Companies Contribute $50,000 to Support Sustainability Teaching Tools  

Seven companies that are represented on the Sustainability Advisory Board at the Penn State Smeal College of Business have contributed $50,000 to support the development of teaching tools on business-related sustainability topics.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (February 14, 2012) -- Seven companies that are represented on the Sustainability Advisory Board at the Penn State Smeal College of Business have contributed $50,000 to support the development of teaching tools on business-related sustainability topics.

These topics include the environmental, social, and economic impact of business decisions on a company, its employees, and the communities in which a company operates. The companies that contributed are Alcoa, Avon Products, DuPont, International Paper, PepsiCo, Siemens, and Verizon.

Sustainability-related content is offered in an increasing number of undergraduate and graduate courses at Smeal. The teaching tools under development will focus on facilitating problem-based or experiential learning, in some instances by making creative use of videos and the Internet.

Four projects are currently being supported. The first project, headed by Min Ding, Smeal Professor of Marketing and Innovation, focuses on product innovation and marketing.

The second project, headed by Raghu Garud, Clemens Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, focuses on how the meaning of sustainability varies by industry and evolves over time in a company and influences the development of its sustainability strategy.

A third project, headed by Nancy McClure, instructor in accounting, focuses on use of the Internet to guide the development of business models by local entrepreneurs who wish to market solar cookers and solar panels in the Dominican Republic.

The fourth project, headed by Judd Michael, professor of wood products, focuses on extended producer responsibility and incentives to encourage container manufacturers to design environmentally friendly products that are recyclable.

For more on sustainability activities at Smeal, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/sustainability-council/sustainability-council.

REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Victoria Fryer in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or mediarelations@smeal.psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, management and organization, marketing, risk management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.