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2019/2020  KAN-CCMVI2086U  Green Ventures

English Title
Green Ventures

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration Summer
Start time of the course Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 80
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Finbarr Bradley - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
For academic questions related to the course, please contact instructor Finbarr Bradley at fbr.msc@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • CSR and sustainability
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Management
Teaching methods
  • Online teaching
Last updated on 16/04/2020

Relevant links
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Be able to create real value, having studied the stories of successful green/sustainable ventures from around the world.
  • Integrate natural, financial, cultural and social resources to develop an entrepreneurial venture that improves the well-being of others, the local community, society and planet.
  • Demonstrate how to set-up an innovative venture leading to a self-reliant community nurtured by a regenerative local economy.
  • Identify the positive role that one’s identity, culture, local community and sense of place play in getting successful ventures off the ground.
  • Be capable, while striving to live a flourishing life oneself, of offering authentic producs and services that contribute to the welfare of both humans and non-humans.
Course prerequisites
None
Examination
Green Ventures:
Exam ECTS 7.5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Ordinary exam: Home Assignment: 23/24 June-24 July 2020. Please note that exam will start on the first teaching day and will run in parallel with the course.
Retake exam: Home Assignment: 72-hour home assignment: 5–8 October 2020 – for all ISUP courses simultaneously
3rd attempt (2nd retake) exam: 72-hour home assignment: 23–26 November 2020 – for all ISUP courses simultaneously

Exam schedules available on https:/​/​www.cbs.dk/​uddannelse/​international-summer-university-programme-isup/​courses-and-exams
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Retake exam: 72-hour home project assignment, max. 10 pages, new exam question
Exam form for 3rd attempt (2nd retake): 72-hour home project assignment, max. 10 pages, new exam question
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach
There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift in the purpose and values of both enterprises and individuals to counter environmental and social problems such as biodiversity loss, global warming, climate change, deforestation, and income inequality. Relying solely on technical fixes, corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and various market-driven approaches will not ensure a thriving society and planet.
 
This course helps students understand how value, both monetary and non-monetary, is created and shared through the development of purpose-driven green or sustainable ventures. They learn how to imagine, set up and operate such ventures by exploring the relationships between a range of resources (e.g., natural, financial, cultural, social) and the creation and sharing of value. Concepts such as real value, regenerative innovation, materialism, eco-design, natural capital, whole systems thinking, zero-waste, circular economy and more, are covered.
 
Opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop meaningful solutions to reduce waste, foster ethical consumerism and limit biodiversity loss are discussed. Emphasis is on examining inspiring and creative ventures in a sectors such as food, arts, crafts, tourism and renewable energy.
 
The critical role that a sense of self, belonging, rootedness and identity play, especially in community-owned and place-based ventures, is also explored.
 
Students learn in classes that are as highly interactive through a combination of lectures, text, readings and case studies.
 
The home assignment/mini project consists of an essay (max. 15 pages) based on a research topic that covers the main theme and issues that run through the lectures, readings and case studies (due by 24 July).
 
Preliminary assignment: Read the following Case and prepare answers to 4 questions that focus on whether the company is successful or not in achieving its overall mission and purpose, its business model and approach to sustainability.
Case: Patagonia

Class 1: • Introduction to Fundamental Concepts
Summary: Overview of the course and introduction to concepts such as enterprise mission, purpose, real value creation, stakeholders and green entrepreneurship.                     
Text: Chapter 1
Case: Ben & Jerrys
 
Class 2: Imagining & Developing Green Ventures
Summary: Analysis of the entrepreneurial process, especially the crucial role played by meaning and purpose, and looking at ways that green entrepreneurship differs from conventional entrepreneurship in both theory and practice.
Case: Seaside Organics

Class 3: • Long-Term Oriented Ventures
Summary: Focus on enterprises that take a multi-generational perspective, and examination of the role of risk-consciousness, resource-allocation, reputation and rejuvenation in creating long-lasting value for stakeholders.                   
Text: Chapter 2
Case: Method
 
Class 4: Self-Restraint Ventures
Summary: Look at green ventures that recognise the need for self-limits, whether of people, environment, inequality or growth in exploring concepts such as eco-design, eco-efficiency, circular economy, industrial ecology, zero waste, and so forth.          
Text: Chapter 5
Case: Kalundborg
 
Class 5: • Emotional & Experiential Ventures
Summary: Explore how ventures that offer products and service where transformative experiences, shared meaning and innovative learning communities play a central role in the sustainable value creation process.
Text: Chapter 6
Case: illycaffè
 
Class 6: Green Venture Leadership
Summary: Look at work of highly unorthodox leaders who set up ventures to find deep meaning in their own lives while contributing to the quality of life of others.              
Text: Chapter 7
Case: Sonnentor

Feedback activity: A short paper (max. 4 pages) outlining progress to-date on his/her research report which is due at the end of the course (24 July).
Class 7: Community-Driven & Cooperative Ventures
Summary: Explore ventures with unconventional ownership structures designed to foster self-help and create enduring relationships that nurture an environment of trust within communities.
Text: Chapter 3
Case: Regionalwert
 
Class 8: Place-Based Ventures
Summary: Examine competitive advantages of ventures with a deep sense of place and stewardship in a world where people increasingly care about where a product comes from, who made it and how it was made. 
Text: Chapter 4
Case: Inis Meáin
 
Class 9: Authentic Rooted Ventures 
Summary: Explore products and services branded as green and authentic, rooted in unique or distinctive places, in sectors such as food, tourism, crafts, and so forth.              
Reading/Case: Bornholm
 
Class 10: Innovative Nordic Green Ventures
Summary: Highlight very innovative ventures in Nordic regions that promote green growth, focusing on those operating in the circular economy, bio-economy, cleantech, renewable energy and municipalities.             
Reading/Case: Green Growth in Nordic Regions
 
Class 11:The Future: Regenerative Ventures
Summary: Illuminate principles of living systems that regenerate themselves and the implications of this thinking for green ventures of the future.            
Reading/Case: Field Guide/Capital Institute
 
 
 
 
Description of the teaching methods
This year all courses are taught digitally over the Internet. Instructors will apply a mixture of direct teaching through a live link (like Skype, Team, Zoom…) and indirect, where visual pre-recorded material is uploaded on Canvas. The instructor will inform participants about the precise format on Canvas.
Feedback during the teaching period
The home assignment/mini project consists of an essay based on a research topic that covers the main theme and issues that run through the lectures, readings and case studies. Feedback is given based on a short paper (max. 4 pages) submitted by the student outlining progress to-date on his/her research report.

Home Project Assignments/mini projects are based on a research question (problem formulation) formulated by the students individually. Approval deadline will be defined by the instructor. Hand-in of the problem formulation directly to the instructor by the 3rd teaching week.
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 20 hours
Classroom attendance 33 hours
Preparation 126 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 20 hours
Further Information
Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.
 
Course timetable is available on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams
 
We reserve the right to cancel the course if we do not get enough applications. This will be communicated on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams end March 2020.
Expected literature

Mandatory readings:

 

Dietmar Sternad, James J. Kennelly & Finbarr Bradley, 'Digging Deeper: How Purpose-Driven Enterprises Create Real Value', Greenleaf Publishing/Routledge (UK), 2017 [ISBN 978-1-78353-539-2].***
 
***Note: Students don't need to buy this book as all chapters covered will be put up on the learning platform in pdf form.

 

Additional relevant readings:

 

Canals L. Jordi, 'Rethinking the firm’s mission and purpose', European Management Review, 7, 2010, pp. 195-204.
 
Michael E. Porter & Mark R. Kramer, 'Creating Shared Value', Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2011, pp. 62-77.
 
Duncan Austin, 'Greenwish: The Wishful Thinking Undermining the Ambition of Sustainable Business', Jul 2019.
 
David A. Lubin & Daniel C. Esty, 'The Sustainability Imperative', Harvard Business Review, May 2010, pp. 42-50.
 
Ram Nidumolu, C.K. Prahalad & M.R. Rangaswami, 'Why Sustainability is Now the Key Driver of Innovation', Harvard Business Review, Sep 2009, pp. 56-64.
 
Alex Markevich, 'The Evolution of Sustainability', MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2009, pp. 13-14.
 
B. Joseph Pine II & James H. Gilmore, 'Welcome to the Experience Economy', Harvard Business Review, Jul-Aug 1998, pp. 97-105.
 
Anne Lise Kjaer, 'Emotional Consumption', Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies/Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning, fo022006, pp.13-17.
 
Marjorie Kelly, 'Owning our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution' [Excerpt], Berrett-Koehler, 2012.
 
Paul Shrivastava & James J. Kennelly, 'Sustainability and Place-Based Enterprise', Organization & Environment, 26(1), 2013, pp. 83-101.
 
UNEP, 'The Industrial Symbiosis in Kalundborg', Denmark, mimeo, no date.
 
John Fullerton, 'Regenerative Capitalism: How Universal Principles and Pattern will Shape our New Economy', Capital Institute, Apr 2015.
 
Donella Meadows, 'Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System', The Sustainability Institute, 1989.
 
Peter Volz, 'The Regionalwert AG – An Integrative Financing Concept for Sustainable Regional Transformation', Die Agronauten, 29 Mar 2011.
 
Pope Francis, 'Laudato Si’ ['Our Care for our Common Home'], Papal Encyclical, 2015.
 
Amory B. Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins & Paul Hawken, 'A Roadmap for Natural Capitalism', Harvard Business Review, May-Jun 1999, pp. 145-158.
 
Laura B. DeLind, 'Place, work, and civic agriculture: Common field for cultivation', Agriculture and Human Values, 19 (3), 2002, pp. 217-224.
 
Alfred Marcus, Joel Malen & Shmuel Ellis, 'The Promise and Pitfalls of Venture Capital as an Asset Class for Clean Energy Investment, Organization & Environment, Mar 2013, 26 (1), pp. 31-60.
 
Last updated on 16/04/2020