Dr. Forrest Watson, International Business and Management
Global Business
I joined the Valley & Ridge workshop with the aim of strengthening the sustainability connections in my course, INBM 290 Global Business: Theory & Context. The 290 course is a new required course in our major, which creates an opportunity for sustainability to be more prominent in the education of every INBM major. The course is designed to improve students’ understanding of the complex and dynamic macroenvironment in which businesses operate. We follow the structure of the PESTEL analysis; the fifth point in the acronym refers to the Environment. I desired to generate new ideas for the teaching of this module, but more broadly how to incorporate sustainability as a more pervasive theme throughout the course.
Based on the collaboration and guidance through Valley & Ridge I made specific modifications to the 290 syllabus for a more robust sustainability emphasis. I will add a week where we talk specifically about sustainability and include an additional reading from a book called Sustainable Enterprise. One of the writing assignments will require students to consider the UN Sustainable Development Goals in long-term company strategy. The final project will require students to address sustainability as well as company resilience. From a desire to model community building and social sustainability, I will begin most class sessions with “connect before content” prompts that will allow students to discuss values and develop their collaboration competency. I will also add place-based and experiential learning activities, such as a warehouse visit, walk through the local business ecosystem of downtown Carlisle, and a bike ride to the LeTort Spring Run Nature Trail. My hope is that these local experiences will illuminate local-global connections and the importance of sustainability.
The Valley & Ridge workshop enabled me to build out the sustainability dimension of the course, as well as connect me with sustainability allies in my department and throughout the campus.