Faculty Archives

SEED Awards 2021

Overview

The SEED Awards is an awards scheme designed to celebrate the most innovative and promising locally led enterprises in sustainable development. Each year, multiple award categories are offered, ranging from country- or region-specific topics. This year there are two (2) categories: SEED Low Carbon Awards and SEED Climate Adaptation Awards. SEED Award Winners and Runners-up are eligible for participation in our Accelerator and Catalyser programmes, respectively. Winners receive a matching grant up to 15,000 EUR and a 12-month support package.

The SEED Awards support established eco-inclusive enterprises that have proven market transactions (you have started selling your products/services). Applications should present a clear business case and feasible financial sustainability for its current/future revenue model. Applications that have potential to scale and can be replicated in order to maximise impact will be highly favoured.

This year there are two SEED Awards categories. Depending on your eco-inclusive enterprise and where it is operational, you may apply for only one of the categories:

SEED Low Carbon Awards: Ghana, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand & Uganda
- SEED Low Carbon Awards are open for eco-inclusive enterprises whose key activities, products and services contribute to a low carbon reality, climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. The enterprises in the sectors of biodiversity, clean energy, green technologies, sustainable agriculture, waste management and resource efficiency as well as water, sanitation & health are all eligible in this Awards Scheme.
SEED Climate Adaptation Awards: Botswana, Malawi, Zambia
- SEED Climate Adaptation Awards are open for eco-inclusive enterprises that prevent or minimise damages caused by global warming and fluctuating weather patterns. In other words, SEED Climate Change Adaptation Awards look for enterprises that provide solutions to respond to effects of climate change or prepare for future impacts. Examples include supporting efficient use of scarce water resources; developing drought-tolerant crops; food insecurity prevention; coastal management, natural disasters management and warning system etc.

When selecting SEED Award recipients, we look for enterprises that 1) demonstrate entrepreneurship and innovation; 2) deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits; 3) have the potential to scale-up and/or be replicated in other contexts; 4) are at early to growth stages; 5) have the intention and potential to become financially stable; 6) are in partnerships with different stakeholder groups; 7) are locally founded or locally led and 8) meet country and/or sector requirements.

Eligibility

The SEED Awards 2021 are open to eco-inclusive enterprises from Botswana, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, and Zambia.

All eco-inclusive enterprises from eligible countries of each award category are welcome to apply.

Regardless of the entity’s legal status, eco inclusive enterprises refer to enterprises that contribute to sustainable development. They are market-driven entities that provide solutions to social and environmental problems.

They create impact in marginalised communities, and contribute to eliminating poverty through pioneer business models based on sustainability and the creation of responsible products, services and value chains. These enterprises are ideally located within communities and generate lasting social and economic opportunities. They employ and incorporate low-income or vulnerable populations, including women and unemployed youth, in their value chains as suppliers, distributors and consumers.

Application Process

Entries for the SEED Awards 2021 opened on 1st Feb 2021. Applications are accepted on the SEED Platform at https://app.seed.uno/. New users will need to register for a new account to be able to access the application form. This provides secure access to all the information you will need to submit an application.

Registration is now open. We encourage you to register early to the platform to receive updated information about the SEED Awards.

Applications are only accepted on the SEED Platform. That said, we endeavour to support all applicants as much as possible. Please contact the SEED Awards team about your situation.

Applications must be completed in English. To support non-native English speakers, we also provide pdf versions of the application form in local languages on our platform, which applicants can download as a reference.

Awards

SEED Low Carbon Awards: Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, India, Indonesia, Thailand

6 Winners receive 1 year SEED Accelerator support & 10,000 EUR matching grant each
24 Runners-up receive 6 months SEED Catalyser support & 1,500 EUR grant each

SEED Climate Adaption Awards: Botswana, Malawi, Zambia

3 Winners receive 1 year SEED Accelerator support & 15,000 EUR matching grant each
15 Runners-up receive SEED Catalyser support & 1,500 EUR matching grant each

Winners and Runners-up will also receive Support Packages containing:

Business capacity building through SEED Catalyser or SEED Accelerator workshops
Expert advisory on business and financial planning
SEED Enterprise Toolkit for collaborating and hands-on design thinking methods for enterprise development
Global profiling at high-level Awards ceremony and SEED partner events
Networking opportunities through global SEED communication networks and via your own SEED enterprise profile

Registration Information

To register & apply visit app.seed.uno.

Key Deadlines and Dates

February 1st, 2021: Registration opens
March 22nd, 2021: Registration closes
June 2021: SEED Awards winners and runners-up announcement

Contact Information

Email: seedawards2021@seed.uno

Messenger: https://m.me/seed.uno

Download the Application Guide

Download the FAQs

Visit the SEED Awards Website

Human Rights in Business: Practical Challenges of Conducting Research with Impact

In the emerging academic field of Business and Human Rights (BHR), conducting research with real-world impact is the declared objective of many researchers. It is a field in which individual research interests and advocacy for human rights are often closely aligned.

Companies under pressure to manage human rights challenges also welcome research on applied research questions. They hope for scholarly guidance on implementation challenges and results that are readily applicable in corporate practice.

However, setting up research projects that meet the sometimes paradoxical requirements from academia and practice poses many challenges for researchers in this field. This includes:

How can researchers meet theoretical publication requirements while working on applied research questions?
How can researchers ensure research objectivity and independence if their projects require travel funds and support in the field by companies?
How can researchers work closely with companies to understand their business challenges while maintaining a critical distance to also challenge them with their findings?

In this webinar we will provide examples from our work conducted in the context of the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights. We will present our distinct research process and methodology to discuss with participants how to make further improvements. To close the webinar, we will highlight potential unintended consequences of conducting research with the declared objective of affecting change in company conduct.

Date

Thursday, March 25, 2021

7:00am Washington D.C.
11:00am London
12:00pm Geneva
1:00pm Cape Town
4:30pm Mumbai
7:00pm Singapore

Speakers

Dorothée Baumann-Pauly
Director, Center for Business and Human Rights
Geneva School of Economics and Management; NYU Stern School of Business
Switzerland

Webinar Recording

The Global Shakeout: Global Trends 2020-2025

Join the Maryland Smith Center for Global Business (CGB) for the next event of the Distinguished Speakers in International Business Series on Monday, February 8 for a discussion on “The Global Shakeout: Global Trends 2020-2025,” with partner and managing director of the Global Business Policy Council at Kearney, Erik Peterson, and academic director of CGB, Kislaya Prasad.

The Global Shakeout: Global Trends 2020 – 2025

Monday, February 8 from 5 to 6 p.m. EST

Cross-Border Collab: Choose to Challenge

The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #ChooseToChallenge.

A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. We can choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequity. We can choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. From challenge comes change, so let’s all choose to challenge.

This Collab takes place a few days before international women’s day – a day we celebrate the heroic acts of courage, determination, and perseverance of ordinary women. This year’s theme #ChooseToChallenge highlights the importance of pursuing change for a more inclusive world. The pandemic has exposed societal inequalities, but it has also brought forth an increased effort to support vulnerable populations. This month we will be joined by two distinguished women who have been champions of change throughout their careers. Dr. Vinika Devasar Rao, the Executive Director of the INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute and Gender Initiative. Dr. Rao will be opening our Collab by discussing the implications found in her research regarding gender diversity in corporate leadership and its impact on women in the workplace. We are also honored to be joined by Dr. Margee Ensign. As former president of the American University of Nigeria, Dr. Ensign is recognized internationally for her work with the Adamawa Peace Initiative which promoted peace through education, empowerment, and community development in response to the Boko Haram crisis. Currently, Dr. Ensign is the president of Dickinson College. Under her leadership the school has created a continuing education program for women whose education has been interrupted by conflict and continues to emphasize the importance of international learning.

As an internationally recognized leader for her pioneering academic and humanitarian work, we celebrate the impact of Dr. Ensign’s work. We invite you to join GBSN and Dr. Ensign to collectively explore questions like:

How can universities confront social inequalities and racial injustice to create more supportive learning environments for all? What are leaders doing differently now? What will it really take to achieve a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environment?
How can universities teach with a more inclusive mindset — that we’re all in this together, and must advance cooperatively or risk not advancing at all?
How are universities confronting real problems and expanding service to their local and global communities? and how can universities collaborate to collectively confront these challenges?
How do we build programs that offer the necessary skills and mindset that prepares the next generation for more unprecedented challenges on a global level?

We will also be joined by a special opening speakers Dr. Vinika Devasar Rao, the Executive Director of the INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute and Gender Initiative. Dr. Rao will be opening our Collab by discussing the implications found in her research regarding gender diversity in corporate leadership, specifically the impact of male supervisorial support on the self-regulating focus of mid-career female managers.

Cross-Border Collabs are exclusive gatherings for GBSN members, focused on engaging our community to tackle some of the greatest challenges of our time. Facilitated by topic experts, these session will provide a place for our members ambassadors and deans to be active participants in GBSN’s mission of improving management and entrepreneurship education for the developing world. Collabs happen every first Thursday of the month.

Date

Thursday, 4 March, 2021

8:00am Washington D.C.
2:30pm London
5:30pm Lagos
6:30pm Dubai
8:00pm Mumbai
10:30pm Singapore

Registration

Collabs are an exclusive opportunity for member school ambassadors and deans. All member school ambassadors and deans can RSVP for this Collab by clicking the button below.

RSVP for the March Collab

Unleashing the True Potential of Entrepreneurship

Africa Business Challenge Kick-Off Event

DATE & TIME

April 12, 2021
9:00 am–10:30 pm (EDT)

LOCATION

This event will be hosted on Zoom.

CONTACT

Emma Martens, emartens@gbsn.org

GBSN, sponsored by AACSB International and Stanford Seed and supported by Peaqs and Emlyon, is pleased to present a virtual business concept competition for African undergraduate and graduate students. The competition will challenge student teams to design a viable business concept that addresses a locally-relevant challenge or problem related to sustainable development and Agenda 2063. The focus is to promote and support responsible capitalism for emerging markets and to identify high potential young people for mentorship and investment.

Over 80 student teams from 34 institutions in 15 countries across Africa have signed up to participate. Join us as we celebrate the power of entrepreneurship in sustainable development and officially kick-off the 6-week competition.

The competition is designed with the following values in mind:

A commitment to the importance of responsible entrepreneurship and its role in job creation
An international outlook
A commitment to ethical business practices
A strong interest in young people in emerging markets and the role that business can play in creating opportunities that enable them to develop
A believe that business is a public trust with the obligation to improve and serve society
A commitment to lifelong learning and continuing education

The kick-off virtual event featured a line-up of notable speakers, an introduction to the international panel of investors and judges and previews into the Peaqs and Localized platforms. Watch a full recording of the event below.

Host

Rob Vember
Director, Programs & Partnerships
Global Business School Network
South Africa

Speakers

Adetunji Adegbesan
Founder & CEO
Gidi Mobile Ltd
United Kingdom
Austin Okere
Founder & Vice Chairman
Computer Warehouse Group Plc.
Nigeria
Diana Popa
Founder and CEO
Extensio
Mexico
Dr. Rickie A. Moore
Professor of Entrepreneurship Director, MSc in Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship
emlyon business school
France
Tim Mescon
Executive Vice President and Chief Officer of the Europe, Middle East, and Africa Headquarters
AACSB International
Netherlands
Marie Høpfner-Dahl
Co-founder and Director
Peaqs
Denmark

Agenda

Time	Agenda
9:00am EDT	Introduction and Opening Video Rob Vember, GBSN
	Opening Welcome Remarks Dan LeClair CEO Global Business School Network
9:10am EDT	Setting the Stage Rickie Moore Professor of Entrepreneurship Director, MSc in Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship emlyon business school
	Sponsor Address: Stanford Seed Darius Teter Executive Director Stanford Seed
	Sponsor Address: AACSB International Tim Mescon Executive Vice President and Chief Officer of the Europe, Middle East, and Africa Headquarters AACSB International
9:35am EDT	Panel Discussion: The Role of Entrepreneurship in Social and Economic Development Across Africa Adetunji Adegbesan, Founder & CEO, Gidi Mobile Ltd Austin Okere, Founder & Vice Chairman, Computer Warehouse Group Plc. Diana Popa, Founder and CEO, Extensio
10:15am EDT	Unleashing the True Potential of Entrepreneurship How do we get better at fostering the entrepreneurial mindset and get game changing ideas to solve real world problems? Marie Høpfner-Dahl, Managing Director, Peaqs

Questions

For any questions or concerns, please email Emma Martens at emartens@gbsn.org.

Cross-Border Collab: The Evolution of the Case Method

In anticipation of World Case Teaching Day on February 5, this Cross-Border Collab will feature a presentation by Richard McCracken, Executive Director of The Case Centre, followed by a moderated Q&A discussion focused on how the case method has evolved, its role in the future, challenges and best practices with case teaching and learning online, and more.

Date

Thursday, 4 February, 2021

7:00am Chicago
8:00am Washington D.C.
1:00pm London
2:00pm Lagos
5:00pm Dubai
6:00pm Mumbai
9:00pm Singapore

Registration

Collabs are an exclusive opportunity for member school ambassadors and deans. All member school ambassadors and deans can RSVP for this Collab by clicking the button below.

RSVP for this Collab

Competency-Based Online Education for Scale: Lessons from Western Governors University

Western Governors University (WGU) is a large online, non-profit, competency-based university based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The College of Business has a total enrollment of over 41,000 students, 11,000 of which were enrolled in graduate business programs as of December 2020. The majority of its students are non-traditional and/or come from under-served populations. WGU is working to develop innovative products that address access and equitable attainment, creating pathways between talent and opportunity.

In this webinar, learn about its competency-based approach to online education and its faculty model providing students with personalized support as they progress toward completion of a credential. The speakers will discuss WGU’s strategies to scale while maintaining industry relevance, and provide a preview of the skills-focused direction of its program development and redevelopment efforts.

Date

Thursday, 11 February, 2021

8:00am Phoenix
10:00am Washington D.C.
3:00pm London
4:00pm Lagos
5:00pm Cape Town
8:30pm Mumbai

Speakers

Michelle Love
Chair of the MBA Program
Western Governors University
USA
Ningchun Han
Product Development Owner, College of Business
Western Governors University
USA
Michael Whalen
Skills Architect, College of Business
Western Governors University
USA

Registration

This webinar is free of charge. Click the button below to register.

CONVERGENCE 2020 – Winning through Service Excellence: Theory & Practice

Jagdish Sheth School of Management (formerly IFIM Business School) invites you to attend CONVERGENCE 2020, an international conference on ‘Winning Through Service Excellence: Theory and Practice.” The conference will take place on December 18th and 19th, 2020.

The steady growth of the service sector globally and increasing convergence of technology and services have brought to the fore opportunities never before witnessed in the services domain. The increasing maturity of online services along with the advent of new-age companies and business models has transformed the service delivery ecosystem to cater to the needs of a new breed of emerging consumers.

CONVERGENCE 2020 aims to bring researchers and practitioners together to build consensus on what it takes to win in this new, still-evolving era of services. The centerpiece of CONVERGENCE 2020 is an international conference focused on service excellence in this exciting new era. Join Jagdish Sheth School of Management virtually for insightful talks and panel discussions on ‘Service Excellence by eminent academicians. Witness paper presentations in the area of Service Excellence by the best young researchers across the globe.

The Conference will be chaired by Prof. A. Parasuraman, Professor Emeritus, University of Miami and Pro-Chancellor Academics, Vijaybhoomi University.

To learn more and register, visit: https://ifimbschool.com/

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Global Case Writing Competition, University of Michigan

WDI Publishing and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business are accepting submissions for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Global Case Writing Competition. Entry forms are due by November 23, 2020, and final submissions are due by March 24, 2021.

Competition Overview

WDI Publishing and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and its Sanger Leadership Center are joining together to launch the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Global Case Writing Competition. Open to university students and educators from around the world, this competition is seeking academic case studies about a DEI-related business dilemma within one, or across multiple, business disciplines. It is designed as a catalyst to generate new teaching materials that increase student understanding and inspire critical thinking for implementing effective DEI within businesses and organizations across the globe.

The contest is divided into two tracks, each of which will award prize money of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place and $2,500 for third place, and an honorable mention, as deemed by the competition judges. The top three winners for each track also will be honored with the publication of their cases by WDI Publishing or the Sanger Leadership Center.

The competition’s first track involves the creation of a traditional business case study and an accompanying teaching note. The second track requires a submission for the Sanger Leadership Center’s flagship Leadership Crisis Challenge. An LCC case is based on a traditional case study, however, is written and designed as a real-time, role-playing event that offers students a rigorous opportunity for action-based learning.

Details on Eligibility

Individual students or student teams (graduate or undergraduate) may enter but must enter in collaboration with a faculty member or instructor from an accredited university/college, in the U.S. or internationally.
Individual faculty/instructors or teams from an accredited university/college (in the U.S. or internationally) may enter.
Others may enter, but must do so in collaboration with a faculty member or instructor from an accredited university/college, in the U.S. or internationally.

Application Information

To apply, visit: https://wdi-publishing.com/dei-competition/

Key deadlines and dates:

Nov. 23, 2020: Entry forms due. (Entry form only, NOT final submissions.)
March 24, 2021: Final submission documents due.
June 2, 2021: Public announcement of winners.

More Information

Annual GBSN Members Meeting (Closed)

As the year draws to a close, we invite our GBSN Member ambassadors and key contacts to attend GBSN’s Annual Members meeting. While this meeting would traditionally take place during the GBSN Annual Conference, this year’s challenges have provided us with the opportunity to convene a larger group within our membership network in this virtual meeting. It is for that reason we invite all our members to gather for an opportunity to learn and connect with the entire GBSN community during the 2020 GBSN Members Meeting.

Date

Thursday, 3 December 2020

8:00 – 11:00am EST
2:00pm-5:00pm CET
3:00pm-6:00pm CAT
6:30pm-9:30pm IST
9:00pm-12:00am CST

This meeting is meant for GBSN Members Only. To RSVP, please sign into the member portal and Complete Registration

Member Portal Sign-In