Sustainability: the management challenge

Our world is changing and becoming more sustainable. Think of the Paris Climate Convention or a gas-free Netherlands. New business models are emerging in a transition to a more sustainable society and circular economy. Issues that affect the very nature of organizations.
How to translate these challenges into a practical business and management approach. How do leaders, managers and employees gain insight into external developments and what does this mean for their organization in concrete terms?

Sustainability: the management approach

As a responsible manager, how do you create long-term value for your organization for all stakeholders?
How can organizations, leaders and professionals respond to the development towards sustainability? What changes do organizations need to make to stay truly sustainable? What does the pursuit of sustainability mean for the accountability information to stakeholders?

Sustainability: a core competence

Now that knowledge about sustainability is becoming essential for organizations, it is necessary to acquire and further develop this sustainability competence in-house. Being too dependent on external institutes or consultants is a real risk for long-term value creation. Naturally, the course knowledge will also be available to professionals and consultants who are (or aspire to be) working in the field of sustainability.

Sustainability: the training and courses

The Certified Professional Program Sustainability’s focus is:

• How to improve your business model and turn sustainability into opportunities. How does the circular economy contribute to your business proposition?
• How to design, structure, manage and justify a sustainability strategy and closed loop supply chains. How do you design, implement and manage the supply chain in one by one circular economy?
• How to think, analyze and act from a sustainability impact and how to measure it?
• How to measure the social impact of your company. How to build, execute and justify your communication strategy to all stakeholders?
• Redesigning business process and change management.

Module 1: Sustainable Management

External pressure increases the need for your organization, which wants to survive, to operate sustainably. Successful implementation of a sustainable strategy and socially responsible action requires that your business strategy is aligned with external and internal policy requirements. It is important that implementation in the organization is possible.

In our approach, the development of a sustainable strategy is not an isolated matter. For example, cooperation is required with numerous stakeholders. After all, your organisation must cooperate as a result of the increased complexity of both the technology and the needs of the customer.

Module 2: Environmental principles and sustainable development

You will be introduced to the emphasis on environmental principles that guide sustainable management objectives. The course follows a multidisciplinary approach, as the diagnosis, analysis and combating of environmental problems depend on a basic knowledge of disciplines such as natural sciences, social sciences and economic sciences. An integrated approach is followed, combining input and insights from different disciplines within a causal framework to address multiple aspects of environmental problems.

Module 3: Closed loop supply chains

Slowly but surely, sustainability is becoming a business proposition. As part of this, organizations increasingly see value in the Circular Economy. However, many employees still struggle with the so-called intention-action gap: how will the circular economy really create value.

Closed loop supply chains are for organizations a link between strategic intent and operational action. This model introduces you to state-of-the-art concepts and applications, best practices in return management, strategy (re)formulation, redesign of business processes and change management.

Module 4: Impact Strategy and Measurement

What do you really want to achieve?

Why and how do you think your activities lead to the assumed impact? What is your key assumption and what other factors may affect your results? You will learn about a 'Theory of Change' and how this can help your organization to get a clearer picture of input, activities, output and impact.

What information will you use to communicate with stakeholders? And what kind of information is needed to inform them? This way you will get an overview of the different approaches (report, website, social media) and gain insight into the pros and cons. Insight into the most important dilemmas for an organization that starts with impact thinking, measuring and managing. Finally, you will learn about the possible learning effects of impact thinking. How can you use the results to learn and further improve your organization.

Investing in a modular structure makes it possible to progress to MBA

The CPP Sustainability costs € 6,495. The four courses can be taken separately; the cost is then € 1,750 per course. After successful completion of the four courses, you will be awarded the CPP Sustainability diploma. This diploma can be brought in as a full specialization in yOUrMBA.

About the project team

The courses were developed by prof. dr. Karen Maas, prof. dr. ir. Harold Krikke, dr. Cosmina Voinea, ir. Dieudonnee Cobben, dr. Judith Floor, and dr. Ansje Lohr, all connected as scientists at the Open University. Dr. Cosmina Voinea, Assistant Professor Sustainable Management, under whose stimulating leadership the track was developed within record time: 'sustainability requires firms to change their routines and involve in new ways of doing business. We teach managers and entrepreneurs to leverage sustainability within their organizations and, as such, gain competitive advantage and market leadership.'

More information

Interested? Follow our coverage of the launch. Want to know more now? Send an email to mst@ou.nl.