Education
Engaging Students to Be Long Term Members of the Community
Working to develop platforms with students as the base is perhaps one of the most important, and difficult, things to fully accomplish.
It is a group that we have been engaging with on a number of levels, and through our experiences we have come to understand requires a completely different approach and motivated by very different things, but that if you can effectively develop a program that engages students you can build a strong base of support that becomes a source of scale for impact and programs.
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As part of the 8th Europe Asia Young Leaders Forum, I was asked to present my thoughts on two questions:
- How do cities organize communal life and maintain social harmony?
- What can business contribute to these processes?
.. and I was given 15 minutes to do so.
The questions for me were ones that I regularly think about (particularly the first) as I walk through cities that I live in and travel through, but it was the first time that I had been challenged to put my thoughts into a single package.
At the heart of it, there are 5 major things that I thought cities needed to do well before they would find a "harmonious balance":
- Good urban Planning
- Provide Economic opportunities
- Offer a suitable quality of life
- Safety and Security
- Environmental stability
How business fit into this wider picture is, and was, a bit more intangible to the presentation as I focused a lot on the role of the city, but in short, it is my belief that companies are being asked to play a stronger role in the development of community. That, beyond providing jobs and paying taxes, it is the firms who work hard to develop internal and external communities are far more likely to find themselve in balance as well.
Nippon CSR Program: Color, Way of Love
Last week while speaking with several of my longest supporters, I was introduced to one of the most innovative, creative, and smartest CSR programs I have seen in a while. It was the Nippon Color, Way of Love program, a program that benefited the students enrolled in Project Hope schools. A program that Nippon describes on their site as:
“Color, way of Love” is to color hopes with love. Colors materialize imaginations of kids. NIPPON PAINT, working with DuPont, initiated a program in 2009 to paint walls of 100 Hope schools in the following three years, making the schools more beautiful, improving conditions for education and hopefully contribute to better learning and unleash imagination of the kids. “Color, way of Love” supports the Project Hope, a charity program by China Youth Development Foundation. NIPPON PAINT Color Project Hope Fund, founded in 2009, will donate Nippon art classrooms in Hope schools in addition to building Hope schools. The pupils so benefited shall paint the most promising colors and be empowered to ignite their imaginations in an unlimited way.
When receiving the full introduction from their PR team, there were several things that stood out immediately to me. things, that when I saw them, I wished I would see them from CSR managers more often:
1) The program is aligns and leverages their core, and then matching that to the core of their partners. Nippon is a paint company whose goal is to improve the quality of their customers lives through the application of their product, and this program transfers that core "sell" into the CSR program by improving the educational environment of these students
2) the program engages not only the schools, but also the community at large. Leveraging a corporate minisite, Nippon has developed a platform whereby users can suggest designs for the school. An engagement tool that has resulted in 120,000 design suggestions
3) The program is multi-year and multi-faceted. Going beyond the standard one off donation that has built so many Hope schools, Nippon is committed to a long term arrangement that includes the donation of schools, painting of schools, and additional programing that will benefit Project Hope.
4) They have communicated this superbly through their site, which has received in total more than 3.5 billion hits in a single year. IT is a site that offers plenty of exposure and education to the issues that the Hope Project students face, and in a country where many are only beginning to understand the role of CSR in society, I found this to be an excellent piece that will help to develop a much higher level of engagement and understanding
Overall, it is a program that Nippon (and its partners) should be very proud of. It is innovative and leverages their core business resources (financial, human, and product) in a way that will have a lasting impact on the communities they are working within, and at the same time, the marketing of the program is not only tastefull, but it is engaging as well.
Hello everyone.
As some of you know, for the last 9 months I have had the privilege of teaching a project based course to 193 MBA students on sustainability at the China Europe International Business School. Split into 35 teams, they have been focused their research projects across 25 separate issues, and for the last 2 months have been working on developing strategic plans with corporations, NGOs, and social enterprises in China to turn the theoretical into the tangible.
But, I want to take this further. .. I want you to hire them as your interns, bring them in-house for 2 months, and let them to help you understand the opportunities you have to improve on your current products, processes, or partnerships.
CEIBS Responsible Leadership Program (RLP) Summer Internship Program
The question of whether companies should embrace sustainable business practices that will continue the business to be profitable while at the same time, address community needs and stakeholders’ interests isn’t just a question of moral obligations anymore. It has become one where it makes good business sense to do so. In addition, the gradual change in people’s values is a key compelling reason for companies to re-evaluate the way they operate.
In light of both the internal and external pressures that companies face in evolving their business practices that address the sustainability issues, the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) recognizes that future business leaders should be equipped with the knowledge, skill sets and drive to help meet these needs. The School has since launched a full-year class, “Sustainability and Responsibility Leadership” for its current cohort of students.
Over the last year, 190 MBA students at CEIBS have enrolled in this course. They have researched and managed projects on more than 25 of China’s most pressing issues. They include:
- Market landscape and entry strategies for green building technologies, smart grid, water filtration, e-waste management, and cold chain logistics
- Business plans for improving small scale CDM project funding, food labeling, organic food and clothing, and natural cosmetics
- Capacity development for community enterprises focused on elderly care, migrant education, urban poverty alleviation programs and assisting persons with disabilities
Why Hire a Summer CEIBS RLP Student?
CEIBS RLP students are trained to think strategically to understand market and regulatory landscape. They have also been taught to conduct stakeholder mapping and partnership development. Bringing their previous experience in human resources, operations, finance and marketing, they have brought the projects to fruition.
CEIBS is providing an opportunity for both these students and companies to be engaged for two months in building and improving a current product, process or partnership that aim to address the changing business environment.
How Can Hiring a RLP Intern Help Your Company?
The most tangible means for CEIBS RLP students to work with your company is to evaluate the risks that are brought about from changes in regulations, stakeholders and the public. They can help research current opportunities to develop a new product, service and/or embark in a new partnership that will have direct positive impact for your company, customers, partners and community.
Sample projects could include (but are not limited to):
- Analyzing cleantech market applications and investment opportunities
- Identification and research of new sustainable products and services in China
- Market entry strategies for foreign products and services within the sustainability sector
- Consumer and branding studies for consumer focused green products
- Industry level regulatory, stakeholder, and risk analysis
- Community partnership development as part of a CSR outreach program
- Lifecycle analysis and strategy construction related to waste management and reduction
What are the requirements of hosting an RLP Intern?
As graduate students at China’s top MBA program, CEIBS’ students look for internships where they can truly provide the expertise and value add that your firm currently lacks. They look forward to internships that are strategic in nature, and at the same time be hands-on in the project(s) that they are assigned to. CEIBS also expect the same as well.
The duration of the internship is two months, starting from early July and ending late August 2010.
Note: Some students might be more flexible in their availability depending on their time and location of their internship.
Internships should be paid positions, with work related expenses reimbursed.
How To Get Started
To learn more about this opportunity, please see the list of issues and projects that the students are currently undertaking. Following which, please download the form where we will need you to provide a brief description of the position and contact information where we can reach you. Please email the completed form at rlpinternships @ collectiveresponsibility.org.
For more information of this program, please contact:
Rich Brubaker, Visiting Professor of Responsibile LEadership, CEIBS and Founder of Collective Responsibility
naked Retreats partners with the professional trainers from ‘Greennovate’ and ‘Collective Responsibility’to launch a brand new Corporate Social Responsibility workshop and sustainability program.
Our corporate guests have the unique chance to green up their team while being surrounded in a pristine bamboo forest and breathing fresh air. Staying at naked Retreats and bringing the nature back in your life encourages your entire team to discuss the sustainability of your organization.Prepare your team to take on one of the greatest business challenges and opportunities of our time. Get ahead of the game by giving your employees a working understanding of what sustainability means for your enterprise,and how you can apply it to improve your company’s bottom line.
naked Retreats joins with Greennovate and launches a sustainability program in order to create green awareness and promote a green mindset within companies that stay at naked retreats.Greennovate will offer creative workshops designed to empower your company to pursue sustainability throughout.
In addition, naked Retreats partners with Collective Responsibility in offering a Corporate Social Responsibility workshop. Partner with Richard Brubaker's Collective Responsibility will assist managers in establishing a platform for a long term CSR program and spreading sustainable awareness throughout their enterprises.
To learn more about Naked Retreat's full programs, download their brochure, or to learn more about the Collective Responsibility training program at Naked Retreat, download this brochure
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