Teaching Innovation Program

The Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise (CSGE) is the keystone for the Johnson School's sustainability efforts, housing our prestigious Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise, coordinating the efforts of our energetic and devoted students, and providing a visible and vibrant hub for the larger sustainability-focused communities with whom we collaborate: the formidable research and educational networks of Cornell, as well as our strong corporate and nonprofit partners. We are uniquely qualified to be a major proponent for the advancement of sustainability.

Over the next three to five years, our aim is to develop the premier sustainability program in management education. The CSGE will spearhead sustainability curriculum and program offerings, including an MBA "immersion" program (a semester of intensive coursework combining case studies, class instruction, and field work), guidance for doctoral students pursing sustainability issues, and courses to educate the business community on cutting-edge sustainability topics and practices. In addition, we will develop an external advisory board of corporate and non-profit leaders with a focus on sustainable business.

In addition to the expected MBA, Ph.D. and executive course material focusing on sustainable business issues, CSGE will seek to establish a campus-wide network of scholarship and practice devoted to the challenge of global sustainability. CSGE is also developing strong links to other key Johnson School initiatives, such as entrepreneurship and business applications in science and technology, emphasizing ventures and technologies that leapfrog to sustainability and serve underserved populations. The CSGE is actively partnering with a variety of Cornell units on a growing number of activities, programs and initiatives. Here are a few, organized by concept:

Concept: Commercialization of clean technology in the Base of the Pyramid
Cornell partners: College Engineering, College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, Center for the Environment, Cornell Entrepreneurship Network
Projects: Solar Decathlon (development of a commercially viable and affordable solar house); The Base of the Pyramid Development Station in Nigeria (an experimental laboratory for sustainable product development in low income markets)

Concept: Leadership and Organizational Change for sustainability
Cornell partners: Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (School of Industrial & Labor Relations), Management & Organizations, Park Fellowship Program (Johnson School)
Project: Survey of Sustainability (a survey-feedback tool for aiding managers track the diffusion and penetration of sustainability within their companies)

Concept: New models for private-sector-driven sustainable development
Cornell partners: Center for International Development, Dept. of Rural Sociology, College of Human Ecology, Dept. of City and Regional Planning (College of Architecture, Art & Planning)
Project: Base of the Pyramid Protocol (to develop a culturally appropriate method for understanding the real needs of the four billion poor at the base of the economic pyramid).