Thinking about sustainable business systemically
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Thinking about sustainable business systemically
This course is part of Sustainable Business Strategy for Future Leaders Specialization
Instructor: Haider Ali
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What you'll learn
Go beyond the limitations of existing methodologies and business design approaches to serve complex ecosystem needs and problems
Design and implement new sustainable business concepts and business models grounded in People, Planet, Profit and Progress centric thinking and doing
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There are 4 modules in this course
On this course, you’ll examine the process, methodology and impact of global circular economy initiatives.
You’ll use systems thinking and mapping to understand the underlying dynamics and interaction of your problem-opportunity space and explore the likely impacts and effects of changing and/or influencing key elements of your systems. You’ll also identify key ‘leverage points’ of potential change across your systems map that you can address through future business interventions. Via text-based resources and task books, you’ll gain comprehensive understanding and benefit from in-depth reference points as you formulate your ideas and plans.
This week, you will learn about the benefits of a circular economy and examine what steps you should take to frame a specific challenge before you attempt to solve it.
What's included
2 videos11 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt
2 videos•Total 15 minutes
- Video 2.1 Helen Burdett, Head of Circular Economy at the World Economic Forum – Interview 1 (7 mins)•8 minutes
- Video 2.2 Helen Burdett, Head of Circular Economy at the World Economic Forum – Interview 2 (7 mins)•7 minutes
11 readings•Total 51 minutes
- Welcome to the course•4 minutes
- Course requirements•6 minutes
- Engaging with your tasks•7 minutes
- Reintroducing the circular economy•6 minutes
- Your task: World Economic Forum’s Scale360° initiative to enable circular economy (Part 1)•3 minutes
- Thoughts from your course instructor•2 minutes
- Your task: World Economic Forum’s Scale360° initiative to enable circular economy (Part 2)•4 minutes
- Thoughts from your course instructor•2 minutes
- Your sustainable challenge domains•5 minutes
- Your task: Defining your business challenge space•10 minutes
- Week 1 summary•2 minutes
2 assignments•Total 60 minutes
- Week 1 assignment•30 minutes
- How much do you know already?•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Your task: Introduce yourself•10 minutes
This week, you will address complex issues within multi-stakeholder settings, often with divergent perspectives. You will learn how to create, map and analyse problems across stakeholders using systems thinking to understand complex dynamics and their interrelatedness across your chosen challenge space.
What's included
1 video14 readings3 assignments1 discussion prompt
1 video•Total 10 minutes
- Video 2.3 introducing systems mapping•10 minutes
14 readings•Total 195 minutes
- Welcome to Week 2•2 minutes
- Introduction to systems thinking•3 minutes
- What is a system?•8 minutes
- Traditional problem thinking: in search of a single solution•5 minutes
- Combining systems thinking and design thinking•5 minutes
- Systems mapping•2 minutes
- When to create a system map•10 minutes
- Systems boundaries and dynamics•5 minutes
- Your task: System dynamics•45 minutes
- Stakeholder interviews: primary research•6 minutes
- How to conduct stakeholder interviews•68 minutes
- Summarising your stakeholder interview insights•30 minutes
- Other primary data sources to consider•4 minutes
- Week 2 summary•2 minutes
3 assignments•Total 70 minutes
- Week 2 assignment•30 minutes
- Your task: Differences between systems thinking and design thinking•10 minutes
- Week 2 self-assessment•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
- Your task: Write your problem statement•20 minutes
This week, you will pick up threads from the three preceding lessons and move on to building a systems map related to your challenge space.
What's included
6 readings2 assignments
6 readings•Total 82 minutes
- Welcome to Week 3•2 minutes
- Building your systems map•5 minutes
- Causal relationships between nodes•15 minutes
- Further examples of causal relationships between nodes•25 minutes
- Understanding and identifying feedback loops•32 minutes
- Week 3 summary•3 minutes
2 assignments•Total 60 minutes
- Week 3 assignment•30 minutes
- Week 3 self-assessment•30 minutes
This week, you will decide what to include and exclude from your map given the underlying complexities of your stakeholder ecosystem, and decide where you might need to intervene within your system.
What's included
6 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt
6 readings•Total 72 minutes
- Welcome to Week 4•3 minutes
- Identifying leverage points for intervention•4 minutes
- Example: Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon•20 minutes
- Prioritising leverage points•22 minutes
- ‘How might we?’ statement for your systems map leverage points•18 minutes
- Conclusion and next steps•5 minutes
2 assignments•Total 75 minutes
- Course graded assignment•45 minutes
- Week 4 self-assessment•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 3 minutes
- Your task: Reflect on the course•3 minutes
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