תמרה & אמה

יום רביעי, 16 בנובמבר 2011

Proposal: Center for Excellence in Social Business Education

Written by Yefim Roth and Eitan Gerstner

Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management

Technion Israel

The world economy in 2011 is facing serious problems. Increasing unemployment and bankruptcies result in social unrest against governments and business tycoons. Recent social protests fueled by resentment to unfair economic and political systems that allow few families to own and control major parts of the enterprises, national resources, and wealth, while others are left with insufficient financial means needed to lead healthy and happy life.

Threats to economic and social stability are fueled by myopic business practices as well as by consumer behavior. Aggressive brand-marketing and easy-to-qualify loan offers tempt consumers to keep on buying products they do not need with money they do not have. Excessive consumption of unhealthy food is associated with the obesity epidemic, leading to mounting national health costs. This unsustainable life style is also raising the per capita "foot prints values" on the environment, including increased product waste, garbage accumulation, carbon emission, pollution, and global warming.

Helping households and society flourish in the long run has not been a priority in business schools research and teaching agendas. Unfortunately, business education has often focused on techniques to increase short term profitability, a strategy that conflicts with the long-run well-being. As consumers are enticed to borrow and overspend, they do not save enough for retirement. Figure 1 below illustrates the vicious cycle involving short-run behavior leading to conspicuous consumption, unhealthy life style, insufficient savings, and social risks to the economy, the environment, and to society.

How can this "doom loop" be fixed? Just as business schools educate students on managing businesses to improve profits, children and families must be educated to better manage their own interactions with businesses, to resist tempting marketing offers that do not create long-term benefits to individuals and society, find better and healthier value for money, and negotiate lower prices to reduce the total bill paid for essentials. Savvier consumers will signal business they cannot view them only as "milking cash cows" without giving consideration to negative social and environmental impacts of the product they sell and to policies they use.

Educating families to become sophisticated in managing the business aspects of their life will help them secure stable sources of income, reduce expenses, and lead to healthier and environmental-friendly life styles while building wealth. This challenge will be addressed by the Center for Excellence in Social Business Education we propose. The center will promote research and develop tools to help educate families and businesses on strategies and operations for improving well-being in the long run. The center will be interdisciplinary, covering the fields of education, business, social studies, environment, and psychology.

Figure 1: The Impact of Short-term Business Focus and Consumer Behavior

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