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U. of Colorado at Denver Business School

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U. of Colorado at Denver Business School
Denver, CO, 80217-3364
United States
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Demographic Information

Number of full-time MBA students (2011): 

191

Number of part-time MBA students (2011): 

120

Total duration of full-time MBA program: 

24 months

MBA faculty (Fall 2010): 

108

Females as percent of student body: 

43%


Description of MBA Program: 

The Business School at the University of Colorado Denver uses a three front approach to prepare MBA students to manage social, ethical and environmental issues inherent in mainstream business:

  1. Core MBA courses that are value based including required core courses: Legal and Ethical Environment of Business; Introduction to International Business; Managing Individuals and Teams; Accounting and Analyzing Information; Financial Management; Operations, Data Analysis, Financial Management, Economics, Managing Individuals and Team, Marketing, and Strategic Management.  Students are exposed to value-based issues at the beginning of their program and at the end with the capstone Strategic Management Course.
  2. Specialized electives for MBAs addressing value based issues including a number of different electives including  International Corporate Governance, Negotiation and Interpersonal Conflict Management, Managerial Accounting Seminar, Dialogues on Globalization, Business Intelligence Systems, Entrepreneurial Financial Management, Financial Institution Management, the Rise of India, London Calling, Legal Aspects of International Business, Managing Global Talent, among many others.
  3. A Specialization in Managing for Sustainability that enables MBA students to explore the role of business in fostering the long-term health and viability of communities, the environment, and the organization.  MBA students can take four of these electives individually or for a specialization. They can also substitute two cross-disciplinary courses in Engineering, Architecture, the School of Public Administration which offer courses in sustainability.  Students may also take an internship to gain expertise and assist firms dealing with environmental and sustainability issues or work with a non-profit firm.  


The ten sustainability electives offered in the Business School for the Managing for Sustainability specialization include:

  1. MGMT 6821: Managing for Sustainability;
  2. MKTG 6800: Non-Profit and Social Marketing;
  3. ENTP 6858 Innovation in the Social Sector;
  4. BUSN 6800 Accounting/Finance for Sustainability;
  5. BUSN 6830 Business and the Natural Environment;
  6. MGMT 6822 Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility;
  7. ENTP 6860 Business Planning for Social Entrepreneurs;
  8. INTB/BUSN 6870 Global Climate Change;
  9. Entp 6800: Research in Sustainability;
  10. BUSN 6826: Supply Chain Management (Green Supply Chain Management).


The Business School is part of a campus Sustainability Hub to provide inter-disciplinary education and research on sustainability including the colleges of Architecture, Engineering, Public Administration, an Liberal Arts.  Based on the University's history and depth of sustainability-related research and education, the University of Colorado Denver was one of six universities awarded with a multi-million dollar, five year award from the National Science Foundation to develop and support inter-disciplinary graduate programs in Sustainability.  Representatives from the Sustainability Programs across campus network together to bring in campus speakers and co-sponsor events, and to develop inter-disciplinary research projects in Sustainability and apply for inter-disciplinary research grants.  Through the network, students in all programs become aware of different course offerings, events, and speakers offered across colleges.

The Business School developed a Business Community Advisory Council to help improve its curriculum, develop internships, and class speakers and mentors for classes, and to engage debate and discussion among council members.

Members of the Advisory Council include executives/managers from for-profit businesses that include Sustainability in their mission, businesses with sustainability as their mission, sustainability consulting firms, and government and state centers promoting sustainability.

The Managing for Sustainability The Business School maintains a partnership with CORE (Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy), a non-profit business association dedicated to the promotion of more environmentally and socially responsible business practices.

The Sustainability Program is a signature area for the Business School with Sustainability also as a signature area for the University of Colorado Denver, with detailed information posted on the university/business school's website:

http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/business/about/WhyChoose/sign...



How does the MBA program 'walk the talk' of social and environmental impact?: 

The Business School and the University of Colorado Denver area part of a three university Auraria Campus that is ranked first in the state and 7th in the country as a higher education purchaser of renewable energy according to Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partnership ratings.  In 2010 our campus had the 10th largest commitment to clean power by a Higher Education Institution in the U.S.  A student-backed sustainability initiative led to the Auraria Higher Education Center purchasing 100% Wind Offset. Renewable Choice Energy as of September 2009 has provided the Auraria Campus with approximately 40 million kilowatt hours per year of nationally sourced wind energy renewable energy credits.  Since Fall 2004 student paid an additional $1 to $4 fee per semester to fund these sustainability programs, with 45% wind powered until July 2006 when this was increased to 100%. Over 90% of our students voted in April 2007 to renew and expand the sustainable campus program that funds:

  1. the purchase of renewable energy,
  2. a robust single-stream recycling program launched in January 2009 that has reduced campus landfill waste by 25%,
  3. water efficiency projects including one approved that will save over $1 million gallons of water per year, and
  4. building energy efficiency projects as well as having sustainability educational programs on campus.  


Student funds were leveraged with the campus Facilities Management funds to become a national example of how campus sustainable development can become a reality.  Denver Mayor John Hickenloper noted that the Auraria campus including the University of Denver by pursuing renewable energy opportunities helped Denver to save energy, improve air quality, and protect the environment.



The Chancellor of the University of Colorado Denver was also among the first 154 higher education leaders to promote sustainability and to commit to "climate neutrality under the American and College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.  



In December 2010, Compost Auraria received final approval to begin  composting as well with details worked out with Waste Farmers, which will begin in January 2011, with a push from students in the Sustainable Campus Program.  



Compost Auraria (a tri-institutional student coalition including the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State, and Community College of Denver operating together on the Auraria campus) secured a $20,000 grant for its pilot program created to help the campus community understand different choices in the age of environmental sustainability.  The group was formed with the intention of institutionalizing organic waste diversion, in partnership with the Sustainable Campus Program (SCP) and the pilot program will be to educate and divert organic wastes (or resources) from the landfill.  Waste Farmers will have a regularly scheduled pick of napkins, paper towels, food scraps, and other organic materials that students and faculty at Auraria drop into strategically placed green bins throughout the Tivoli Student Union, and will provide a monthly summary of the quantities diverted and the greenhouse emissions avoided (compostauraria@gmail.com.)



The Campus also put on a student-run Sustainability Fair on November 10, 2010 in association with the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) and other student groups to create awareness, educate, and motivate students and visitors of the Auraria campus to sustainability issues locally to globally with local groups and organizations in Denver participating with informational booths, petitions, demonstrations, and materials to expand awareness and promote sustainability.  



The University of Colorado Denver and the Business School are also part of the Auraria Campus Climate Action Plan established in 2010 for future sustainability efforts and has worked closely with GreenPrint Denver and the State of Colorado as part of their Sustainability team.  The Auraria Campus has a special website for its sustainability efforts at: www.sustainableauraria.org.



The website includes discussion of campus projects, recycling report, events, and other information.  


The Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) has an active presence on the campus. Students voted on campus to pay a $2/semester per student fee to support CoPIRG,a statewide, student directed, public interest advocacy organization and set up a campus organizer and student chapter, affirming their desire to support CoPIRG. CoPIRG has an active student campus chapter:



In Fall 2010 CoPIRG registered hundreds of students to vote, and reminded hundreds more to get out and vote come election day. CoPIRG also worked to start up the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) food bank, which as a continuing activity in following semesters. CoPIRG students also collected over 300 articles of clothing for a local homeless shelter, and sponsored the annual Sustainability fair, among other activities.  For Spring 2010 CoPIRG is working on campaigns to make the food served schools safer,  addressing hunger and homelessness, promoting clean energy and more and better public transportation, and working to make college more affordable.  CoPIRG is also reviving its campaign to educate students on a number of consumer issues –from what to look for when renting an apartment, to how to control a student's identity and privacy online.


In collaboration with the Denver Green Team Project, the Campus Sustainability Group also offered Spring 2010 a Continuing Education Course to faculty, staff and students and the community entitled "Steps to Sustainable Living" with information to learn how to: (1) Reduce Garbage; (2) Conserve Water & Energy; (3) Be an eco-wise consumer; (4) Cut household toxic chemicals; (5) Lower auto fuel consumption; and (6) Take Community Action!  The course provided 1.2 Continuing Education Units (C.E.U.s) on Certificate of course completion with the potential outcomes that "Eco-conscious purchasing improves homes, and community ecosystem changes improve neighborhoods. 


The University approved a new Business School Building that will be Gold LEEDS certified and that includes in its design a Sustainability Suite, donated by Pro Logis that will include exhibits on sustainability and corporate social responsibility to educate all students and visitors entering the building.  The new building will also include a "Green Roof" to promote sustainability in the Business School.


The UCD's Business School's Net Impact Chapter has sponsored events to promote sustainability in the business school and the campus and works with Denver's Professional Net Impact Chapter on joint events to promote sustainability in Colorado. Students across the campus are invited to events including panels of sustainability experts, CEOs of sustainable businesses, and events held at different sustainable businesses that become business partners with the UCD Net Impact Chapter, and works with the professional Denver Net Impact Chapter on joint events.


The Experiential Learning Center and the Office of Student Life at the University of Colorado Denver also provide a variety of service projects during school breaks and throughout the semester including an Alternative Winter Break Trips.

Academic Department

Course Name: Accelerated 11-month MBA: Managing Individuals and Teams
Instructor: Kenneth Bettenhausen

Students gain an awareness of ethical, social, and cultural considerations in working with and managing within teams.

Course description:

Students learn the strengths and weaknesses of their management style, and how to work effectively with individual differences. Students also learn how to form teams around purpose/task, diagnose problems, identify and implement solutions by utilizing leadership skills such as setting goals, processes, and measures, interpersonal communication, motivation and conflict management. Students develop an understanding of the effect of the organizational and social context on the behavior of individuals and teams.

Course Name: Accounting and Finance for Sustainabiliy
Instructor: John Byrd

Helping companies and communities become more socially and environmentally sustainable requires information and investment. This class introduces internal accounting techniques that aid companies in becoming more eco-efficient and external reporting to help investors value a company along social and environmental dimensions. How and when to report potential environmental liabilities and different models of sustainability reporting are also discussed. At the national level we examine alternative measures of GDP that better represent social and environmental aspects of the country. Markets can be a powerful tool for change. We look at emissions trading, micro-finance and socially responsible investing.

Course Name: Analyzing and Interpreting Accounting Information, Accelerated 11-month MBA Program
Instructor: Ann Martin

BUSN6550 is designed to help you develop skills

in reading, understanding, and analyzing financial statements and to make you aware of

both the benefits and the limitations of the information contained in the financial

statements. In addition, the course will help you understand the effect of management

decisions on these financial statements and how investors and creditors might react to

the results of the decisions.

The exposure of serious accounting issues in companies of all sizes and in all industries

around the globe has highlighted the need for everyone to understand the accounting

process and the effects of management decisions on the firm’s financial position

regardless of your particular position in the firm. If you are an accountant, you need to

be fully aware of the legitimacy and credibility of the firm’s accounting procedures within

the official guidance of the accounting profession. You also need to know what is being

asked of you by management and you need to have a strong awareness of your own

moral and ethical framework if or when you are asked to do something that you feel is

“pushing the envelop.” We will talk about the ethics of accounting from the accountant’s

point of view throughout the course. If you are in management, you need to know all the

financial ramifications of decisions you make both within your area and as part of the

management team; if you ask the accountants to report information in a certain way, you

need to know exactly what you are asking them to do and the complete effect of that

request. You too need to have a strong awareness of your own moral and ethical stance

on questionable issues. Thus we will also talk about the ethics of management

decisions with respect to accounting decisions through the course as well. The decisions

that you make as part of the management team have implications not only for the firm

you manage, but for its employees, its suppliers, its customers, its investors, its lenders

and regulators as well. If you are reading financial statements as an investor or lender,

you need to know enough to ask the right questions about the firm’s activities and to be

able to judge the credibility of the answers you find.

Course Name: Applied Economics for Managers
Instructor: Woody Eckard, Barb Pelter

After taking this course, students should be able to apply economic principles to make optimal decisions given firm cost, demand and market circumstances. Also, they should be able to analyze the firm's interactions with its competitive market environment. Students will learn basic aspects of federal macroeconomic policy designed to achieve stable prices and economic growth. Also, they will learn to understand the measurement of output (GDP), employment, and prices; the conduct of monetary and fiscal policy; and the balance of trade.

The Macro part of the course includes an examination of the recent recession/recovery, including an analysis of the financial crisis that includes topics of corporate social responsibility and public policy.

Course Name: Auditing
Instructor: Carol Dee

Course objectives: The primary objective of this course is to help students develop a sound knowledge of financial auditing, with an emphasis on the theory underlying the development of standards, objectives and procedures. Upon completion of this course, students will know

• the services auditors provide and why users would demand this service even without government regulation.

• the management assertions embodied in financial statements and why auditors use them as a focal point of the audit.

• the legal environment facing auditors and how auditors can minimize their legal risk.

• how events such as the Enron scandal, the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the formation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) have changed the profession and auditors’ responsibilities.

• the ethical and professional standards for public accountants, as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the PCAOB, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

• how auditors evaluate risk and how this evaluation affects the audit procedures used.

• how auditors assess a client’s internal control environment and how this affects the audit.

• the auditor’s responsibility for detecting fraud and illegal acts.

• the types of audit reports and the circumstances under which each is issued.

• the techniques and procedures employed in gathering audit evidence.

Course Name: Bargaining, Negotiation, and Interpersonal Conflict Management
Instructor: Ken Bettenhausen

MGMT6804-3. Bargaining and Negotiation. Designed as a seminar in bargaining, negotiation, and interpersonal conflict management. Through simulations, role-plays and personal experience, students will practice and develop their negotiation skills and see how negotiations differ depending on the type of situation encountered. Specific topics covered include: the nature of negotiation, the role of negotiation context, interdependence and power, strategies and tactics of distributive bargaining, strategies and tactics of integrative bargaining, negotiation ethics, and interpersonal conflict resolution. This is not a course in collective bargaining, salesmanship, or purchasing (though the course principles and negotiation techniques covered in the course certainly apply to each of these contexts). The course objective is help you think about, practice, and (hopefully) improve your ability to negotiate and bargain your way through life (both personal and professional). Throughout the semester you will have the opportunity to share and critique your classmates' and your own out-of-class bargaining experiences and to practice bargaining in class by negotiating in earnest within the context of different bargaining exercises. After working through each in-class exercise we will discuss the strategies and bargaining tactics you used and consider why they worked or did not work, and the ethical issues surrounding the negotiation in this particular situation.

Course Name: Business and Global Climate Change
Instructor: John Byrd

Over the next decades managers will increasingly have to consider aspects of climate change - energy costs, regulatory requirement, disclosure and developing competitive products and services for a low carbon world. No matter what your personal views are about climate change, most large corporations are addressing climate in some fashion. They see it as a fact of life that they must deal with. More progressive companies are trying to find ways to turn this potentially serious constraint into some sort of opportunity. And thereby shape their own destiny rather than having it determined for them. I hope this class gives you some of the information that will help you be in that group of ‘destiny-shapers’ as you progress through your career.COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Introduce the predicted impacts of climate change as currently understood.

• Consider how carbon emissions are measured and assigned to countries.

• Consider policy responses (implemented and being discussed) to climate change.

• Learn about models that estimate costs of different climate mitigation policies.

• Consider the linkage between energy and climate and business.

• Introduce the basic structure of carbon markets.

• Look at the evidence about financial performance and climate exposure.

• Learn the basics of developing a carbon footprint for a company.

• Consider how carbon emissions are disclosed to investors.

• See how companies are responding to climate change.

• Consider investment opportunities and constraints in a low carbon economy

• Develop a carbon strategy for a company or industry.

Course Name: Business and the Natural Environment
Instructor: John Byrd and Graham Russell

This class considers the impact of economic activity on the natural environment and the regulatory, market, and corporate voluntary responses to reducing this impact. Topics include externalities, life cycle assessment, environmental accounting, corporate environmental reporting, ISP 14000 certification and sustainability.

Course Name: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Instructor: Ira Selkowitz

This course covers business ethics and corporate social responsibility in the global contexts of employment, marketing, product liability, the environment and other areas. Students compare ethical theories, including utilitarianism, Kantian, Rawlsian, stockholder, stakeholder and social contract and apply some or all of these theories to actual and hypothetical case studies. The doctrine of corporate social responsibility is defined and explored and diverging views of corporate social responsibility are discussed. Examples of how corporate social responsibility can increase a company's goodwill and net income are analyzed.

Course Name: Business Intelligence Systems
Instructor: Jahan Karimi

The course covers Business Performance Management (BPM) and the use of digital dashboards and balanced scorecards as evolution of EIS. Hands-on experience is provided through the use of leading-edge technologies including the MicroStrategy business intelligence tool. The impact of management support systems on social issues, supply chain, and the environment are discussed respectively in weeks 12 and 15 of the course.

This course also covers technical and managerial issues associated with the development and use of decision support systems, expert systems, executive information systems, and advanced intelligent systems. The DSS component covers decision-theory, model management, and business intelligence with an emphasis on how decision-making can be supported using data warehouses, OLAP, and data mining and visualization tools. The ES component focuses on knowledge acquisition, representation, reasoning, and using advanced intelligent systems over the web. In addition, collaboration, communication, enterprise decision support systems.

Pages

Type of Offering

Panel of Outstanding Small to Medium-Size Firms in Sustainability
Type: CORE Sustainability Simple Path to Sustainability Panel
Date: April, 2011

In association with the CORE Sustainability Opportunity Summit in April 2011 in Denver, the UCD Business School will

have a panel on Outstanding Small to Medium Size

Firms in Sustainability in association with the new

book we published "A Simple Path to Sustainability"

(joint effort with students and faculty in the Business School, School of Architecture and CORE). This will be followed by a book signing by student/faculty/CORE authors of different case studies of different outstanding SMEs.

2010 Energy Moving Forward Forum
Type: Energy Moving Forward Community Energy & Sustainability Discussion Forum
Date: September, 2010

The Global Energy Management (GEM) Program and the University of Colorado Business School presented in collaboration with The Denver Business Journal its first energy forum, Energy Moving Forward 2010. Together in one place, key players from across all energy sectors addressed how we can collectively address the top energy challenges facing the western regions of the U.S. Panelists included Sustainability leaders as well as leaders in different energy sectors including debate over different sources of energy and their benefits and disadvantages from both an economic and sustainability perspective. The dialogue generated by the panelists and audience members was reported in a special Denver Business Journal insert on September 24th, 2010. More than 400 business and community participants attended the event.

Panels included sessions on:

(1) "40 Years in the Wilderness: The Quest for a U.S. Energy Policy"

(2) "Energy Development and the Environment: Mutually Exclusive or Necessarily Compatible"

(3) "Alternative Energy and Fossil Fuels: All of the Above Meets Either/Or"

Keynote Address: "Energy and Human Capital: People = Precious Resource" by Dr. John Boudreau, Professor of Management, Marshall School of Business and Research, Director, Center for Effective Organizations, University of Southern California.

Panels sparked debate with panel members including social entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and public interest groups including discussion of sustainability efforts by companies in Colorado and their challenges.

UCD Net Impact Social and Parnership with Sweet Action Ice Cream
Date: May, 2010

The UCD Business School's Net Impact Chapter set up partnerships with Sustainable Companies during the 2009 to 2010 academic year, and held events at different sustainable small companies with an introduction to the company, speech by the company owner, and a social networking event.

In May 2010, the end of the year event was at "Sweet Action Ice Cream," an independent retail ice cream store that is totally wind-powered and that maximizes its recycling and minimizes its waste including using compostable waste goods for services and products and uses natural local ingredients for its products (www.sweetactionicecream.com). The owners spoke about their sustainability efforts and challenges, and students sampled the company's ice cream as part of the social event.

Getting Concrete About Urban Climate Change
Date: April, 2010

The Business School co-sponsored a speaking series with the College of Architecture, and School of Public Administration during the Spring of 2010 about different aspects of urban sustainability bringing in speakers on urban planning and the ecological transformation of cities including, Jeb Brugmann, the founder of ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) and a leading practitioner and thinker about the process of innovation who has devised solutions to help local communities access the benefits of globalization. In the lecture, Mr. Brugmann described the ecological transformation of cities, describing what it really takes to make the emerging global "Citysystem" sustainable.

UCD Net Impact: Cradle to Cradle Panel Event
Date: November, 2010

The UCD Business School's Net Impact Chapter presented a panel speaking event on November 19, 2010 at the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship, "Cradle to Cradle: Innovation in Our Local Food Supply Chain" with over 100 students, faculty, and visitors attending.

The Panel discussion included owners/executives with:

Denver Waste Farmers

Grant Family Farms

Chipolte

& Sweet Action Ice Cream

Panelists discussed their efforts to produce/buy products locally and other efforts to reduce their carbon footprints. Following the event students tasted local products and had the opportunity to socialize with Panel Members.

Sustainability Research Student Reseach Panel Event
Date: June, 2010

Faculty organized and moderated and presented a panel on student projects at the AACSB Sustainability Conference to faculty and MBA's attending on how student projects could be developed to involve students in hands on activities and projects and research and travel activities, with panelists from different schools providing examples to the audience.

Inside the Sustainability Camp Speaker Net Impact Event
Date: October, 2009

The UCD Net Impact Student Chapter sponsored a speaker and social event "Inside the Sustainability Camp" with Kim Coupounas, CEO and Co-Founder of GO-LITE, a sustainable company in Boulder, Colorado. Go-LITE is a company with the goal of making its business 100% sustainable, mitigating its entire environmental footprint.

Kim Coupounas talked about starting the company, the inspiration that led to the company's goal to become completely carbon neutral, the steps that were taken, trials, tribulations, and triumphs to meet these goals, and students were inspired to become sustainability leaders, with a demonstration just how this could be done.

REDIRECT Green Business Job Panel
Type: Speaker Event on Green Business Jobs
Date: September, 2009

Speaker event by faculty member on Green Business Jobs for REDIRECT for its annual Sustainability Fair, attended by MBAs and potential MBAs and other interested in green jobs in Colorado at the Denver Mercantile Mart.

Carbon Footprinting 101: Estimating Your Company's Carbon Footprint
Type: Workshop on Estimating Your Company's Carbon Footprint
Date: March, 2010

Faculty and Students in the University of Colorado Denver Business School's Managing for Sustainability presented and helped at the Colorado CORE's 2010 Sustainable Opportunities Summit & EXPO on March 2-4 at the Colorado Convention Center downdown. The Managing for Sustainability Program presented a pre-summit workship:

Carbon Footprinting 101: Estimating Your Company's Carbon Footprint.

The 2-hour workship provided companies with the tools needed to compute their carbon footprint including an introduction to Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, providing an extended example of how to compute emissions from various sources, providing the conversion factors needed to compute a company's own carbon footprint, demonstration of ways to report a company's data, and discussion of how to use a company's results to identify carbon reduction strategies. Participants pre-registering received a CD with conversion factors and articles about computing and reporting GHG emissions.

Sustainability Curriclum Panel Event
Date: June, 2009

Faculty presented a panel to faculty and attending MBA students at the AACSB Sustainability Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota on steps to grow a green curriculum providing examples for the development of the Managing for Sustainability Program and samples of curriculum development for different courses.

UCD Net Impact Presents "HOME" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Type: Film Event Presentation
Date: April, 2010

UCD Net Impact presented the film "HOME" by Yan Arthus-Bertrand on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 6 pm at the Starz Filmcenter on the Auraria Campus. The film contains aerial footage from 54 countries depicting how the Earth's problems are all interlinked. A social session/networking/discussion was held for Net Impact members and students and visitors attending.

Sustainability Council Discussion on the Business Case for Sustainability
Date: January, 2011

On January 12, 2011, the Business School held a round-table discussion on the Topic: "How Can you Make a Business Case for Sustainability" including the Return on Investment (ROI) in Sustainability. Discussion focused on questions:

(1) How does your company evaluate its sustainability initiativs?

(2) Are sustainability proposals treated the same as other capital investments (ROI, standard company hurdle rate, NPV, etc.)?

(3) Do things like goodwill, reputation, or other qualitative considerations play a role in the evaluation, e.g., if a proposed investment is close to the hurdle rate, would these factors help it be approved?

(4) Where is your company finding its best sustainability opportunities?

(5) How much do government incentives and subsidies direct your sustainability investment choice?

Board members included sustainability leaders in the Denver Business community from both for-profit and governmental and non-profit organizations.

UCD Net Impact Speaker Event on Elephant Energy
Date: February, 2010

The UCD Business School Net Impact Chapter presented on February 16, 2010, "A Speaker and Social Networking Event with Doug Vilsack of Elephant Energy. Elephant Energy promotes rural development and nature conservation in Africa through the dissemination of small-scale renewable energy technology.

In addition to Doug Vilsack's discussion of the history of Elephant Energy and its operations, and how students could help with the non-profit and develop their own non-profit organizations, the owner of 1515 Restaurant, where the event was held (1515 Market Street, Denver, Colorado) discussed his efforts to make the restaurant carbon neutral and his use of local produce for the food used by the restaurant, as a UCD Net Impact Student Organization business partner.

A Simple Path to Sustainability Book Forthcoming from ABC-CLIO Praeger Publishing March 2011
Type: Student/Faculty/CORE Book Publication on Sustainability for Small to Medium-Size Businesses
Date: March, 2011

As a joint project with Colorado CORE (a non-profit firm promoting Sustainability for Businesses in Colorado), the Business School, and the College of Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver, a team of about 20 students and faculty interviewed and researched eleven small and medium-size businesses that were recognized as outstanding in sustainability and wrote fourteen chapters and cases to help small and medium sized businesses become more Sustainable.

The book, "A Simple Path to Sustainability: Green Business Strategies for Small and Medium Sized Businesses (ISBN: 0-31338-269-7 )(edited by Fred Andreas, Elizabeth Cooperman, Blair Gifford, and Graham Russell will be published in March 2011 by ABC-CLIO (Praeger Publishing)

(http://www.abc-clio/product.aspx?id=52879), (also on Amazon.com search on A Simple Path to Sustanability). We hope to use it in classes and for seminars to help Small to Medium Businesses with their Sustainable Strategies in the future.

Table of Contents

Preface xi: Fred Andreas

Chapter Summaries by Industry Focus xvii

PART I: OVERVIEW

ONE: Introduction: Graham Russell

TWO: Measuring Costs and Benefits:

Elizabeth S. Cooperman and Elizabeth R. Brost

PART II: SUSTAINABILITY CASES FOR

SMALL TO MEDIUM-SIZED FIRMS

Environmental Products

THREE: Eco-Products: Christopher Thorp and Sharen A. Durst-Aldridge

Sustainable Architecture

FOUR: Barrett Studio Architects:Fred Andreas

Contributing research by Clay Chase, Pamela Goodrich-Yohe, David Jacobs, and Christopher Thorp

FIVE: Forest City: The Evolution of Sustainability

in Forest City’s Development of Stapleton 69

Fred Andreas; Prime contributing author Pamela Goodrich-Yohe; Contributing researcher and author Robin Groppi

Green Hospitals

SIX: Boulder Community Hospital:

Blair Gifford, Carrie Yasemin Paykoc, and Alan Romero

Green Printing

SEVEN: The Digital Frontier: Kenneth Bettenhausen and Natasha Gleichmann; Contributing research by Jennifer Mich

Sustainable Banking

EIGHT: Boulder Valley Credit Union:

“Better Banking Naturally”: Elizabeth S. Cooperman

Contributing research by Clint McCarver

Sustainable Brewing

NINE: New Belgium Brewery: K. J. McCorry

Contributing research by Liz Lowry and Maria Elena Price

Recycling

TEN: Guaranteed Recycling Xperts: A Cleantech

Business That Wasn’t: Graham Russell

Machine Work Services

ELEVEN: Denver Machine Shop: Sustainability through

Four Generations: Stephen R. Bernard

Socially Responsible Investing

TWELVE: First Affirmative Financial Network:

Responding to Socially Conscious Market Demand:

Graham Russell

Zero-Waste Hospitality

THIRTEEN: Boulder Outlook Hotel: Natasha Gleichmann and Kenneth Bettenhausen; Contributing research by Jamie M. Dandar

PART III: OVERALL LESSONS

FOURTEEN: Overall Sustainability Lesson: Why Small

and Medium-Sized Firms Should Invest in Sustainability:

Blair Gifford

Glossary

Index

UCD Net Impact Social Speaker Event at Organixx Restaurant
Date: September, 2010

The UCD Business School's Net Impact Chapter had its Fall Start-up Event at Organixx Restaurant, and organic, environmentally friendly restaurant in LoDo in Denver, Colorado with a discussion of the restaurant and its practices, and a social networking dinner event at the restaurant, as a partner. Organixx Restaurant (1520 Blake Street, Denver, Colorado) is a sustainable, eco-friendly, reusable, recyclable, fair trade, natural energy efficient, oganic, local, green, low-impact, and fresh foodrestaurant.

Table Discussion: How to Do Research in Sustainability
Date: June, 2010

Luncheon Table Discussion with Faculty/MBA students attending the AACSB Sustainability Meeting in Denver, Colorado, June 2010 by two faculty in the Managing for Sustainability Program in the Business School providing examples of student and faculty research projects.

UCD Net Impact: LOHAS Speaking Event
Date: March, 2010

The UCD Net Impact Chapter held a speaker/social event with Ted Ning as the key speaker, the Executive Director for LOHAS in Boulder, Colorado, a non-profit focused on promoting health and fitness, the environment, personal development, and sustainable living, as the key speaker. Ted Ning talked about the efforts of LOHAS to promote sustainable living including the LOHAS Journal and its annual LOHAS Forum in Boulder, Colorado. (www.lohas.com)

The UCD Business School's Managing for Sustainability Program

has developed a Managing for Sustainability Advisory Council to allow students to network with firms that engage in sustainable practices and to bring in class speakers and business internships and jobs in the Managing for Sustainability and Sustainability consulting area. Companies represented include Morrison & Forester, LLP, an environmentally focused law firm, Xcel Energy which has worked on increasing the use of alternative forms of energy, Encana Oil & Gas which has also engaged in alternative forms of energy, Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Corp. also for many years engaged in sustainabilty, Deloite & Touche, a leader in the sustainable accounting area, White Wave Foods, Halcrow's Water & Power Business Group, Five Wnds International, Vail Resorts, Eco-Officiency, as Sustainable Consulting firm, R&K Mcgrath & Associates, Pro Logis, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Trupoint Advisors, engaged in Sustainable Consulting activities, First Data, and the City of Denver's Environmental Quality Department. We are also working with the Business School's Graduate Career Connections Office for networking/internships and any jobs in the Sustainability areas.

Joint MD/MBA
MBA/Architecture

Pages

Building local legitimacy into corporate social responsibility: Gold mining firms in developing nations
Author(s): Blair Gifford; Andrew Kestler; Sharmila Anand

A transnational model of global strategy suggests that multi-national enterprises generally rely on provenglobal capabilities to adapt existing business models.  Alternatively, this paper argues  that the transnationalmodel needs to be amended to allow for a hybrid approach that balances local and global strategies formulti-national gold (MNGs) firms working in developing nations.  This is illustrated by Newmont Mining'sefforts to develop local legitimacy through contributions to community development around its goldmining operations in Peru.  We then compare the Newmont case with corporate social responsibility(CSR) at other MNGs.  We have found that there appears to be an industry-wide institutional environmentdeveloping which includes local CSR projects in an attempt to balance the effects of capitalism betweenglobal markets and developing nations. 

Journal Title: Journal of World Business Volume: 45 Edition: 3 Page Numbers: 204-311
Deferred Compenstion in Public Defined Benefit Plans Evidence from Colorado PERA
Author(s): Michael Mannino ; Elizabeth Cooperman

With significant underfunding of public defined benefit pension plans, public debate often focuses on funding problems, neglectingbenefit-side factors that contribute to underfunding.  In this study we examine the benefit siide by calculating the value of deferredcompensation, using a unique dataset of salary histories for recent university retirees covered by the Colorado Public EmployeesRetirement Association plan.  We find sizable levels of deferred compensation that is associated with retirement age and period, job class, service years, and to some extent gender, with administrator receiving the highest levels.  We also find wage-earning  profiles tounderestimate salary growth for higher paid employees.

Journal Title: Journal of Pension Economics and Finance Volume: 8 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 36-61
Director Tenure and the Compensation of Bank CEOs
Author(s): John Byrd; Elizabeth Cooperman

Working on behalf of shareholders, the directors of public corporations advise and oversee the executive team. Many studies have examined whether the independence of directors improves the effectiveness of this oversight.  A characteristic, which hasbeen largely overlooked is how board tenure or the length of time directors have served on the board, and hence long-term relationships with executives and other directors will reduce incentives to dissent or be critical of managerial proposals.  Alternatively, an expertise hypothesis predicts superior monitoring of executives by directors with longer tenure. We test the alternative hypothesis by examining how board tenure affects the compensation of bank CEOs.  Using a sample of 93 publicly-tradedbank holding companies, we regress a measure o f relative CEO compensation against board tenure, ownership structure, firm performance, peer pay, and other corporate governance variables. Overall our results suggest that both board and ownershipvariables have a significant effect on CEO compensation.  With respect to tenure variables, we find a significant, negative relationship between average tenure for directors on a bank's compensation committee, consistent with an expertise hypothesis.

Journal Title: Managerial Finance Volume: 36 Edition: 2 Page Numbers: 86-102
Environmental Risk and Shareholder Returns: Evidence from Announcements of the Toxic 100 Index
Author(s): John Byrd; Kenneth Bettenhausen; Elizabeth Cooperman

This paper examines the stock price response to the announcement that a U.S. company has been named to the Toxic 100 list of the largest air polluters, where rankings are based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Risk Screening Environmental Indicator (RSEI) project.  We find a significant negative average abnormal return (AR) of -1.20% in 2006 and -1.60% in 2008 over the two-day announcement periods for the Toxic 100 announcements each year, representing an average drop in market value for the average firm in the index of -$235,944,909 in 2006 and -$237,595,885 in 2008.  Firms in the top 10 ranking of the index had a significantly, larger negative abnormal return than in the bottom 10 ranking.  Firms that were not on the 2006 index, but were added to the 2008 index experienced an average abnormal return of -3.5%. The results are interesting for two reasons.  One, they show that investors impound environmental risk into their company valuations, implying that environmental disclosure and reporting is important. Two, the results suggest that although analysts had the RSEI data prior to the release of the Toxic 100 lists, they view the Toxic 100 as a significant event.  This suggests limits to the semi-strong form of market efficiency, suggesting that the anticipated payoff from computing their own environmental risk assessment may not justify their time and effort required to do so. 

Journal Title: International Review of Accounting, Banking, and Finance Volume: 2 Edition: 3 Page Numbers: 24-45
Organizational citizenship behavior in performance evaluations: Distributive justice or injustice?
Author(s): Stefanie K. Johnson

The purpose of this study was to examine employees' reactions to the use of organizational citizenshipbehavior (OCB) in performance evaluations.  In addition, gender differences in such reactions wereexamined.  Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from a sample of working adults anda sample of students.  In the first study, participants compared the fairness of 11 different weightingcombinations of OCB and core task behavior, using a within-subjects design.  In the second study, lowmedium, and high weightings of OCB were compared using a between-subjects design.  Findingsin both studies, participants reported that evaluating employees  on OCB was fair.  OCB weightingsof  30-50% were perceived as the most fair.  Men felt that OCB weightings  of 20-30% were the mostfair and women felt that OCB weightings of 25-50% were the most fair.  Implications: Consideringthat employees are evaluated on their OCB, it is important to know that they fell that it is fair to do so.  Choosing how heavily to weigh OCB may be more difficult, although weightings of 25-30% OCBwere perceived to be fair to both the men and women in this research.  This is the first study to examine employee reactions to the use of OCB in performance evaluations and add to a growingbody of evidence suggesting that there are gender differences in the perceptions of OCB.

Journal Title: Journal of Business & Psychology Volume: 24 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 409-418
Stakeholder Value Disclosures: Anchoring on Primacyand the Importance of Financial and Nonfinancial Performance Measures
Author(s): Bruce Neumann; Michael Roberts

In the growing debate about stakeholder values, there has been little discussion about information overloador whether the requested disclosures can be effectively used.  Stakeholder advocates call for complicatedand massive environmental and related social disclosures while not considering how information overloadmight affect the discourse about corporate performance.  Stakeholders, including shareholders, plead formore transparency.  We believe that managers and stakeholders involved in performance evaluations havemultiple interests that extend beyond traditional shareholder value measures.  We note that the BalancedScorecard (BSC) was developed as one tool to reflect and communicate these multiple measures.  Wetest how managers use (or ignore) multiple measure, and we posit that stakeholders will face many of thesame constraints when using and processing multiple disclosures including Corporate Social Reports (CSR),environmental, or similar disclosures.  We examine eight stakeholder disclosures, shareholder financial measuresand four stakeholder value, nonfinancial measures.  In this study we find that the relative weights managersplace on financial and nonfinancial performance measures are influenced by both (1) presentation order and(2) the relative importance of the specific performance measures employed.  Other stakeholder disclosures arelikely to be similarly anchored, perhaps biased, by primacy and a priori importance rankings.

Journal Title: Review of Managerial Science Volume: 10 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: