Support for Sustainability: Vision or

Support for Sustainability:Vision or Mirage? Janet Spitz The College of Saint Rose School of Business, spitzj@strose.edu 518 454 2032 CREST Presentation November 2, 2010 The Author would like to thank The College of Saint Rose, and the University of Queensland, for generous research support

This work focuses on Sustainability - what is that? Pollution, Clean Air, Clean Water We can also think about Sustainability as a “Sustainable Society” writ large

A Sustainable Society might include Social Goals A Healthy Economy workers earn a living wage, medical care A Democratic system of Governance without undue interference A Sustainably sized population that can reasonably support itself

This Vision of Sustainability has both ideological and practical components – Sustainability as a Goal, Theory Practical Application, Enactment: What does Sustainability mean in the Real World?

In particular, I ask What does Sustainability mean to those in powerfully determinantdecision-making positions? In a Market-Driven World, People in Business

Business Managers seek to satisfy goals and groups: - stockholders - stakeholders - employees - customers - other Business Managers - External Requirements – political, legal, and so forth. Managers use Tools and Strategies Learned on the job, and fromSchools of Business

The premise I follow in this investigation is, Students Learn More Than what is in the Books. Culture, an Ideology a Pattern of Shared Values and Beliefs held by any organization or strongly-identified group

This research investigates Values and Beliefs about Sustainability held by Academics - in Business Schools - in other Academic Fields To gain insight into general patterns of outcomes relating to various Sustainability dimensions emergent in economically active global locales

Five Dimensions of Sustainability we Explore: 1. Abstract Sustainability – theory or goal 2. The Pollution Aspect – Hazardous Materials 3. Healthy Economy – Living Wage, Med. Care 70-75% GDP = Consumer purchases 4. Democratic Governance 5. Sustainable Population Strategies

Hypotheses 1. Academics in the field of Business will hold more negative Values and Beliefs about Sustainability. 2. Academic Women will support Sustainability to a greater extent than will equivalent academic men. [3. National identity (AU vs EU vs US vs Indonesia) will matter to Sustainability Views - has not yet been tested.]

Sample, Data: Survey Results from 2008-2009, paper and online Academics in U.S., Australia/NZ, E.U., a few S. Africa All Academic Fields All Academic Ranks Compare Business Academics who teach Business Decision Makers to Academics in Other Fields

Sampling Details: • 2008-2009 Academic Year, hardcopy anonymous surveys were sent with return envelopes to academics in three waves • To several thousand academics in all departments in seven major U.S. universities (5.8% response) • To a purchased mailing list from the Academy of Management, International Business and Strategy divisions, to oversample of business academics (12.8% response rate) • To academics in two major Australian universities, sent through campus mail, with return envelopes (18.7% response rate) • Response Rate: 12.55% overall; no reminders except in my dept at UQ (34% response rate). • 1,290 AU & US responses sufficiently complete to be used in this run. • Several hundred emailed requests for survey participation to Academics in the EU, AU, NZ, various African states, to an identical online survey (2% response rate) 1843 cases was the total Academics sample size

Results - • Business Faculty support the idea • of Sustainability more than non-Business Faculty, • …but… • Bus Facoppose its enactmentin 3 of 4 measures: • 2. Healthy Economy • 3. Democratic Society • Sustainable Population

2. Men Academics oppose the idea of Sustainability more than Women Academics, and • Men Academics oppose its enactment in 4 of 4 measures: • Avoiding Pollution • Healthy Economy • Democratic Society • Sustainable Population

These Results are Preliminary -- Still to do: a) Segment the sample by Nationality: US vs EU vs AU vs Indonesia (Indonesian sample still in data collection) b) Control for Income, Publications, Rank Considerable missing data on these variables • Further segment by Academic Field - Hard Sciences vs Social Sciences - Education, Medicine - Art, Music

Nontheless…these results make Clear - Business Faculty Values & Beliefs, and - Male Faculty Values & Beliefs about Sustainability, theory and practice, are “different” than other people’s Sustainability Views: The theory is a Vision, the Practice a Mirage

By contrast, • Women Academics consistently support Sustainability (vision and practice) as do • Academics in Other Fields [vision but no mirage]

So, what can we learn from this? 1. There is a contest of identities, of what type of humanity will prevail – differences in views. 2. In that contest, the social & institutional construction of reality, or of a milieu within which culture is reproduced, matters. 3. That milieu has multiple factors: Gender identityemerges powerfully and consistently Field identityemerges powerfully and consistently  in particular, the Business School cultureas it pertains to Sustainability “is different.”

One way in which Business Values and Beliefs are different is that often, Business Academics focus narrowly on one aspect of Business activity: Short Run Profit And when Business considers Improvement or Innovation, we seek Incremental Innovation, using existing technologies and skills, adjusted.

Sustainability is seen through the Larger Picture it needs a Wider Lens, a Holistic View

Today’s Business Community opposes full employment, good wages, medical care, to get higher profit … but then we’re confused: Why has the economy not recovered? In the U.S. over 70% of GDP is Consumer Purchases: - 10% unemployment = 10% of households not buying. - 10% under-employed (working Part Time, wanting Full Time) buy very little - 10% have Given Up finding work (no longer counted as unemployed); they don’t make many purchases, either. add ‘em up: 30% of the 70% of GDP not happeningrobustly or sustainably

Creating a Sustainably Healthy Economy requires both a Vision of the Sustainability Idea, and a TangiblePractice of Sustainability Acts: - Avoiding Haz Mat Production - Paying Wages for a Healthy Economy - Democratic Governance - Sustainable Population Practices (World Bank)

Some years ago, Henry Ford actually thought about this: • Model T Factory paying a $5/day • was subject to enormous ridicule: • - why pay so much? (2-3 times the going average) • Ford’s answer: • Because these people will work diligently to produce a complex product that reliably works • Because then they will Buy One.

Looking forward from Today… we need Forms & Methods of Production that are Entirely Differentfrom the forms of production and the types of products we all use today Path Breaking Research in a Partnership of Science and Industry will get us there Creating literally Millions of Good-Paying Jobs en route as a Sustainable economic engine

That is a Vision we can Make a Reality Thank you. Questions / Comments / Thoughts?

Support for Sustainability: Vision or