The Emerson Leadership Institute's sustainable business certificate is comprised of 10 modules organized around instructor videos, slides, readings and assignments. All materials are included in the course fee
Saint Louis University's Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business will award participants who successfully complete the program an official certificate of completion. All backgrounds and skill levels are welcome.
The Emerson Leadership Institute developed the course in partnership with Sustainable Business Consulting, a Seattle-based firm that has worked with more than 100 companies in 32 different industries to realize the financial benefit of integrating sustainability.
Program highlights include:
- 30 hours of web-based instructional videos, presentations and readings
- Three hours of Continuing Education Credits (CEUs)
- Official Saint Louis University-recognized certificate in Sustainable Business Leadership
- Online, self-paced format
- All materials included in course fee
Assessment
This course was designed to enable participants to achieve practiced proficiency with the material. At the end of the course, participants should have a sufficient understanding of the concepts to be able to apply them to related coursework and professional projects. Each module includes assignments or quizzes that participants must complete to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts.
Program Topics
- Sustainability, leadership and the language of business
- Current state of sustainability
- Making the business case for sustainability leadership
- Leadership in sustainable operations
- Accounting and the triple bottom line
- Managing for sustainability
- Sustainability, leadership and stakeholder engagement
- Strategy for sustainability
- Vision and goal setting
- Marketing for sustainability
Learning Outcomes
After completing the certification in sustainable business leadership participants will be able to:
- Use the language of business to communicate sustainability risks and opportunities
- Connect financial business opportunities to existing social and environmental challenges
- Demonstrate ways companies can account for corporate, social, and environmental performance in financial reporting
- Identify future risks an organization may encounter due to current market forces and government regulation and policy
- Understand how companies are using sustainability and Triple Bottom Line (TBL) decision-making to thrive
- Analyze an organization’s environmental impact by calculating a simple carbon footprint
- Formulate business decisions by evaluating environmental and social return on investment (ROI)
- Identify ways to convert waste streams into revenue streams
- Understand Design for the Environment (DfE) principles and how they can be applied to a company’s products or services
- Use common sustainability assessment tools, such as carbon footprinting, to help guide an organization’s management decisions
- Define what is important to your organization and its stakeholders by determining “materiality”
- Apply a systems thinking approach to complex problems and sustainable solutions