Teaching students to tackle sustainability challenges within companies and actually making a positive impact? Yes, it happened! That's exactly what the master elective Sustainable Business Model under the coordination of Dr. Taslim Alade and with the support of Impact at the Core and the Department of Business-Society Management, was designed to achieve.
Impact Story on the Sustainable Business Model course from the Global Business and Sustainability (GBS) Master at the Department of Business-Society Management, Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University
Sixty highly dedicated students from RSM and exchange students from different parts of the world, worked diligently together to enhance the business models of four diverse companies to be more sustainable and impactful to the society. Fashion brand Fabienne Chapot, largest popvenue of the Netherland Popcentrum 013, energy supplier Greenchoice, and innovative screen manufacturer CTOUCH were all deeply satisfied with the outstanding analysis and recommendations for them. As partners, they were impressed by the students' dedication and the quality of their contributions. While the students also felt fulfilled that they have not only learnt how to address a company’s sustainability issues, but also made positive impact on these companies.
Inspiration and story behind the Sustainable Business Model course:
Taslim Alade is a very passionate and impact-driven lecturer, always providing ownership of knowledge and skills in a course to the students. When designing the course, he puts himself in the shoes of the students, visualizing who the students would like to become after the course. Also, seeking how best the course can connect with the mission of Rotterdam School of Management, “to be a force for positive change in the world”. These expected outcomes created a niche and mindset for the course for impact in three directions, namely, impact on the students, societal impact via companies and impact on the mission of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.
Thus, the course collaborated with four societal stakeholders across diverse business sectors, including Fashion (Fabienne Chapot), Entertainment (Popcentrum 013), Information Technology (CTOUCH) and Energy (Greenchoice). Within six weeks, students were immersed in the company’s sustainability challenges, and requested to analyse and propose pathways to further enhance the sustainability and societal impact of the companies' business models.
During this final day program, the students presented their analysis and recommendations for the different companies. Partners were very satisfied and engaged with the students’ work, while the students also felt fulfilled that hey have not only learnt how to address a companies sustainability issues, but also made positive impact on these companies.
