CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (CEM)

Faculty Advisors: Roland Geyer (1st & 2nd-years)

Specialization Description

Corporate Environmental Management (CEM) grounds students in how private-sector firms may address environmental and natural resource issues in a manner that also promotes shareholder value, thus creating the important link between the quality of environmental and natural resources and a firm’s overall market objectives. Students learn how new capabilities can be developed that enhance sound competitive strategy and incorporate environmental and resource objectives while responding to new market opportunities, social demands, and regulatory pressures. They learn to identify, evaluate, measure, and present sources of competitive advantage that have beneficial environmental, resource, and financial consequences. They also examine how and when private market solutions to environmental and resource problems are advantageous; the property rights and other institutions necessary for these market outcomes to occur; and the interaction required among stakeholders ranging from management and employees to politicians and NGOs. Students learn organizational structure and behavior, examine why some regulatory systems perform better than others, and explore the range of policy instruments available to guide corporations’ actions. These skills are gained through a combination of core classes for the MESM, elective classes for the CEM specialization, and the Group Project.

Course Work

CEM students should take at least four of the following courses:

ESM 273: Life Cycle Assessment

ESM 274: Competitive Advantage Strategies for Environmental Innovation

ESM 277: Law of Environmental Management

ESM 280: Organizations and Environmental Leadership

ESM 281: Corporate Environmental Management

ESM 282: Industrial Ecology

ESM 283: Environmental Negotiation

ESM 286: Environmental Risk: Assessment, Valuation, and Management

ESM 288: Energy,Technology and the Environment

ESM 289: Green Supply Chain Management 

With guidance from the advisor, students select additional courses appropriate for the specialization and their particular background, goals, and interests. For example, those interested in business and law may want to take advantage of relevant law workshops and classes. Those interested in business and government should consider taking courses in environmental politics and environmental policy making and analysis. And those interested in the natural sciences or other tools, such as GIS, can take courses from those areas. Additionally, the Technology Management Program (TMP) at the College of Engineering offers of number of courses, such as business and financial skills, entrepreneurship, product development, and others that may be of interest and value to CEM students.

CEM students often add an Eco-Entrepreneuship focus to their specialization since the courses required for this are appropriate electives for the CEM specialization and hence they can easily add this focus without having to take more than the minimum 81 required units for the MESM degree.

The following variable topic courses may also provide curriculum opportunities of value for CEM students:

ESM 430 & 436: Workshops in Environmental Science & Management

ESM 437: Writing for Environmental Professionals

ESM 595A-Z: Seminars/Group Studies in Environmental Science & Management

ESM 294, 296, 297, & 299: Advanced Topics

CEM students are also encouraged to explore offerings in other departments and may include relevant electives in their program of study. The Department of Economics has a number of classes that may be of interest and value to CEM students.

Sample Programs of Study

Example I

Example II

Example III – CEM + Eco-Entrepreneurship Focus

Career Skills

In developing the POS, students should aim to prepare themselves with the knowledge base and skill sets needed to succeed in managerial and leadership positions in corporations. These include:

• Business/finance skills

• Strategic thinking/planning

• Communication skills

• Business planning for new environmental ventures, technologies, and products

• Project management

• Risk management

• Cultural awareness/international business

• Sales, marketing, and negotiation skills

• Sustainable-development knowledge

• Knowledge of environmental management standards and processes

• Stakeholder relations

It is clear that the business sector is rapidly moving to embrace environmental and natural resource concerns in business practices and to move product and process issues that address them squarely to the center of strategic planning and competitive advantage. The demand for people who can integrate these issues with the traditional functional areas of business is growing and will continue to be strong in the foreseeable future. Further, since more and more governmental programs focus on partnerships and negotiated agreements, CEM graduates will also be strong candidates for many public-sector positions.

Potential Career Opportunities for CEM students