Articles P6960

The Greening of Wal-Mart - Thumbnail

The Greening of Wal-Mart

By Erica L. Plambeck & Lyn Denend 5

For much of its history, Wal-Mart’s corporate management team toiled inside its “Bentonville Bubble,” narrowly focused on operational efficiency, growth, and profits. But now the world's largest retailer has widened its sights, building networks of employees, nonprofits, government agencies, and suppliers to “green” its supply chains. Here's how and why the world’s largest retailer is using a network approach to decrease its environmental footprint – and to increase its profitability.

Podcast

Chip Heath - Missions That Really Inspire

Your organization has an important mission. But could a potential funder or volunteer tell that by looking at your website or your annual report? And could one of your employees make the right decision in a tough situation by reading it? In this audio lecture recorded at the 2007 Nonprofit Management Institute at Stanford, Chip Heath discusses how you can craft a mission statement that inspires people and helps them make important decisions, thereby offering powerful tools to lead your organization.

Podcast

Kyle Zimmer - Fearlessly Helping the World to Read

First Book is a not-for-profit organization that provides books to low-income students. In this audio interview, founder Kyle Zimmer discusses with Design for Change host Sheela Sethuraman the evolution of her startup from a mere idea in 1992 to an organization with hundreds of employees and millions of books. She also outlines how she's applied best business practices to create a scalable entrepreneurial model.

Podcast

Michael Sandel, William Haseltine - Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering

Scientific advances have opened previously unimaginable possibilities in the realm of human reproduction. Determining the sex of an early-stage embryo, or shifting the pre-conception arrangement of chromosomes in favor of certain outcomes, further opens the door to sex selection. By various means, it is becoming feasible to genetically engineer a child with specific qualities. In this audio lecture, Michael J. Sandel and William Haseltine debate the moral and ethical implications of such actions.

Podcast

Susan Colby - Nonprofit Management Approaches at Bridgespan

In nonprofit management, implementing organizational changes can be a huge challenge. In this audio lecture, Susan Colby shares the Bridgespan approach to nonprofit strategy by taking the example of one of her clients, the Harlem Children's Zone. Speaking at the 2006 Nonprofit Management Institute at Stanford, she walks her audience of high-level nonprofit executives through a rather challenging process to tactfully institute radical organizational changes.