Douglas T. Breeden - Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

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going green is good business Duke Executive Education recently had the opportunity to speak with Tim Profeta, director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, regarding climate change’s impact on business. The dialogue in its entirety is available on Exchange magazine’s Web site . Following is an excerpt of that conversation. What is the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions? We are the nation’s first bridging organization for environmental matters between the world of academia and the decision makers in government, corporate, and nonprofit board rooms. We bring the expertise of our faculty and researchers to the decision makers—but what makes us different is we have a dynamic interchange with the policymaking process. We help broker tough decisions, and we bring political realities and information needs back to our faculty so they can calibrate their work to assist the “real world.” One of the current hot topics is climate change. How will climate change impact the bottom line? There are at least two ways to look at this. One is on the risk side. There are the risks of the costs to the economy of global warming itself, from rising food prices to the damages wrought by storms, droughts, heat waves, and other extreme events. There are also risks to global corporations who are constrained by U.S. reluctance from going full bore into the development of more efficient technologies and products—but who will need to sell those kinds of products on the changing global market. The other is the opportunity side. This is where climate change can be viewed as a global market signal. Other economies are going low-carbon 14 exchange for a number of reasons, either to skip the building of old energy infrastructure, or from fear of the impacts of global warming, or many other reasons. The way to get the edge in this century is to develop and deploy low-carbon solutions faster than your competitor. That’s where the patents are going to be, and that’s where the markets are headed worldwide. How is climate change impacting business decisions? Businesses that think really long term, like the insurance industry, are rethinking their policies, like where they will provide coverage for storm and flood damage. That industry was alarmed about five or six years ago, when they began to see “one hundred-year events” happening every five years or less. Other long-term interests, like utility companies, are agitating for a U.S. policy decision so they will know how to invest in new power plants over the next ten years. A lot of our capital stock will be with us for a hundred years, and it is hard to plan without a clear indication from policymakers of what the requirements will be. Are you sensing a shift from government regulation and policy driving environment reform to business-led solutions? It’s a false choice between businessled and government-led. For example, on climate change there is a role for government to play in setting the signal and shooting the starting gun by saying “carbon pollution reduction is now a tradable commodity. Go.” Even major companies cannot go totally out on their own with a business strategy that Wall Street does not recognize. With the quarterly profit focus and the amount of cross-business sharing required to make this take off, it’s too much of a risk for individuals. I think what is different about this issue is it will ultimately be handled by our economists, financial firms, traders, and not as much the environmental branches of government. This would be the first time to bring a market solution to an environmental problem on such a major scale. And the scale of it is exactly what will help businesses then drive the solutions and profit from them—once the expectations are clarified. Given the dramatic business changes underway in response to climate change, where do you see companies ten years from now? We might see companies innovating not only in their products, but in their places of business—their offices and factories. We might see more telecommuting. We might see new supply chain growth in unlikely places. We might see more interaction with consumers from traditionally paternalistic industries. For example, customers could sell energy back to the utility industry because they’re generating electricity with their car or from photovoltaic shingles on their house. I think if we set the signal with a carbon price, we will be surprised by the pace and depth of innovation—just as no one predicted the transformation of computers and telecommunications that happened over the course of a decade. I remember using a typewriter in college; I remember my first e-mail— just within the last fifteen years. I never imagined a Blackberry or a cell phone that takes photographs. Imagine what would happen with energy if we made a national decision to limit carbon and try something else. —Kip Kelly
He goes by Jens-Thorsten Rauer on his resume. But his friends call him Jetho (pronounced “Yetto”). He was born in Warstein and lived in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Bremen before studying business administration in London and San Diego, and near Wiesbaden in lovely Rheingau. Graduating from the European Business School, he first consulted for IBM and then managed the P&L for some major outsourcing clients/contracts of IBM before taking a two-year stint as senior vice president of a major subsidery Dresdner Bank. Now he is head of business and corporate development of IBM Germany where he balances his time between work, his wife and daughter, whom he calls his “two princesses” Ines and Nele-Gioia, motorcycling, and a little thing called The Duke Goethe Executive MBA. Exchange recently chatted with Jetho. Why did you decide to pursue an MBA? I simply felt it was the right time to take a deep breath and dive into advancing and growing my skills and knowledge and to test it against my experience. The educational background I obtained prior to Duke and Goethe allowed me to successfully excel in my career up to this point, and it was an excellent basis for this growth. Yet, I felt it might not be sufficient to keep up with the speed and required capabilities for further and beneficial progression. I believe that I have made the most of my opportunities and am convinced that an executive MBA is a further step in the right direction. Why did you choose the Duke Goethe program? It was after some intense market analysis of programs that are internationally perceived the best and based on an expected return of investment (time, effort, and money), that I decided on the Duke Goethe Executive MBA. student profile} Jens-Thorsten Rauer Duke Goethe Executive MBA Class of 2008 Why? Well, largely because of its globally acknowledged and recognized high quality faculty, staff, and education. Also, because of the program’s specific format and content, which allows me to continue with my career while at the same time offering the chance to perfectly prepare myself conceptually and methodologically for next steps. Let me add that immediately after having started with the program, I learned how intriguing and satisfying the learning experience can be when the right people are around you. The high quality of students and the richness of the respective backgrounds substantially add to the value of the program—which in turn underlines the outstanding positioning of the Duke Goethe Executive MBA program. How do you think an MBA can enhance your career? Based on the curriculum, I acquire further relevant knowledge of and insight in important management functions and disciplines, such as managerial economics or advanced corporate finance, which in turn increases my effectiveness and grows my capabilities. This is facilitated through substantiating and testing my professional insight in an intense and challenging environment during case studies and group work when teaming up with experienced fellow students sharing the same spirit. What are your job responsibilities? It is now one year, or four quarters, that I am accountable for the IBM Global Technology Services business unit for German clients of the financial services industry. This is a 100+ mio Euro business with yearly signings above 150 mio Euro, which represents a significant share of IBM Germany’s overall business. How would you describe the Duke Goethe program? It is a perfect way to enhance your business management and interpersonal capabilities and to prepare for “the next step.” It is an outstanding learning experience with thriving and thrilling peers and faculty, and it is not an interruption—it is a multiplexer and intensifier. To some it may even be a booster.... Tell me about yourself. Oh...that I find a difficult thing to do! I think I am a nice guy...at least sometimes. And even though it might seem to others who know me very well that I constantly carry some discontent around with me, (which basically might be a sign that I again identified something that I want to change or what needs to be changed), I enjoy almost every moment (some after it passed...), and I like to celebrate successes (who doesn’t). I am really excited about the future and what it will bring—I expect so much to happen and there is so much to be established. I know that I am extremely blessed with the strong backing I receive from my family and friends. That’s why—with all the efforts to progress—I am committed to maintaining a balanced private life with my family, as well as a high level of personal integrity, social awareness, and responsibility. And that’s why and how I prioritize my agenda and undertakings. —Lynsi Derouin-Steffen summer 2007 15
Page 1 and 2: Exchange THE MAGAZINE OF THE FUQUA
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Page 5 and 6: ciber releases 2006 research report
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Douglas T. Breeden - Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

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