Stern Launches Center For Sustainability

Tensie Whelan is the Founding Director of NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business. Courtesy photo

CURRICULAR INFLUENCES ON THE HORIZON

In addition to researching and writing cases, Whelan says she’ll be teaching a sustainability for competitive advantage course in addition to the two social impact courses she already instructs. The competitive advantage course will be offered to undergraduate students in the fall and graduate students in the spring of 2017.

The Center will also work with professors in core courses to integrate sustainability ideas. According to Whelan, an emphasis will be put on “integrative reporting.”

“More and more companies are looking at how to report on their social and environmental positive impact as well as their finances and how they actually integrate those things together,” insists Whelan.

“The innovative and forward-thinking companies are the ones that are mainstreaming sustainability,” continues Whelan. “And they’re looking for students who have that type of background.”

Whelan says the Center is also in the process of establishing multiple internships and consulting projects for students. One example Whelan gives is “developing new financing mechanisms for green infrastructure related to storm run-off in New York City.” Students will have the opportunity to work with the Natural Resources Defense Council and focus on ways to turn the 90% of concrete that makes up New York City into more green space, which Whelan says will help “alleviate run-off from major rain events” in New York City.

EVEN OLD SPICE CAN DO THEIR PART

The increasing focus on sustainability from elite B-schools is a shift in public demand and a relatively newfound focus on stakeholders, Whelan says.

“In the 80’s businesses were told to focus 100% on increasing shareholder wealth,” says Whelan. “And what we cared about was growing quarter results in terms of the stock amounts and then said the rest of the stakeholders are not important. Or at least not as important as the shareholders.”

But the times have changed, believes Whelan.

“There is much higher expectations from the public around businesses providing value back to society,” Whelan explains, citing the Edelman Trust Barometer. “Even if it’s a deodorant, there’s a lot you can do from the environmental and social side.”

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