I know it has been a while since my last post, but I wanted to let everyone know that I have kicked off my second round of teaching a course at CEIBS on sustainability and responsible leadership.  It is a project based class that bridges lectures, research, and projects, and I am hoping to see if we might be able to develop a project for my students to work on through the CGC readership.

I have included the full teaser below for you to look over, but in general what we are looking for is a project where the students can work with you on a tangible / strategic project that will result in a strategic output (business plan, operations plan, marketing plan, etc) for you.  Something that would address sustainability or responsibility issues related to product, operations, organization, etc.

Download the list of 2009 projects here to see examples of what the first 192 MBA students (in 36 teams accomplished)

My goal is to have the application (Download the application here) back by the 21^st of September so that I can put them in front of the students early, and then you could begin working with the students as they are finalizing their research and then have a project kickoff in early December.  So, please take a look at the briefing and application when you have time, and then let me know if you have any questions.

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In the fall semester of 2009, The China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) began a project based class called Sustainability and Responsible Leadership. At the most fundamental basis, the goal of this class was, and continues to be to develop the capacity of future leaders in the area of CSR and sustainability, and do so through a process where the students are able to work with off campus organizations in live project scenarios that solidify the lessons they are learning in the classroom while assisting organizations who are expanding their own initiatives.

Broken into three modules (research, engagement, and business plan), the first generation of 35 student teams developed issued based research reports and project partnerships across over 25 of China’s most important issues.  It is a course that we have found creates a win-win for students and their partners as students gain a greater tangibility of issues, and their role as leaders to act, and win for partners who are able to work with a student team to develop a strategic plan for the firm.

Entering into our second year, we are now looking for our second round of 35 project ideas for our student partnerships. Executed over the December 2010 to February 2011 timeframe, project teams will work with firms to develop a responsible business plan that either (1) develops a new product /process (2) improves an existing product/process through research, stakeholder analysis, regulatory analysis, and issue/ product specific analysis.

The goal does not need to be solely focused on the environment (our working definition of sustainability includes environment, economy, society, and community), and does not have to be limited to a “green” product.   Some sample projects from 2009 include (full list :

• Interconnection of Bicycles with Public Transport in Shanghai (Good2Shanghai)
• Green Buildings and Real Estate Develop Awareness  (ARUP)
• BIPV Solar Energy Market Sizing (Trina Solar)
• Shanghai Food Bank: Food delivery to poor (Shanghai Charity Foundation)
• NGO Capacity and Program Development  (Xintu)
• Smart Grid Equipment Market Opportunity (Infineon)
• Green Building Materials Exchange (GIGA Foundation)

In developing your project idea, we have a few basic requirements:

1. Project durations would need to fit into the timeline of the class (December  – February)
2. A clear scope, tangible impact, and manageable deliverables
3. Project should lead to developing an executable strategy, not be 100% research
4. Projects should have a dedicated manager to oversee the project
5. Project managers should avail themselves to biweekly meetings (at CEIBS campus preferred)
6. Project bases would need to be Shanghai based – limited travel is possible
7. A budget of 2500RMB should be set aside to support local travel and materials

It is a project that will enable you to begin engaging with students in October and November as they are completing their research phase, but will actively begin in during the first 2 weeks when the students will be given 2 full weeks to this project.  At that time, we would expect that partners would avail resources to meet with the team on campus, with the goal of scoping project goals, developing project strategies, and building the framework that the project will need to succeed.  Following that 2 week period, from December 17 until February 17, regular updates should be schedule on campus to ensure that deadlines are being met and project managers have the ability to gauge the overall process of the project.

If interested, please fill out the attached document (Corporate – RLP Project Proposal.doc) and send back by September 21, 2010 so that we can begin the process of offering this project to student teams.

Should you have any questions about this opportunity, do not hesitate to call at +86 1391 660 5625 or email me (brichard( @) CEIBS.edu or rich (@) collectiveresponsibility.org).