Academy PNP Colleagues: My fellow symposium panelists and I would like to invite you to attend and participate in what we hope will be an informative and provocative All-Academy session, generally entitled "Greening the Academy", to be held Sunday, August 9th from 4pm to 5:30pm in the Hyatt Toronto Room. A description follows, all are welcome, and we apologize in advance for any cross-postings.
Mark Starik, Ph.D.
Department Chair and Professor of
Strategic Management & Public Policy
Director, Institute for Corporate Responsibility,
Environmental Sustainability Program
2201 G St. NW, Funger Hall 615
George Washington University School of Business
Washington, DC 20052 USA
(p)1-202-994-5621 (f)1-202-994-8113 starik@gwu.edu
All-Academy of Management Symposium
Greening the Academy - Is the AOM an Emerging ESO
(Ecologically Sustainable Organization)?
Sunday, August 9, 2009; 4:00-5:30pm, Hyatt Toronto Room
Mark Starik, George Washington Univ. - Proposer/Moderator/Panelist
Gordon P. Rands, Western Illinois Univ. – Panelist
Thomas G. Cummings, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Univ.</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Southern California</st1:placename></st1:place> - Panelist
Sandra Waddock, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Boston</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place> – Panelist
James E. Post, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Boston</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Univ.</st1:placetype></st1:place> – Panelist
The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Management</st1:placename></st1:place>, like most organizations, both relies upon and influences natural environments on an on-going basis. A number of academic theories and professional practices have been suggested regarding the interaction of such organizations with their natural environments. One of these perspectives, the Ecologically Sustainable Organization (ESO) framework has been forwarded as a way to perceive these multiple interactions, and to do so while making decisions and taking actions related to the multiple levels of human organizations and their natural environments, as well as to the multiple systems elements that exist on each of these levels.
This symposium will identify some of the relevant theories and practices related to organizations, such as the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Management</st1:placename></st1:place>, in interacting with other ESO-related entities at these multiple levels and involving these multiple systems elements. The purpose of considering such a framework is to encourage the development and effective use of organization-environment theories and practices, hopefully resulting in a better understanding of ecologically sustainable organizations and in the advancement of these entities, which, over time, may include the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Management</st1:placename></st1:place>.
In doing so, the Academy will be joining multiple other academic and professional organizations in attempting to "walk the talk" during its annual meeting and possibly extend this effort into its strategic core business. However, this set of actions, as awaited and welcomed as it is, also generates a number of questions which the proposed All-Academy symposium of researchers and educators will attempt to address:
Should and will the Academy continue to advance its environmental practices in future meetings, ensuring not only continuity but expansion of its effort to reduce its annual meeting "footprint"? If so, what other environmental practices should be advanced?
Should and will the Academy work with its multiple suppliers to advance these efforts on an on-going basis? If so, what are some potentially effective ways to accomplish this goal?
Should and will the Academy extend its "green management matters" approach to its office operations, its Board of Governors' mid-year meetings, and its regional conferences?
To what extent and by what means have other organizations, including those similar to the Academy, leveraged the adoption of environmental practices at annual meetings to help "green" the rest of their respective functions, organizations, and networks?
Should and will the Academy encourage its members to adopt similar environmental practices in their respective organizations and networks, and what forms of encouragement would be most effective?
Should and will the Academy adopt an overall environmental policy, and, if so, what should constitute that policy and how can it best be communicated (and implemented)?
This symposium will attempt to blend theory and practice, which may serve as a model for attendees to employ in their own attempts to encourage their respective organizations and networks to adopt these environmental practices. Among the theories or perspectives addressed will be those involving organizational change, the "greening of business" perspective, natural resource-based view, stakeholder management, and networks, among several others. Practices will include those associated with various well-known organizational greening frameworks, including ISO 14001, the Natural Step, the Global Reporting Initiative, PRME, and others developed in the ever-increasing literature on business and the natural environment.
The symposium will include the following moderator and panelist comments:
Mark Starik, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">George</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Washington</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>, "Can the Academy Become an Ecologically Sustainable Organization (ESO)? Theories and Practices Related to AOM Ecological Interactions with other Organizations". After introducing the session, this panelist will discuss the importance of organizational sustainability to society and the importance of ESOs, will provide a brief overview of the ESO framework (emphasizing the notion of contributing to the development of sustainable systems),and will connect the ESO concept to various management theories and to interactions at the organizational level of analysis.
Gordon Rands, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Western</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Illinois</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>, " The Academy Interactions with Ecosystems: Greening AOM Conferences and Operations". This panelist will review AOM environmental impacts, discuss what has been done for this conference, review of what could be attempted for future conferences, and review the day-to-day operational activities that have been and could be modified to better align AOM with ecosystem realities.
Tom Cummings, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Southern California</st1:placename></st1:place>, " ESO Interactions with Individuals: What Should the Academy Ask Of/Do For its Members Regarding Organizational Greening?" This panelist will address questions such as: does the Academy have a responsibility to attempt to change the environmental behavior of its members? if so, how and how far? what roles does this pose for the board of governors, division officers, and staff? and, how could such changes be instituted?
Sandra Waddock: "Fiddling While the Planet Burns? ESO Interactions at the Political/Economic Level". This panelist will address the government, market, and public policy issues related to Academy (and other organization) greening, and will ask what could the Academy offer in this area, and, how could it have a greater influence at the political/economic level?
Jim Post: " Twenty Years Later - It's Time for the AOM to Lead, Not Follow, On Sustainability; ESO Interactions at the Societal/Cultural Level " The final panelist will address issues related to how the Academy could relate to social justice and/or environmental movements, to the media, to education (both b-school and non-b-school), and to the spiritual aspects of human, organizational, and societal life connected to the natural environment.
At least one-third of the session will be dedicated to attendee/panelist interaction. One of the major intended takeaways from the session will be the consideration, and perhaps commitment, of each attendee and panelist to apply the lessons learned in this session to his or her own scholarship, organizations, and networks and to work together to ensure that this crucial topic is continued and incorporated into <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Academy</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Management</st1:placename></st1:place> meetings in the future.