| It is difficult to dispute that the earth's natural resources are being consumed at an ever increasing rate and that these resources have a limit. This is debated and discussed daily in every corner of society. It is in the news. We see solar panels appearing on roof tops. We see wind turbines appearing on mountain ranges. The authors, as management science educators in a small liberal arts college's business program became intrigued. Businesses are charged by their stock holders with returning a profit. Those that do, succeed. Those that do not, fade away. Can businesses make their required profit and still do the right thing? Can they invest in alternative energy programs such as wind and solar with high fixed cost bases but that in the long run reduce costs? Will the business short term profit goals support this? Can they initiate programs such as community gardens that are directed to helping society? That helps society but how does it help the bottom line? To help answer the questions the authors developed a course entitled: Sustainable operations: the right road to profitability. The goal was to take students on a journey that would look at a variety of businesses, both manufacturing and non-manufacturing, and examine their sustainable operations beliefs and their practices. We wanted to find out what businesses were actually doing. Was it in the company's DNA or was it sound bites and photo-ops? What we did, what we learned, what we hope to do to expand the course are the basis of this paper. |
Updated 02/23/2014