more collaborative tools and some more info:
Sulitest (a tool which allows to test and improve sustainability literacy), 
Wikirate (an online collaborative tool to research corporate impact and publicize it 

Or take a look at these videos online:
excerpts from UN PRME ,
the whole livestream of the event here (day 1 and day 2 )

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oikos International

posted July 30, 2017

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oikos Newsletter July 2017

We want you to be a part of the oikos 30th Anniversary Celebration! Join us from October 12th to the 14th in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Please fill out your application as soon as possible. We have already accepted members and alumni from several chapters and the spots are filling up quickly. The last deadline for us to select new participants is August 18th. Read more about the Anniversary Celebration on our website.

In this Newsletter you can read about the FutureLab updates, find out how you can be an oikos Executive Board member, how you can be a part of the Central and Eastern European Regional Meeting in Baku (Azerbaijan), access the LEAP Advanced registration form, and meet Rocío Robinson, our new international management team member, in our “30 seconds with” section.

Enjoy the July edition of our newsletter and follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay updated!

Happy Reading.

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oikos International

posted July 9, 2017

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Publication of 2017 oikos Case Writing Competition finalists – 7 new free cases available

We just published the finalist cases of this year’s oikos Case Writing Competition!
Whether you are a lecturer teaching courses in management, entrepreneurship or finance, or a student wanting to explore current sustainability challenges in your studies – these cases will provide fresh input to your classroom experience!

Out of 13 finalists, 6 cases are now available for free as part of our oikos Free Case Collection. Inspection copies of 7 cases are available for download and can be purchased at the Case Centre very soon. Please find the links to all cases below.

Free cases and inspection copies of last years’ winners are available here.

Winners of the 2017 Competition

Corporate Sustainability Track

Free Case!

1st Prize

The venture Freitag: From recycled bags to sustainable fashion by Reinhard von Wittken (TUM School of Management at Technical University of Munich, Germany)

2nd Prize

Uber and the Ethics of Sharing: Exploring the Societal Promises and Responsibilities of the Sharing Economy by Erin McCormick and N. Craig Smith (INSEAD)

Free Case!

3rd Prize

Wind in the Sails: Managing Social Acceptance of Large Wind Energy Projects in Switzerland by Anna Ebers Broughel (University of St Gallen, Switzerland)

Runner-up

Enrich Not Exploit: Can New CSR Strategy Help Body Shop Regain  Glory? by Syeda Maseeha Qumer and Debapratim Purkayastha (both from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad)

Free Case!

Runner-up

Tongwei – Sustainability Entrepreneurship Through Market – Political Ambidexterity by Xyanwei Cao (XJTLU, China)

Social Entrepreneurship Track

Free Case!

1st Prize

Dharani: Nurturing the earth, fostering farmers’ livelihoods

by Joseph Satish V (Centre for Knowledge, Culture and Innovation Studies at University of Hyderabad, India) and C Shambu Prasad (Institute of Rural Management Anand, India).

Free Case!

2nd Prize

Coming to Fruition: Fresh Truck Aims to Increase Food Access in Boston

by Nardia Haigh, Anya Weber, Jennie Msall (all from University of Massachusetts Boston, USA)

3rd Prize

Bridge International Academies by Manish Agarwal and D. Satish (IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, India)

Free Case!

Runner-up

eVidyaloka-Digital Classrooms for the Underprivileged by Atul Kumar Singh and Vanishree Sattiraju (XLRI Jamshedpur, India)

Runner-up

Ten Thousand Villages in Crisis: Can the Fair Trade Pioneer Survive and Flourish in an Economic Downturn? by Anna Kim (HEC Montréal, Canada) and Cécilia Renaud (CHUM, Canada)

Sustainable Finance Track

1st Prize

A Burrito Without Integrity: Is This Chipotle for Me? by Vijaya (Narapareddy) Zinnoury (Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, US)

2nd Prize

The Fall of SunEdison – A Solar Eclipse? by Alok Kavthankar and Indu Perepu (IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, India)

Free Case!

3rd Prize

Refugee Labor Market Integration – An Impact Investment Case Study by Marc Hassler (Maastricht University School of Business and Economics)

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oikos International

posted July 3, 2017

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Uber and the Ethics of Sharing: Exploring the Societal Promises and Responsibilities of the Sharing Economy

Abstract

This case explores the changes wrought by the “sharing economy”, examining the innovations and controversies surrounding the online ride-hailing service Uber. It provides a unique overview of the challenges posed by new business models like Uber’s, which use the internet to link individual providers of goods and services to customers. Raising significant economic, social and environmental sustainability issues, it asks: what are the responsibilities of “sharing economy” companies? More specifically, are they merely “technological platforms” facilitating transactions for private individuals or do they have the same responsibilities as real-world companies such as transportation businesses, hotels and employment agencies?

Author N. Craig Smith
Erin McCormick
InstitutionsINSEAD
Competition Year2017
PlaceSecond Prize
TrackCorporate Sustainability
Key WordsEthics, Shared Economy
CoursesSustainable Finance, Strategic Management, Finance, Business Sustainability, Business and Society, or Environmental Entrepreneurship
Target AudienceMBAs, Undergrads
Permission rightsThis case will be published by INSEAD. You find an inspection copy for download as soon as it is available in the link bellow.
DownloadInspection Copy
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oikos International

posted July 3, 2017

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