News & Events

Academic researchers at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business recently studied whether companies that make positive discretionary environmental announcements in the press improve their overall environmental performance more than companies that do not.

This year, the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business (“Center”) celebrates its fifth anniversary. It launched in 2013 as the Center for Business Strategies for Sustainability. In January 2015, after receiving a $5 million commitment from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, the Center was renamed for Anderson, a sustainable business visionary and Georgia Tech alumnus (IE 1956, Honorary PhD 2011).

A Georgia Tech undergraduate student teamed up with Chick-fil-A staff over the summer to reduce millions of pounds of heat-trapping greenhouse gases while delivering significant cost savings.

How does tax avoidance raise issues related to sustainability?

Do firms that make positive discretionary environmental disclosures in the press improve their overall environmental performance more than firms that do not make such public disclosures?

Scheller College of Business Professor Atalay Atasu was recently published in Harvard Business Review for his research around successful business practices in a circular economy.

Designing New Climate Change Solutions with Inspiration that is Millions of Years Old

How do announcements of environmentally friendly initiatives affect the shareholder value of publicly traded companies?

The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business (“Center”) has announced that Delta Air Lines will be the first participant in the Center’s Corporate Sustainability Program (CSP) Executive Council. Through the CSP, the Center seeks to collaborate with leading companies that share a vision for developing sustainability leaders and shaping a new economy that offers a more sustainable future for all.

It is with great pleasure that we announce Atalay Atasu has been named the new Departmental Editor of the Sustainable Operations division of the Production and Operations Management Journal. The Production and Operations Management Journal is one of the premier journals in Operations Management and the flagship journal of the Production and Operations Management Society.

The annual federal report on toxic material emissions from industrial sites across the country gains widespread media attention and serves as a reminder of the potential environmental impacts of industrial activities. But a team of researchers at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business wondered whether federal regulators can persuade companies to abandon toxic chemicals by simply highlighting that information.

Should there be a religious exemption for secular businesses from public accommodation statutes that protect prospective patrons from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation?

Scheller College’s John R. McIntyre has released a new book, CSR and Climate Change Implications for Multinational Enterprises. The book describes, explains, and predicts how multinational firms will rise to the multiple challenges posed by global climate issues and the organizational and behavioral various responses of the international corporate community.

For undergraduate business students curious about how an interest in sustainability can lead to a future career, the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business (“Center”) joined Center-affiliated faculty Ravi Subramanian in presenting “Sustainability in your Career.” The April 12th panel, held in Subramanian’s class, MGT 4803: Business Decisions for Sustainability and Shared Value, hosted George Halow (Global Investment Efficiency Manager, Ford Motor Company), Michael Oxman (Center Managing Director), and Steve Tochilin (General Manager of Environmental Sustainability, Delta Air Lines).

Meet Full-time MBA student Adam Zenker. In his spare time, Adam plays hockey and is involved in multiple philanthropy projects, including serving as the Student Executive Leader for the MBA program’s Pro Bono Consulting Practicum. As part of our Countdown to Commencement series, we spent some time with a few soon-to-be graduates from our undergraduate and MBA programs to learn about their backgrounds, why they chose Scheller College, and what they plan to do with their degrees after Spring 2018 Commencement.

The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business (“Center”) recently sent four students to ClimateCAP: The Global MBA Summit on Climate, Capital, & Business.

Meet Full-time MBA student Jason Alcedo. He describes himself as a “pragmatic idealist” who believes in the corporate responsibility to all stakeholders – not just shareholders. As part of our Countdown to Commencement series, we spent some time with a few soon-to-be graduates from our undergraduate and MBA programs to learn about their backgrounds, why they chose Scheller College, and what they plan to do with their degrees after Spring 2018 Commencement.

How should manufacturers allocate refurbished consumer returns between remarketing and warranty fulfillment to extract maximum value for the manufacturer? How does the optimal allocation of returns to remarketing and warranty fulfillment change over the product life cycle? How do return rates, remarketing potential, refurbishing costs, failure rates, and product pricing affect optimal allocation?

Meet Evening MBA student Jacqueline Smyth. She enjoys traveling, reading, knitting, and learning, and has visited 25 countries—seven of them twice. As part of our Countdown to Commencement series, we spent some time with a few soon-to-be graduates from our undergraduate and MBA programs to learn about their backgrounds, why they chose Scheller College, and what they plan to do with their degrees after Spring 2018 Commencement.

For their groundbreaking accomplishments with the Internship and Co-op Carbon Reduction Challenge, Kim Cobb and Beril Toktay have been selected as the recipients of the 2018 Innovation in Co-curricular Education Award, administered by the Center for Teaching and Learning.

As part of the Scheller College of Business’ Fall 2017 MBA Sustainable Business Practicum, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) worked with a student team on building out the business case for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in the Southeast United States.

The Center is pleased to announce the MBA students selected as 2017-2018 Scheller College Sustainability Fellows.

How do different policy requirements influence strategic design choices such as recyclability and durability? How can policymakers set requirements to achieve desired results, while avoiding unintended consequences?

The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business (“Center”) hosted the 2018 Early-Career Sustainable Operations Workshop, now in its fourth year, from March 2-4.

The United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) announced a new regional sustainability network, RCE Greater Atlanta, one of six Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development.

The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business ("Center") launched a publication series to help academics influence the way that business is conducted today.

How can medical surplus recovery organizations (MSROs) overcome a challenging supply chain—limited supply, high and varied demand, and limited information about recipient needs—to deliver the right medical product to the right recipient healthcare facility? Can MSROs simultaneously provide information about their inventory levels and obtain accurate need information from recipients?

How did stock markets react to the Rana Plaza disaster, which killed more than 1,200 garment workers and injured another 2,400 in Bangladesh in 2013?

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business is 4th in the U.S. and 10th globally in the 2017 Better World MBA rankings.

On October 25th, the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business (“Center”) at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business and the Scheller MBA Net Impact Chapter co-hosted the fourth annual “Your Business Career and Sustainability” panel. Business leaders from Delta Air Lines, NextEra Energy, SunTrust Bank, and Steelcase Inc. provided guidance for MBA students wishing to contribute to environmental and social goals within the business sector.

On October 25th, the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business (“Center”) at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business and the Scheller MBA Net Impact Chapter co-hosted the fourth annual “Your Business Career and Sustainability” panel. Business leaders from Delta Air Lines, NextEra Energy, SunTrust Bank, and Steelcase Inc. provided guidance for MBA students wishing to contribute to environmental and social goals within the business sector.

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have identified how medical surplus items can be distributed more efficiently by humanitarian organizations. Two recent articles, “Effective Medical Surplus Recovery” and “Truthful Mechanisms for Medical Surplus Product Allocation,” identify operations methodology that enables recipients to request and receive items that best match their needs.

Prof. Rodriguez's research on "Competing on Social Purpose" was published in Harvard Business Review's Online Sept- Oct issue.

A team composed of two Scheller College of Business and four Industrial and Systems Engineering students who interned this summer at SunTrust won the top prize in the inaugural Internship and Co-op Carbon Reduction Challenge.

The Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society (MSOM) has elected Professor L. Beril Toktay as a Distinguished Fellow of the organization. "Election as an MSOM Fellow should be considered a rare distinction," according to the society's web site.

During Spring 2017, students from our Center-led sustainability practicum helped Grubbly Farms develop a marketing strategy for one of the key customer segments.

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business is looking to creating the next leaders to take on carbon reduction, thanks to an innovative new co-curricular initiative launched in partnership with the College of Sciences. Starting in May 2017, Professors Kim Cobb (College of Sciences) and Beril Toktay have joined forces to run the Internship and Co-op Carbon Challenge.

A team of Georgia Tech students including Ivan Allen College digital media student Sally Xia won the Toyota Next Generation Mobility Challenge last week.

The SASB Foundation Board of Directors announces the appointment of the SASB Standards Board, responsible for the oversight of SASB standards. Center-affiliated faculty Jeffrey Hales was one of nine members appointed.

Meet Farzeen Tejani. Farzeen is from Atlanta and earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture with an architecture history certificate from Georgia Tech.

Meet Elizabeth Schultz. Elizabeth is from Marietta, Georgia and earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial design from Georgia Tech.

On March 4th, 2017, the Scheller College of Business hosted Net Impact Local, a one-day conference organized by the Georgia Tech MBA Chapter of the national organization.

Dionne Nickerson, a Ph.D. marketing candidate in the Scheller College of Business, researches the way companies and consumers can promote positive social change.

Michael Oxman joins the Scheller College of Business as the new managing director of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business.

Green Guy Media Podcast: Guest Host John Lanier talks with Faculty Director Beril Tokay

The book, Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains, edited by Associate Professor of Operations Management and Center-affiliated faculty member Atalay Atasu, was published.

Bac-Off, a long lasting antibacterial solution for textiles that targets reducing hospital acquired infections, and Memora Health, a personalized healthcare solution, were the top teams in the 2016 Ideas to Serve (I2S) Competition at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

CIBER executive director John R. McIntyre edits new volume in Edward Edgar Publishing Ltd's 'New Horizons in International Business series'.

More than at any other time in history, humanity is collectively aware of its impact on the planet. And a increasing number of business school students want to get involved in this important work.

Howard Connell, managing director of Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business’ Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, recently assembled a cross-section of sustainability experts for a panel discussion on Atlanta’s Business Radio X.

With support from the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, Operations Management Associate Professor Atalay Atasu recently held a workshop that convened 45 of the leading sustainability operations researchers from the world at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

While working as global vice president of integrated marketing communications for Coca-Cola, Omar Rodriguez-Vila spent several years living in China in preparation for the company’s sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Toothbrush technology that would empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to care for their teeth more effectively and independently won the 2015 Ideas to Serve (I2S) Competition March 27 at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

Seventeen teams will present business concepts that could help create a better world in the final round of the Ideas to Serve Competition (I2S) on Friday March 27 at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Scheller College of Business has received a $5 million commitment from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation to rename the Center for Business Strategies for Sustainability. To honor this commitment and Ray Anderson’s legacy, the Center will now be known as the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business.

Before enrolling in Georgia Tech’s MBA Program, Brian Edgerton had long been interested in sustainability. “But when I came to Tech, I had the opportunity to embrace it,” he says.

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business is ranked 8th in Corporate Knights magazine’s Global 100 Sustainable MBA rankings for our success at integrating sustainability into the school experience.

Operations Management Professor Atalay Atasu’s interest in how companies manage balancing environmental and manufacturing concerns began during his PhD studies at INSEAD.

Georgia Tech’s Center for Business Strategies for Sustainability (CBSS) was recently named one of the grand prize winners for the Dr. Alfred N. and Lynn Manos Page Prize for Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula.

During a recent panel discussion on sustainability at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, Novelis President and CEO Phil Martens recalled an alarming conversation he had with a climatologist a decade ago. They had discussed the repercussions if society didn’t reduce carbon emissions, ranging from the melting of polar ice caps and jet-stream shifts to the contamination of the air, soil, and water.

Major corporate executives and other thought leaders on the environment will converge at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, to discuss “The Sustainability Advantage: The Art and Science of Creating Sustainable Value.”

Sophia Bromfield believes that environmentally friendly design is going to be a factor that influences every company's real estate decisions in the future.

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business’ Center on Business Strategies for Sustainability recently named Howard Connell professor of the practice of sustainable business.

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business’ Net Impact chapter recently received the prestigious Gold standing designation.

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business’ new Center on Business Strategies for Sustainability recently received a $300,000 grant from the Kendeda Fund. This follows a $750,000, three-year grant received earlier this year from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation to start the Center.

As a young girl growing up in Turkey, Beril Toktay accepted water and air pollution as a fact of life. “It wasn’t until I went abroad that I saw how much better it could be,” says the professor of operations management and holder of the Brady Family Chair at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business is establishing the Center on Business Strategies for Sustainability, thanks to a three-year, $750,000 grant recently awarded by the Ray C. Anderson Foundation.