{"id":1021,"date":"2016-02-23T14:45:27","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T18:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/?p=1021"},"modified":"2016-02-23T14:45:27","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T18:45:27","slug":"on-the-trail-of-the-b-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/2016\/02\/23\/on-the-trail-of-the-b-team\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Trail of The B Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, 14\u00a0titans of industry came together and vowed to overcome the massive global challenges standing in the face of prosperity \u2014 theirs and everyone else\u2019s. They called themselves the\u00a0B Team<\/a>. They were inspired by the work of Lester Brown and\u00a0the B Corp movement<\/a>, which takes as a self-evident truth that purpose, not profit, must form the foundation of any business that wants to stick around. B\u00a0also stands for Plan B \u2014 a contingency plan for businesses operating on a planet in danger.<\/p>\n

\"600302_477920335628539_1016951013_n-650x650\"<\/a>The B Team formed after a series of workshops with civil society leaders, systems experts, sustainability pioneers, economists and entrepreneurs. The founders included Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines, Jochen Zeitz of the Kering luxury goods group, Guilherme Leal of Brazil\u2019s Natura, Ratan Tata of the Indian multinational behemoth that bears his name, Arianna Huffington of online journalism fame, Paul Polman of Unilever, Mo Ibrahim of Celtel Intl in Africa, and\u00a0seven others<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Faced with the prospect of more than 9 billion people on planet Earth by 2050, and a diminishing supply of natural resources, these leaders saw a world that would too soon be unable to sustain human life, much less the businesses that connect the human population.<\/p>\n

They understood that business had been a major driver of these increasingly catastrophic results \u2014 and that the current\u00a0take-make-waste\u00a0paradigm of business was irreparably damaging the planetary theater in which it operated. They believed that, since business screwed it up, business had to fix it.<\/p>\n

Beyond damage control, however, they believed that effective social and environmental stewardship had become\u00a0sine qua non<\/em>\u00a0to enduring financial success. When fully executed, the new paradigm would enable businesses to thrive, not just to survive. They developed a systemic approach to changing the nature of business \u2014 setting an ambitious, impressive, even awesome, set of goals\u00a0to be implemented throughout their companies:<\/p>\n

Two years in, how are they doing? What impact have they had?<\/h2>\n

A year ago, Jo Confino,\u00a0writing for the Guardian<\/a>, called for more than press releases. He expressed concern about lack of funding.\u00a0On their website<\/a>, the B Team claims a phenomenal response to their challenges: Through 2014, over 1,200 Plan B kickoff events took place in more than 470 cities and 73 countries, giving shape to their plan. They have 14,500 Twitter followers and regularly provide a digest of news and events in the sector, a kind of Flipboard of the movement. In September 2015, the group staged a conference with passionate presentations by renowned scientists, CEOs, policy leaders and heads of global NGOs.<\/p>\n

B Team members have received a great deal of attention in media and at key events. They\u2019ve forged partnerships with organizations like the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and Ashoka, a leader in the social enterprise movement. They\u2019ve joined the\u00a02015 B20 Anti-Corruption Task Force<\/a>. They\u2019re good storytellers.<\/p>\n

They formed partnerships with Transparency International, Global Witness, Global Financial Integrity and OpenCorporates,\u00a0creating a working group to drive transparency. In January 2015, the B Team presented their\u00a0Plan B for Business<\/a>\u00a0at Davos and committed to annual updates on its performance. They\u2019ve\u00a0sent an\u00a0open letter<\/a>\u00a0to Christiana Figueres of the\u00a0U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/a>, calling for radical progress at\u00a0COP21<\/a>in Paris, and now celebrate that.<\/p>\n

Is this enough? Are they preaching only to their choir? Will they bring skeptical corporate peers into the fold?<\/h2>\n

The B Team is targeting its own cohort: mega-corporations arguably more capable of rapid, transformative change than the forces of governments, NGOs or social movements. Many of their executive peers, however, are highly incentivized to conduct business as usual. In their world, intentions are laudable, but results count.<\/p>\n

Targets can be set and metrics defined differently \u2014 even radically differently \u2014 but to persuade the most recalcitrant, the targets must be hit. B Team leaders must provide hard evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, that their paradigm is working inside their own companies.<\/p>\n

In the long run, that evidence will secure and hold the attention of their peers and make believers out of those from the religion of growth for growth\u2019s sake, at any cost. They say on their site that they will do this, as part of their future plans. If it can deliver, the B Team will play a crucial role in the unfolding drama of our struggling planet. Let\u2019s stay tuned.<\/p>\n

By Gwenyth Jones a student in the Bard MBA in Sustainability program, transitioning from a career in publishing and digital services. Originally published by TriplePundit.com<\/a> on February 9th, 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Bard MBA in Sustainability<\/a>\u00a0focuses on the business case for sustainability. We train students to see how firms can integrate economic, environmental, and social objectives, the triple Bottom Line, to create successful businesses that build a more sustainable world. Graduates of the Bard MBA Program will transform existing companies, start their own businesses, and pioneer new ways of operating that meet human needs, while protecting and restoring the earth\u2019s natural systems. The Bard MBA is a low-residency program structured around \u201cweekend intensives\u201d with regular online instruction between these residencies. Five of these intensives are held each term: four in the heart of New York City and one in the Hudson Valley. Residencies take place over four days, beginning Friday morning, and ending Monday afternoon.\u00a0Learn more today<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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