COURSE NUMBER: MBA292T.1
This course is cross-listed with the EWMBA Program.
COURSE TITLE: The Business Case for Investing in Women
UNITS OF CREDIT: 2.0
INSTRUCTORS: Kellie McElhaney
E-MAIL ADDRESSES: kmack@haas.berkeley.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://bspace.berkeley.edu
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Wednesdays, 6:00PM-8:00PM
PREREQUISITE(S): None
CLASS FORMAT: Mixture of lectures, readings, speakers.
REQUIRED READINGS: Readings will be posted on B Space.
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Mixture of papers, projects and class
participation.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
Women play multiple powerful roles in today’s business world,
including acting as consumers, employees, potential employees, managers,
leaders, directors, investors, and investees. Women occupy the majority voice
in some of these roles and the minority voice in others of these roles. Smart
companies understand that it does make good business sense to ignore or exclude
half of the population, as “women hold up half the sky.” Smarter companies are
investing heavily in the global development of women, like Nike, Goldman
Sachs, Walmart, Coca-Cola and Gap, Inc. Goldman Sachs has even coined the
term “womenomics” to describe the increasingly high ROI of investing in women
at all levels of business.
Given the severity of challenges confronting our global society,
we can no longer afford to leave half our brains or half our resources on the
sidelines. To use a sailing analogy, we need all hands on deck. Three main
areas will be explored in this course: cases in which businesses are investing
in women as part of their business strategy; the business and societal impact
of increasing women’s roles in business at all levels; and enabling women to
use their voice as a powerful tool to enhance business and societal ROI.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Kellie McElhaney is the John C. Whitehead Adjunct Professor and
the Faculty Director of the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School
of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. In her six years at
Haas, the Center has received global critical acclaim. The Financial Times
rated Haas number one in the world in January 2008. Kellie was named a Faculty
Pioneer by the Aspen Institute in 2005. Her research focus is in three areas:
(1) Analyzing and developing companies’ CSR strategy and its alignment with
corporate strategy, business objectives, core competencies, and business value;
(2) Exploring the linkage between diversity and CSR and using CSR as a hook to
re-engage women with business as employees, consumers, and investors; (3) The
business value and opportunities in branding, communication and CSR, a topic on
which she has a new book entitled Just Good Business The Strategic Guide to
Corporate Responsibility and Brand. Kellie consults to several Global 1000
companies in developing integrated CSR strategy. Her client list includes HP,
Gap, eBay, McDonalds, Ernst & Young, NVIDIA, Blue Cross Blue Shield,
Kimberly-Clark, Nokia (Finland), Navigant, Volunteer Match, Ford Motor Company,
Bernard Hodes Group (Great Britain),
PG&E, Driscolls Berries, Triage Consulting Group, Ulster Bank
(Ireland), StatoilHydro (Norway) and PG&E. She is a highly
engaging and motivational public speaker in the area of CSR, and has keynoted
at major conferences, leadership summits, and corporate events all over the
world.