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Links to Other Sites
Provision of links from official ARCS web sites to sites located outside of the ARCS domain does not imply endorsement or credibility of the service, information, or product offered through the linked sites. Web developers should avoid the following: creating links to other websites that the developer knows contain infringing or defamatory material; inserting from other web sites inline images or graphics into ARCS HTML documents; and framing as a means of linking web sites.

Respect for Copyrights of Digital Materials and Software
It is the policy of ARCS to respect the intellectual property rights granted under Federal law to owners of digital materials and software. It is against ARCS policy for anyone to use ARCS websites to access, use, copy or otherwise reproduce, or make available to others any third party copyright-protected digital materials or software, except as permitted by the respective owners.

Pursuant to 37 CFR 201.38, ARCS has designated the following person to receive notification from copyright owners of claimed infringement of copyright:

Erika Herz
Managing Director
Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS)
Darden School of Business
P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
Phone: (434) 982-2656
Fax: (434) 924-7104
E-mail: herze(at)darden.virginia.edu

Privacy Notice

Commitment to Privacy
Individuals' privacy is important to ARCS. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information policy and practices.

Notice About the Information We Collect
This notice applies to all information collected by, or submitted to ARCS web sites. The following information explains the Internet privacy policy and practices that ARCS has adopted for its official web sites. In legal terms, it shall not be construed as a contractual promise, and ARCS reserves the right to amend it at any time without notice.

When you access our web pages, the client information and the essential and nonessential technical information listed below are automatically collected -- we refer to those categories collectively as "access" information. No other information is collected through our official web sites except when you deliberately decide to send it to us (for example, by clicking on a link to send us an e-mail). The information you might choose to send us is listed below as "optional information."

Automatically Collected Access Information
Client information: the Internet domain and Internet address of the computer you are using.

Essential technical information: identification of the page or service you are requesting, type of browser and operating system you are using; and the date and time of access.

Nonessential technical information: the Internet address of the web site from which you linked directly to our web site, and the "cookie information" described below.

Optional information
When you send us an e-mail: your name, e-mail address, and the content of your e-mail.
when you complete online forms: all the data you choose to fill in or confirm, including credit or debit card information if you are ordering a product or making a payment, as well as information about other people if you are ordering a gift and want it sent directly to the recipient's address.

ARCS uses web traffic analysis tools to analyze patterns of use on the www.corporate-sustainability.org web site. These tools do not create individual profiles for visitors and only collect aggregate data.

The Way We Use Information
Client information is used to route the requested web page to your computer for viewing. In theory, the requested web page and the routing information could be discerned by other entities involved in transmitting the requested page to you. We do not control the privacy practices of those entities. Essential and nonessential technical information helps us respond to your request in an appropriate format (or in a personalized manner), and helps us plan web site improvements. Optional information enables us to provide services or information tailored more specifically to your needs or to forward your message or inquiry to another entity that is better able to do so, and also allows us to plan web site improvements.

We may use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our web site. For example, we may report that X number of individuals visited a certain area on our web site, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out our registration form, but we would not disclose anything that could be used to identify those individuals.

We may keep client information from our systems indefinitely after the web page is transmitted, but we do not try to obtain any information to link it to the individuals who browse our web site. However, on rare occasions when a "hacker" attempts to breach computer security, logs of access information are retained to permit a security investigation and in such cases may be forwarded together with any other relevant information in our possession to law enforcement agencies.

Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, any records in our possession at the time of a Freedom of Information Request might be subject to being inspected by or disclosed to members of the public for any purpose they may desire. As indicated above, client information may be retained after transmission of the requested web page and might be available for inspection.

We use the information you provide about yourself when placing an order or request only to complete that order or request. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that order or request. Similarly, we use the information you provide about someone else when placing an order or request only to complete that order or request. Again, we do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that order or request. Information you provide may be used for internal ARCS purposes.

We generally use return e-mail addresses only to answer the e-mail we receive. Finally, we never use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described above without a clear notice on the particular site and without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.

Use of Cookies
Some web sites use "cookies." Often a cookie enables web sites to tailor what you see according to the way you entered the site. For this kind of cookie, the information stored in that cookie might include the following (formatted for legibility):

Name: UVA_cookie Session: 973016679.175537
Timestamp: 973021258
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Expires: Tue, 01-May-2001 19:40:58 GMT
Domain: virginia.edu
Path: /

Providing Information is Your Choice
There is no legal requirement for you to provide any information at our web site. However, our web site will not work without routing information and the essential technical information. Failure of your browser to provide nonessential technical information will not prevent your use of our web site but may prevent certain features from working. For any optional information that is requested at the web site, failure to provide the requested information will mean that the particular feature or service associated with that part of the web page may not be available to you.

Darden School of Business
University of Virginia

Environmental right-to-know data such as the Toxics Releases Inventory (TRI) are used by regulators, NGOs and other organizations to prioritize their efforts to protect communities and natural systems. However, right-to-know regulations are complicated and not all information about environmental performance are required to be disclosed by all facilities. Understanding the value of right-to-know data for decision-making requires a clear understanding of the exactly what information the data convey. Using data from a state program, the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction ACT (TURA), this paper assesses what may be accurately concluded from frequently used environmental right-to-know data. The author examines the effect of reporting thresholds--levels of chemical use and manufacture below which a facility does not need to disclose releases of a chemical--on policy inferences that are frequently made with right-to-know data. She finds that the reporting thresholds create artificial declines in toxic chemical releases and can result in serious errors in comparing facilities' relative environmental performance. Environmental right-to-know data continue to be a critical source of information but must be reviewed with an understanding of how reporting thresholds impact conclusions drawn from these data.

CIBER Workshop on Corporate Environmental Management
Corporate Environmental Sustainability Across the Globe

University of Kansas Center for International Business Education and Research
October 30-31, 2009
Lawrence, KS

Co-Sponsored by the University of Michigan's CIBER and the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise

Conference Overview (45KB PDF)
Conference Schedule (36KB PDF)

Data Sources

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
is a publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries, as well as federal facilities. A new analytical tool called TRI.Net is available to analyze TRI data.

University-Based Sustainability Centers and Institutes

Arizona State University Global Institute of Sustainability

Columbia University Center for Environment, Economy, and Society

Cornell University Johnson School Center for Global Sustainable Enterprise

Dartmouth College Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship

Duke University Corporate Sustainability Initiative

Harvard University Center for the Environment

Research Network for Business Sustainability

Stanford University Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability

University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business Applied Sustainability Center

University of Michigan Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise

University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business Center for Sustainable Enterprise

Corporate Sustainability Web Sites

Cargill

CocaCola

Duke Energy

Dupont

Frito-Lay

GE

Google

HP

Johnson & Johnson

MeadWestvaco

Pfizer

Target

United Technologies

UPS

NGOs and Industry Organizations

Aspen Institute Business and Society Program

CERES

Green Chemistry and Commerce Council

GreenBlue

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability

United States Climate Action Partnership

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

World Resources Institute

Teaching Materials on Sustainability Topics

Aspen Institute Center for Business Education Caseplace.org

Darden Business Publishing, University of Virginia

Harvard Business Publishing, Harvard University

Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario

Click here for MapEcos

Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS)
May 29, 2009

CANADA NEWSWISE

Top Schools Launch Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability
June 10, 2009

Address:
Email: info@corporate-sustainability.org
Phone: 434-982-2656

For more information on Darden, UVA, and Charlottesville, including maps, please click here.

Tima Bansal
Professor and Director, Centre for Building Sustainable Value
Executive Director, Research Network for Business Sustainability
Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, CAN

Lori Snyder Bennear
Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy
Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
Durham, North Carolina, USA

Glen Dowell
Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations
The Johnson School
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY, USA

Daniel Esty
Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law & Policy
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies & Yale Law School
Director, Center for Business and the Environment at Yale
Yale University
New Haven, CT, USA

Andrew King
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH, USA

Michael Lenox
Darden School, University of Virginia
Samuel L. Slover Professor of Business
Associate Dean & Executive Director, Batten Institute
Charlottesville, VA, USA

Thomas Lyon
Dow Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce
Director, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Eric Orts
Guardsmark Professor
Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department
Director, Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Michael Toffel
Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School
Faculty Fellow, Harvard Environmental Economics Program
Faculty Affiliate, Harvard University Center for the Environment
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA, USA

Michael Lenox
Faculty Director, ARCS
Samuel L. Stover Professor of Business Administration
Associate Dean and Executive Director, Batten Institute
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia

Erika Herz
Managing Director, ARCS
Manager of Sustainability Programs
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia

Lori Bennear
Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy
Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke University

Glen Dowell
Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations
The Johnson School
Cornell University

Daniel Esty
Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law & Policy
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies & Yale Law School
Director, Center for Business and the Environment at Yale
Yale University

Andrew Hoffman
Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise
Co-Director, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise
Ross School of Business
University of Michigan

Andrew King
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Tuck School of Business
Dartmouth College

Thomas Lyon
Dow Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce
Professor of Business Economics
Professor of Natural Resources
Director, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise
Ross School of Business
University of Michigan

John Maxwell
W. George Pinnell Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy
Kelley School of Business
Indiana University

Eric Orts
Guardsmark Professor
Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department
Director, Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania

Michael Toffel
Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School
Faculty Fellow, Harvard Environmental Economics Program
Faculty Affiliate, Harvard University Center for the Environment
Harvard University

The oikos Foundation for Economy and Ecology encourages applications to the Richard Ivey School of Business' second international PhD Sustainability Academy. Building on the experience of the annual oikos PhD summer academy in Switzerland, this Canadian partner event is dedicated to promoting innovative research approaches and seeks academics who are pushing the frontiers of sustainability practice to create a forum for developing tomorrow's thought leaders. The Faculty 2009 includes James P. Walsh (University of Michigan), Saras D. Sarasvathy (University of Virginia), Johanna Mair (IESE Barcelona) and Oana Branzei (Ivey London Canada).

The oikos Foundation highly encourages doctoral students to apply for the PhD Academy. Download the call for papers and apply until August 1,2009. Find more information at http://www.ivey.ca/centres/building/outreach/PhDAcademy/

Click here for the Call for Papers

Michael Lenox, Ph.D.
Faculty Director, ARCS
Samuel L. Stover Professor of Business Administration
Associate Dean and Executive Director, Batten Institute
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia

Erika Herz, M.B.A.
Managing Director, ARCS
Manager of Sustainability Programs
Darden School of Business
University of Virginia

On the first count, B&E has the potential to infuse business research with a much needed injection of relevance. Today there is a growing debate over "rigor and relevance" in management research. Respected scholars like Warren Bennis, Sumatra Ghoshal, Don Hambrick, Rakesh Khurana, Henry Mintzberg, Jeff Pfeffer, Dick Schmalensee, Mike Tushman, Andy Van de Ven and others have begun to ask whether business schools are in a crisis: whether they are becoming increasingly irrelevant to managers, publishing in journals managers don't read, asking questions they don't care about and using a language they don't understand. Even as I write this essay, Harvard Business Publishing is hosting a very active web dialogue on "How to Fix Business Schools": http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/how-to-fix-business-schools/ But research on B&E can help to fix at least part of the problem they are discussing, enhancing the relevance and value of business school research. Research in areas like organizational behavior, strategy, business economics, operations, finance, accounting, marketing and others can themselves be enhanced through attention to issues of contemporary criticality. These also include the mortgage crisis, corporate accounting scandals, high-profile bankruptcies, skyrocketing health care costs, the increasing power of multi-nationals, growing public resentment and distrust of business, poverty and more.

On the second count, academic research on B&E can bring much needed rigor to the societal and political debates around issues like climate change (provided it does not stay within the confines of the ivory tower). At present we seem to be living in an area where green is everywhere. Green jobs, green tech, green buildings, green economy. But the issue has become both muddled and politicized. It creates for some an air of irrational exuberance- "green" will solve all of our economic problems. And for others, it creates a knee-jerk pessimism at what is seen as a left leaning agenda that is devoid of clear headed market logic- "green" will destroy the economy. We have become stuck in ridiculous extremes of the debate, much like abortion and gun control; and as long as debate stays at these polls, clarity will elude us. But academic scholarship can help bring us out of this polarization. There is a screaming need for solid analysis on the vast array of policy interventions that have begun and will begin, including carbon tax, cap-and-trade, renewable portfolio standards, feed-in-tariffs, net metering, subsidies, infrastructure improvements (i.e. national grid, smart grid, high-speed rail, public transportation, home weatherization and nuclear waste disposal), government procurement policies, R&D funding, building, appliance and auto standards, land use policy and product labeling. All of these issues need sound, solid, objective and rigorous analysis of their business and market implications; analysis that academic scholars can provide.

Let me ask you, Do we have an opportunity before us? Donella Meadows and her co-authors finished their book, Beyond the Limits to Growth with this sentiment: "In a society that systematically develops in people their individualism, their competitiveness, and their cynicism, the pessimists are in the vast majority. That pessimism is the single greatest problem of the current social system, we think, and the deepest cause of unsustainability." In my view, one powerful tool for breaking down pessimism is knowledge. And that is what we, as scholars, can bring to the conversation.