A reflection on the future of sustainability in business as it pertains to Ivey Publishing\u27s case collection and the coding system developed through the USRI program

Pick, B.

English

Scholarship@Western

Like many people, when I read the IPCC report last week, I felt an instant, yet unmistakable sense ofclimate doom. In a constantly changing world, it’s hard to determine the best way to move forward.Fortunately, I’ve learned that we’re advancing forward on the right track through my time coding casesand learning about sustainability in action through Ivey Publishing’s case catalogue.I’ve spent this summer working through Ivey Publishing’s case collection, determining which cases offervaluable lessons on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (Exhibit 1), and what cases teach aboutenvironmental, social, and governance standards, a growing methodology of reporting standards (Exhibit2).Within a few days of coding, I was shocked by how much the collection has changed since I began myjourney at Ivey.In my HBA1 year, sustainability was something that was rarely discussed. I had a hard time relating to thecases and my classmates. I thought about the world differently, through a lens where profit wasn’t themost important thing, purpose was ultimately what should be strived for in the business world.In the ensuing two years, the tune of the HBA program has changed. In 2021, over half of the casespublished offered some sort of sustainability focus (Exhibits 3-5).The business world is dynamic and changing, and Ivey is working hard to keep up. It’s no longer merely“nice” to have social purpose in business, it’s necessary in 2021. Students are beginning to recognize thisneed too, we’re constantly seeing a rapid growth in the cohort size of the sustainability certificate. Thecertificate was what attracted me to Ivey in the first place; I wanted the opportunity to learn how to disruptthe world of business through purpose.I’m seeing it elsewhere too, not only as an Ivey student, but as a self-proclaimed activist, as an employeeat a major bank, and as a small business owner. Indeed, I had the opportunity to see that the leadership atIvey  are also attracted to business with a purpose when I trained Ivey Publishing in the tagging processI’ve developed over the summer. People want to learn how to make the world a better place, and if Iveycontinues on this upwards trajectory, they will beoffering staff, students and faculty a unique opportunityto do so.It’s exciting to see change cascade through the system, especially in today’s climate. It’s crucial that Iveycontinues to grow its collection of cases, while also maintaining its position as a leader in thisnot-quite-novel concept of purpose-driven business in order to stay on par with what the business worldboth wants and needs.This isn’t to say that Ivey’s case collection is perfect. Plenty of cases only have one tag out of sixpossible, but the most recent cases offer higher numbers (Exhibit 6). There’s room for improvement in thefrequency of environmentally focused cases, and a lull in cases about a few of the sustainabledevelopment goals. But, Ivey Publishing and the Centre for Building Sustainable Value are doingimportant work together to bridge those gaps. In doing so, oevery student will be afforded the opportunityto learn about how to make positive change in not only the business world, but the world at large, ratherthan just the small cohort enrolled in the sustainability certificate.As we’ve learned from the 2017 Carbon Majors Report, 100 companies are responsible for 71% ofemissions. With this Ivey-led initiative, the future leaders of those 100 companies are beginning torecognize the importance of business with a purpose, and will employpractices as a result.  Due to Ivey’sgroundbreaking commitment to this endeavour, perhaps the next IPCC report will offer a different, moreoptimistic, story about our planet’s future.Exhibit 1: SDG FrequencyExhibit 2: ESG Frequency (1 - Environmental, 2 - Social, 3 - Governance)Exhibit 3: Tagged v. Untagged Over Tagging PeriodExhibit 4: Tagged v. Untagged 2020Exhibit 5: Tagged v. Untagged 2021Exhibit 6: Number of Tags per Tagged Case (Maximum 6 Tags, 3 possible ESG, up to 3 SDGs)

Coding Ivey Publishing: Building Sustainable Values for Tomorrow\u27s Business Leaders

https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1208&amp;context=usri

Coding Ivey Publishing: Building Sustainable Values for Tomorrow\u27s Business Leaders

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Scholarship@Western