Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/57462
attention from the question 'What do we want?' to 'How do we do it? How do we turn the social and global issues of our day into bona fide business opportunities?' Toyota, says its president Katsuaki Watanabe, plans to design "a vehicle that purifies the air we breathe." A few short years ago, each of these developments would have been scoffed at, at least from an oversimplified perspec- tive of shareholder value or profit maximization. Today, we are finding sustainable value leaders emerging as the top-rat- ed stars in every industry. In October 2006, the United Nations Global Compact and the Academy of Management partnered with Case West- ern Reserve University to establish The Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. The B.A.W.B. Global Forum brought together more than 1,000 of the world's most visionary business executives, management scholars, policy makers, and young student leaders. It was a remark- able summit, which launched the global initiative creating the "Principles for Responsible Management Education" (see "The PRME Essentials," page 18). On the second day of the forum, we asked people to step beyond today's innovations to imagine their ideal world of 2020. They envisioned a world that: n has created a bright-green restorative economy that purifies the air we breathe. n has eliminated the waste and toxic byproducts. n has eradicated extreme poverty and preventable disease. n is powered through renewable energy innovations. n has made empowered prosperity accessible to everyone in the world. n is supported by positive market incentives aligned with the long-term social good. n has eliminated "perverse incentives" that work against not just society, but business itself. An Invitation The Second Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit, held June 3 to 6, 2009, will cover topics of sustainable design and explore the theme "Managing as Designing in an Era of Massive Innovation." Visit www.worldinquiry.org for information about its call for papers and the list of speakers, which includes designer William McDonough and visionary economist Jeffrey Sachs. n has inspired a corporate citizenship movement, which in turn has united sustainable design and business strategy into a positive race to the top. n is a globally inclusive system that respects and replenish- es the health of people, diverse communities, and the wealth of nature. n has built its economy on a network of institutions that are trusted to elevate, magnify, and refract our highest human strengths into the world. n celebrates those who create sustainable value and global solutions. In many ways, this vision reflects an unprecedented and increasingly shared global vision, one that is uncoordinated but emerging everywhere. But how can we achieve it? In a nutshell, management will help us achieve it—the management of innovation. From "What?" to "How?" In each of my classes, I ask students to reflect on and improve the 2020 scenario envisioned at the B.A.W.B. forum. Invari- ably, students spontaneously shift their attention from the question "What do we want?" to "How do we do it? How do we turn the social and global issues of our day into bona fide business opportunities?" It's a new question. It's loaded. It suggests that adopting sustainable practices is not an obligation for businesses—it's a contemporary differentiator, a foundation for success. It promises to lead businesses to surprising new discoveries, stronger profits, and greater significance to society. Recently, a group of Weatherhead students and I worked with a local Fortune 500 company to hold a 300-person Appreciative Inquiry Summit on "the ten largest global problems facing humankind." Machine operators, C-suite executives, customers, and suppliers went to work, asking important questions: How can we use the lens of sustain- able value creation to spark innovation in new products and operations, open new markets, ignite customer passion and loyalty, energize an entire workforce, accelerate learning, build better supply chains, reduce risks? How can we radi- cally bring down energy costs, strengthen brand loyalty, and generate higher market cap? Participants prototyped and showcased game-changing innovations—everything from a fuel-cell hybrid truck to factories designed to achieve radical increases in resource conservation and energy productivity. Today, this company has what it calls "the innovation room," a space designed to encourage collaboration and inspire multistakeholder innovation. 36 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2008 Students spontaneously shift their