Academic Engagement: How Business & Business Schools Partner to Drive Sustainable Innovation

Georgia Tech’s Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business is one of a growing number of centers and institutes dedicated to fueling the sustainability movement within major business schools.

Industry, government and NGOs turn to these centers not only to recruit MBAs with sustainability experience, but also to train their own executives, tackle specific enterprise challenges, and lead industry-wide consortiums. In return, these centers need industry partners to provide real-world problems for student projects, industry-relevant research opportunities, and—in some instances—funding.

To know that there are benefits to working with academics in business and sustainability, you need only look at the major brands that appear throughout this series: Bank of America, Alcoa, Duke Energy, Lockheed Martin and more.

But to find the right academic partner, it’s important to first understand how they differ, and how they operate.

In this complimentary series you’ll discover:

• Why Georgia Tech’s Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business is becoming a hub for major brands in the Southeast.
• How Cornell’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise uses applied research in developing and developed markets.
• What UNC’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise does to achieve big impact with industry partners.
• Why the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute is beginning to convene more industry-wide gatherings.
• How Duquesne’s MBA+Sustainability program puts real industry challenges at the center of student learning.
• What the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative does to make sure technological innovation is matched with business innovation.

Plus, Q&A’s with the directors of these centers will answer specific questions like:

• Do you view industry more as a partner or a client?
• What are the success factors and risks for working with industry?
• What are your expectations for funding or engagement time?