FIVE-YEAR
STRATEGIC PLAN The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise— a dual-degree partnership between the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE)—prepares future business leaders to tackle global sustainability challenges.
ERB MISSION
[ 2015-2020 ]
CREATE A SUSTAINABLE WORLD THROUGH THE POWER OF BUSINESS
PROGRESS Since the Institute’s creation nearly 20 years ago, we have seen encouraging progress made by the private sector in addressing social and environmental problems around the world.
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INCREASES IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY
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ENHANCED CLIMATE RESILIENCE
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IMPROVED WORKING CONDITIONS
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CLEARER ROLE FOR BUSINESS IN RESPECTING HUMAN RIGHTS With those goals in mind, the Erb Institute undertook a strategic
BUT WE STILL HAVE WORK TO DO Despite the progress, we still have work to do if our goal is to flourish as a society where we use no more resources than our Earth provides, and opportunities and consequences are distributed equitably.
review in 2014 with extensive input from Erb stakeholders and business partners around the world
STUDENTS
ALUMNI
FACULTY
ADVISORY BOARDS
The outcome is a 2015-20 strategic plan that aims to prepare business leaders with the practical tools and professional wisdom to get things done for sustainability in companies large and small.
This overall strategy rests on two pillars.
STRATEGY
First, we will maintain our approach of making change from within the current
Cultivate bold business leaders who adeptly transform companies, industries, and entire economies for systemic sustainability.
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system—what we call “enterprise integration.” Second, we will complement this pillar by adding efforts to develop and test new business models aimed at the more dramatic shifts necessary to achieve the sustainable world we all strive for. We refer to this second pillar as “market transformation.” Thought leadership in both pillars will strive to complement scholarly research with the creation of practical management tools and experiences for impact today.
STRATEGIC PILLARS
ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION
2 MARKET TRANSFORMATION
Cultivate practical change agents with the tools and
Foster new ideas and practice that transform markets
experience to effectively integrate sustainability into
toward systemic sustainability and define business as a
today’s business practice across companies, industries,
force for good in the world.
and geographies.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
BROAD SUSTAINABILITY
Bring an international perspective, with local sensitivity, to inherently global sustainability challenges.
SYSTEMS APPROACH
Complement an understanding of environmental issues with social criteria for a more holistic response.
Underlying the pillars are three “lenses” that we’ll rely on to focus our efforts, and deepen our impact, over the NEXT FIVE YEARS.
LENSES
A global perspective will recognize the huge, and accelerating, sustainability impact of emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil.
Understand complex sustainability problems more completely through systems thinking across industries and disciplines.
A broad view of sustainability will allow us to see new opportunities at the intersection of business, environment, social, and human rights issues. A systems approach will remind us that sustainability challenges are complex and inter-connected, and that our responses need to draw on resources and experiences from across industries, sectors, and academic disciplines.
WHAT DOES THIS APPROACH LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE? Below are our desired five-year outcomes, and a sample of objectives in pursuit of those outcomes. We will continue to develop specific metrics for use by Erb staff to guide our daily work.
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ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION
OUTCOMES BY YEAR 5
Thought Leadership
• Erb students and alumni have the inspiration, knowledge, and tools to make companies sustainable.
• Toolboxes: Research and develop a series of practical tool boxes for sustainability integration into company decision-making.
• Erb alumni are supportive of the Institute, and of each other, throughout their lifelong pursuit of sustainability.
Students & Alumni
• Business practitioners turn to Erb for the tools and resources they need to make their companies sustainable.
• Stabilize annual class size at roughly 25 students by Erb Class of 2020. • Complete and implement Erb Roadmap for the three-year student learning experience, including revised Erb Seminar.
Marketing & Communications
• Host workshops focused on practical tools and approaches for sustainability change agents not covered elsewhere in Ross/SNRE curricula.
• Content Creation: Create high-impact videos of Erb stories to motivate action among diverse audiences.
• Provide financial aid to maintain debt at or below that of the typical Ross MBA student.
• Content Curation: Maintain a recognized and well-frequented blog with a growing subscription rate.
• Test our enterprise integration tools with alumni and other partner organizations.
OBJECTIVES BY WORK AREA
• Content Promotion: Continue to grow our social-media channels with increased global reach.
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MARKET TRANSFORMATION
OUTCOMES BY YEAR 5
Thought Leadership
• Erb students and alumni have the confidence, knowledge, and wisdom throughout their careers to recognize and seize opportunities for transformative thought and action.
• Business Models: Research and define innovative business models that create economic value and promote sustainability.
• Forward-looking business leaders create value through Erb’s innovative business models. • Business leaders globally look to Erb for cutting-edge thought and action on sustainable business models and markets.
• Pilot Initiatives: Test new business models with our alumni and partner organizations. • Sustainable Markets: Research and define what market-level transformation will look like.
Students & Alumni
OBJECTIVES BY WORK AREA Marketing & Communications
• Hold at least one event annually for alumni community building, lifelong learning, and professional development.
• Web Presence: Increase web traffic and global brand awareness by internal and external stakeholders.
• Collaborate with alumni to pilot one of our bold ideas for new business models.
• Communications Toolboxes: Create communications and personalbranding tool boxes to help our students and alumni position themselves as effective change agents in a crowded marketplace.
• Strengthen and build the alumni community, both in-person (in Ann Arbor and alumni hubs) and virtually.
Ann Arbor, Michigan (734) 647.9799 erbinstitute@umich.edu
Connect with us: erb.umich.edu