"Book Review on CRADLE TO CRADLE: REMAKING THE WAY WE MAKE THINGS" by Eliza Roberts

For my sustainable supply chains class, we are reading Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things over the course of the next 7 weeks. The book is fantastic and is itself completely recyclable. It is also waterproof, so if you are the type of person who likes to read in the bath or on the beach, you are in luck! I have only read up to chapter 4, but thus far it is fantastic.

The book is written by a chemist and a designer and begins by informing you that the fabric of the armchair you are sitting in likely contains mutagenic materials and heavy metals and that the computer that your child is using contains thousands of materials, including toxic gases, toxic metals, acids, etc. Pretty upbeat right?

While it can be a bit depressing and discouraging [did you know that your recyclables are not actually recreated into bottles, but turned into a lower grade plastic and then made into park benches and speed bumps?] I find the book a very unique way of looking at the world, and at our current and future environmental challenges.

The goal of the authors is to change your way of thinking. Instead of trying to help companies be “less bad” they ask: why can’t we try to be “more good”? Instead of being eco-efficient, which in their opinion is the same as accepting that environmental destruction is inevitable, we should be eco-effective and find positive solutions to problems that are beneficial to the environment and the community.

Their goal is to get the reader to start thinking about the entire life cycle of a product instead of only thinking about the way the final product appears on the surface. A product that is made of recyclable material, for example, could in fact be more destructive to the environment than its non-recycled counterpart. The authors propose that companies and consumers begin thinking about the design of products before their creation so that we are developing products that have a positive impact on the environment throughout their life. Instead of accepting that a company is going to pollute and trying to getting them to emit less and be less harmful, maybe companies should build factories that have a net benefit to the environment by cleaning water and cleaning the air for the surrounding community.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book!

Contributed by: Eliza Roberts, Global MBA 2011

"The Birth of MEJDI" by Erik Walenza-Slabe

MEJDI – the Middle East Justice and Development Initiatives – is a mouthful. This petite for-profit startup purports to lead bi-ethnic peace building tours to Israel and Palestine, import good from Palestinian and Israeli manufacturers (provided the also employ Palestinians) and provide financial consultation on potential investment opportunities in the region. Well, a child should have aspirations. And MEJDI is indeed a child on the world stage – an infant in fact, with but four months of official existence to boast of and its first tour scheduled this coming April.

Perhaps that’s why I so enjoy working with the company, what is so vivifying as the birth of a dream? And if it’s a still birth? Well, sad though that thought be I’ve an absolutely noble friend who himself was preceded by a still born brother – and as life struggles on so surely does the creative process. And what is it that makes MEJDI of note? Surely hundred on companies are born daily with most faltering upon their first steps. What excites me about MEJDI is that its founders have sought to align their personal ideals (the realization of a harmonious Middle East) with their needs (a venture profitable enough to put food in their children’s mouths).

It’s curious – shocking perhaps – that a company with ideals should be novel. After all, companies are treated as human under the law and moral, family-loving humans are their primary ingredient. Unfortunately, it seems that ninety-nine times out of a hundred some inept bungler manages to confuse the recipe such that – pop – in go a thousands honest Joes and Janes – whiz – out comes one amoral lump of factory. Suffice to say, I’m pleased to be working to promote a couple guys make a life doing good work. Ah! Perhaps it’s the “couple” that changes the equations. Even the most magnificent chef is bound to have problems mixing a decent recipe out of thirty thousands employees, twenty business units and fifteen subsidiaries. Somewhere along the way he’s gonna have to simplify and, woops! ethics slide into the waste bin.

Ah, but really I’m just entertaining myself. I have no doubt that many larger companies are led by men and women with strong moral priorities who see their communities as more that mere “stakeholders” and our beautiful land as more than extractable resources. And certainly there are many individuals that abuse their communities and pollute their backyards out of ignorance or desperation. My point, if I ever had one, would probably have been simply to say that it’s enjoyable to work with good people who are trying to earn a buck while helping their community.

Erik Walenza-Slabe, Global MBA 2011

Faculty Perspective: "How Business Can Respond to Haiti Crisis" by Tim Fort

The business community has an important role to play in reconstruction efforts following the deadly earthquakes in Haiti, according to Tim Fort, executive director of the GWSB Institute for Corporate Responsibility.

Fort, a professor in the Department of Strategic Management and Public Policy, said businesses can act philanthropically, leveraging their logistics capabilities to deliver supplies, providing critical supplies such as water, food and building materials or helping restore telecommunications. And they can embrace ethical practices as they do.

“When the time comes to rebuild, businesses can take great care to avoid taking advantage of a bad situation,” Fort said. “There are instances in the aftermath of hurricanes where some companies gouged suffering populations. The demand for building materials might provide a market incentive to raise prices, but other companies have refused to do this, acting instead with some solidarity for the affected and even discounting prices.

“Those same companies reported longer term profitability because suffering people remembered the difference between those two approaches,” he added.

The Jan. 12 earthquake that hit Haiti’s was the worst in the region in more than 200 years. It was followed by another quake and aftershocks, leaving an estimated 150,000 people dead and a wake of devastation in the already struggling country. Although the cleanup continues, discussions have begun on how to rebuild Haiti.

Fort said companies have choices about where they locate their offices and creating jobs in places affected by disaster can make an important contribution. “There are risks, to be sure, but businesses can make Haiti a place where they do business,” he said.

Fort is GW’s Lindner-Gambal Professor of Business Ethics.

"My Business School Agenda" by Jeremy Dommu

Module Two is microeconomics, human resources, marketing, and more statistics. There are also accounting courses in both these modules, but as a CPA, I automatically placed out of these courses, and decided against adding new electives so I can better concentrate on career and extracurricular activities. Each professor has free rein to teach classes any way he or she chooses. This results in a pleasant mixture of lecture-based, case-based, and team-based classes.

CLUBS

Clubs are by far my favorite aspect of the MBA program. The opportunity over the next two years to take advantage of student clubs, case competitions, academic and professional conferences, and to truly focus on the areas of business that excite me is a luxury I will not squander. In fact, I believe the learning opportunities that exist outside an academic classroom are more beneficial to me than developing the core finance, marketing, statistics, operations, and leadership skills I will obtain inside the classroom. So you will find me at the annual Net Impact conference and case competition, working on projects that have everything to do with my career goals but nothing to do with my class requirements, and anywhere in D.C. the carbon community is gathering.

COMMUNITY

Let me say this: I could not have asked to be surrounded by a better network. My classmates could not do more to ensure the success of each other in every class. Despite the challenge we are up against in an economy where internships are scare, there is zero competition for jobs. Our alumni network, though small, truly goes all out to help us. This is evident by the alumni career adviser I have been paired with as part of our mentorship program. We aren't yet a top-25 program, but everybody, from the current students to professors and from alumni to our administration, is truly united to help us get there. For me, this cohesiveness is more valuable than the cutthroat competition that might exist at other graduate programs.

TIME MANAGEMENT

I thought the biggest adjustment going from being a professional to a student was once again getting used to having to do work outside the office. I used to value being able to leave my work at the office each night and not have to worry about it until I returned in the morning. I knew, as a student, I would always be on the clock and I would never have time to relax. But, quite frankly, I have absolutely no problem with the time commitment of business school. In fact, I love taking advantage of every opportunity that is available to me. The struggle is finding enough time to do everything I want to do and prioritizing responsibilities. Never before had I used a planner. Now I have a Google (GOOG) calendar and Google task list that has me booked solid for two months out. Measuring both the importance and urgency of tasks is critical to ensure I'm spending my time in the right places.

ADMISSIONS

Here are a few tips I have about the MBA admissions process. But keep in mind these tips probably go against everything a prospective MBA student is being told or is thinking. The more and more you get sucked into the admissions process and the more you overthink and try to strategize the process, the less and less success you are going to have.

You are doing much more harm than good if you start thinking about what the admissions office wants to hear, rather than truthfully explain your goals and rationale for getting an MBA. Throwing away money on expensive admission consultants who have zero idea of who you are is a gigantic waste. Spending thousands on GMAT tutoring is crazy. I bought a few books, dedicated myself to studying, took the GMAT once, and was happy with my score.

The one thing that was incredibly helpful for me was having two close friends who were going through the MBA application process at the same time as me. One is now a first-year student at Duke and the other is in Georgetown's part-time program. It was extremely valuable to have friends to be a sounding board, help study for the GMAT, and read and comment on each other's essays. But even if you don't have friends going through the process with you, seek out the help of the people who know you well. But save your money for tuition or the opportunities you will have as a student. Or spend your money on campus visits so you can truly identify which school is the right fit for you.

Finally, if a school doesn't accept you because your career goals don't align with its strategy, or you don't fit into its culture, then that probably isn't the right place for you anyway. I realize it's difficult to do this. It was difficult for me. By nature, an MBA student is competitive and a measure of success is getting into the highest-ranked program that you can. It was extremely hard for me to turn down admissions offers at some top-ranked business schools. But ultimately I'm at GW because my career goals align perfectly with GW's focus on developing globally minded and ethical business leaders who want to create sustainable solutions to pressing world issues. And to date I couldn't be happier with my decision.


Jeremy Dommu, Global MBA 2011
*This is taken from Jeremy Dommu's blog on BusinessWeek