On April 30th, UNC Kenan-Flagler and the Center for Sustainable Enterprise recognized the outstanding achievements of the 95 students in the MBA Class of 2013 (33% of the class) who completed the Enrichment Concentration in Sustainable Enterprise. At the concentration ceremony, Dean James Dean and MBA Net Impact President Liz Love presented the 2013 Core Faculty Champion in Sustainability Award to Chris Bingham, Associate Professor and Phillip Hettleman Fellow of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. The Core Faculty Champion in Sustainability Award was created by the MBA Net Impact chapter as a way to recognize UNC Kenan-Flagler core faculty members who are excelling at incorporating sustainability into the content and delivery of their core classes. According to Liz Love (MBA ’14), the Read More
Author Archives: Jessica Thomas
Focusing on Water at UNC Kenan-Flagler
As part of UNC-Chapel Hill’s two-year, pan-university theme “Water in our World,” UNC Kenan-Flagler has taken significant strides to incorporate a focus on water in its own right, integrating the theme into the education and experiences of students. The Center for Sustainable Enterprise (CSE), along with partners across campus, hosted “Water and Energy in the Crosshairs,” a symposium in February that featured local and global experts in an exploration of the issues found at the nexus of water and energy. It highlighted UNC-Kenan Flagler’s commitment to addressing the problems and potential solutions surrounding the world’s finite water and energy resources, says Carol Seagle, CSE director of research and a strategy and entrepreneurship professor. “Most of the events were standing room Read More
UNC Kenan-Flagler Ranked No. 3 for CSR/Ethics by The Financial Times
UNC Kenan-Flagler was ranked No. 3 globally for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics in the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings 2013, in which 155 business schools from 28 countries participated. The annual Financial Times ranking is based on surveys of alumni who graduated in 2009 as well as surveys of business schools and data provided by the schools. The rankings of the top 10 schools in selected categories can be found here and the top 10 schools for CSR/Ethics can be found below. For over a decade, UNC Kenan-Flagler has been a global leader in providing students with the tools and strategies to advance corporate social responsibility and ethics. MBA students can take courses in the world class Sustainable Read More
UNC Kenan-Flagler Ranked No. 7 for Sustainability by Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek surveyed the MBA Class of 2012 about the full range of their business school experiences, and we are pleased to report that UNC Kenan-Flagler was ranked No. 7 globally in the area of sustainability. Kenan-Flagler was also ranked No. 7 in leadership development in the same report. “We have invested in these two areas for a number of years in an effort to create exceptional programs, and it is clear that this is paying off,” said James W. Dean Jr., dean of UNC Kenan-Flagler. “Our students are graduating with world-class knowledge and skills in leadership and sustainability. This is a wonderful time to be studying or working at UNC Kenan-Flagler.” Following is a excerpt of Bloomberg Businessweek’s “MBA Read More
UNC’s Global Sustainability Symposium presents “Water and Energy in the Crosshairs”
UNC’s Global Sustainability Symposium presents “Water and Energy in the Crosshairs” What: Conference on global environmental challenges and solutions When: Feb. 6 (6:30 pm), Feb. 7 (5:30–8 pm) and Feb. 8, 2013 (8 am–4 pm) Where: UNC-Chapel Hill Details and registration “Water and Energy in the Crosshairs” is the third in a four-part series on global sustainability bringing together local and global experts to explore key issues related to water and energy in an inter-disciplinary and community gathering. The symposium gathers a diverse audience comprised of faculty, students, business and civic leaders, and citizens of the tri-county region near UNC, with the goal of increasing understanding of issues important to human and ecological peace, health, and well-being. Beyond education, the Read More
Turning Waste into Opportunity
By Corey Barnes (MBA ’14) Can entrepreneurship save the world? During UNC’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise sponsored an event where Tom Szaky, Founder of Terracycle, and several other entrepreneurs discussed how their companies have emerged to solve world problems, both on a local and international scale. Waste into Opportunity Waste is uniquely human. There is no waste in the rest of nature, but somehow we’ve created the notion that there are certain items we export to landfills to reside in perpetuity. But what happens when we turn this idea on its head and begin to look at garbage, not as waste, but as an opportunity? Tom Szaky has capitalized on the opportunity of waste to Read More
Katie Kross (MBA ’04) Leads New NC Sustainability Center
On Thursday, Nov. 29, business executives, entrepreneurs, and community leaders attended a fundraising and networking reception to launch the North Carolina Sustainability Center (NCSC). Clean energy investment fund Cherokee hosted the event at its ‘green’ headquarters in downtown Raleigh. UNC Kenan-Flagler alumna Katie Kross (MBA ’04) directs NCSC’s daily operations as president of the organization. “Sustainability is not only about preserving our environmental and cultural assets,” Katie said. “It’s about making North Carolina’s businesses and communities more competitive. It’s a means for attracting top-tier companies to the state.” It was at UNC Kenan-Flagler that Katie was introduced to sustainability as an approach to corporate strategy. After her MBA, Kross managed the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at Kenan-Flagler and then helped create Read More
UNC Kenan-Flagler Sustainability in Action Trek to Pepsi Bottling Ventures
Guest blog post by Stuward Hsu (MBA ’13) On November 16th, the UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Operations Management Club hosted an industry trek to Pepsi Bottling Ventures (PBV) to see how the well-known company applies the strategy of continuous improvement and to help students understand sustainable operations and supply chain management. PBV’s Senior Vice President in Operations & Supply Chain, Matthew Bucherati, led the factory visit and carefully explained each manufacturing process. Through his introduction, we found that the company and employees are really proud of their efforts on product quality, food safety and environmental strategy. PBV’s sustainability initiatives are far reaching and extend through their supply chain from process innovations in production, to the vehicles used to bring the product to Read More
UNC Kenan-Flagler Welcomes Tom Szaky, Founder of TerraCycle, 10/14, 5:30pm
Please join us for How Entrepreneurship Can Save Our Planet A UNC Global Entrepreneurship Week Event Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Koury Auditorium, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School RVSP Requested Hosted by UNC Kenan-Flagler Center for Sustainable Enterprise, MBA Net Impact Chapter, Undergraduate Net Impact Chapter and Energy Club RVSP Requested
TS Designs “Walks the Talk” When it Comes to Sustainability
Guest Blog Post By Bryan King (JD ’13) What exactly does it mean to “walk the talk” when it comes to sustainable companies? A group of UNC students recently found the answer when they visited TS Designs in Burlington, North Carolina as part of a UNC Kenan-Flagler Sustainability in Action TREK. As a student enrolled in Professor Carol Seagle’s Corporate Environmental Strategy course, this Sustainability in Action TREK provided a great opportunity to balance my readings and class discussions with a visit to a highly sustainable small business. I had read about the chemical industry’s attempt at self regulation through Responsible Care and evaluated a life cycle analysis of an Italian beer, but this was an opportunity to talk with Read More