Alternative lecture for Executive MBA (E-MBA) International Residency Program held

An alternative lecture for Executive MBA (E-MBA) International Residency Program (IRP) was held on January 21^st (Fri) and 22^nd (Sat). The lecture was held for 18^th wave students and four of the authors of the recently published “Social value and Sustainable management in the age of ESG” (Professor Johngseok Bae, Professor Dongseop Lee, Professor Chan Su Park, Professor Woochan Kim) delivered the lecture online.

Professor Johngseok Bae gave a lecture about ‘The Philosophical Understanding of Business and Social Value’ on the 21^st (Fri). Professor Bae started his lecture with three fundamental questions △why ESG has arose and its alternatives △what framework to use for analyzing social value and ESG △how the characteristics of ESG can be defined. From the book, he quoted that ESG is ‘a phenomenon of recovering lost existence, relationships, values and functions,‘ and explained that “companies and managers recover their original positions and relationship with each other through business activities.” Regarding the philosophical understanding of social value, he said that “ESG is an issue of how to understand the humans and staff within the company. Essentially all ESG activities are aiming for common good.” He emphasized the importance of the philosophical understanding of ESG and added, “it is important to use one’s own language to define and understand ESG and social value.”

Professor Dongseop Lee gave a lecture about ‘Empowering leadership: a leadership model for the new age’ on the morning of the 22^nd (Sat). Professor Lee said, “I will introduce a leadership model that will help you to be more interested in the age of ESG or the social goal of companies.” He emphasized the importance of being interested in leadership and explained four core aspects of leadership, △personal growth △conceptual understanding △feedback △skill development, and gave various experiences and cases related to each.

Professor Lee mentioned Moses to explain about the meaning of leadership and the role a leader should play. He analyzed the business environment, difficult situations a company faces, and the shortcomings of conventional approaches and emphasized that “a new paradigm of leadership, ’empowering leadership,’ is required.” Empowering leadership are a leader’s actions that allow freedom to members of the organization, share authority, and strengthen internal motivation. Lastly, Professor Lee said, “The business environment is a battlefield in a quickly changing environment like today. I hope you contemplate about what you want your organization to be.”

Professor Chan Su Park delivered a lecture about ‘Marketing and Sustainability.’ Professor Park started his lecture with a question, ‘Does marketing negatively impact the environment?’ He discussed △how marketers of eco-friendly products can be sustainable △the constraints a marketer faces regarding sustainable marketing. Professor Park said, “the rise of the concept of stakeholders means that marketing has accepted the notion of sustainability” and explained the reason why marketing should aim for sustainability. He said that “marketers should actively embrace the idea of stakeholders and contemplate about the limitations,” and concluded that marketing and sustainability are compatible.

Lastly, Professor Woochan Kim delivered a lecture about ‘Social Value and Finance.’ The lecture analyzed foreign case studies that empirically analyzed social value in financial aspects. Professor Kim answered three questions during his lecture: △Why managements invest in E&S △Outcomes of Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) △Why companies should do SRI. Professor Kim said, “In the case of using Engagement strategy, they all show excess profit,” and emphasized the importance of E&S Engagement. He concluded the lecture with stating five investor categories △Public pension △Hedge fund △Index fund △Stewardship service company △Non-profit organizations by analyzing case studies.

KUBS E-MBA aims to foster creative global CEOs who lead sustainable growth and innovation. It offers compact weekend courses to current and future CEOs. IRP alternative lectures of E-MBA aim to newly recognize various changes and connections among people · companies · societies and rethink corporate social value in the fourth industrial revolution era.

Editor | Lee Hyun Min (Media and Communication ’20)

Jung Young Hee (Media and Communication ’20)