Clean energy and sustainability are hot topics around the world and Oakland University's School of Business Administration is no exception.
Courses throughout the school are helping prepare students to be a part of the drive for a clean energy economy. The global push is creating well-paying jobs nationally. Between 1998 and 2007, jobs in the clean energy economy grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent.
These jobs are not just for engineers and scientists, but for business professionals in the field of energy. The SBA is training students to be business and energy management authorities so they can take on the role of energy efficiency or greenhouse gas mitigation strategists. The goal is to help firms along the “energy journey” toward a cleaner environment.
Michigan, and Oakland County in particular, is poised to be an important part of this goal, explained Ravi Parameswaran, professor of marketing. His fall 2009 International Marketing class (MKT 650) examined the global marketing implications of Oakland County's focus on the renewable energy sector.
“Broadly speaking, where we have our best bets are in the transferring of automobile-related competitive advantages that can seamlessly be applied to new emerging industries, our vast reservoir of engineering and technology related expertise, and our superiority in designing complex mechanisms,” he said.
Parameswaran believes OU is the perfect place to dive into the energy arena. “Given our location and human resources, OU has the potential to be a great source of skilled technical, entrepreneurial and managerial professionals,” he explained.
So, too, does MBA student Matthew Guinn, who started his master’s program with Parameswaran’s course. Guinn’s dream job is to be the CEO of an industry-leading green technology organization. He’s already applying what he’s learned to his current position at a Birmingham, Michigan based auto supplier, where he oversees the international accounts.
“While studying the alternative energy sector, it gave me a new perspective on how to approach energy efficiency problems in the workplace,” he said. “Changing work schedules to optimize daylight utilization, for example.”
Guinn is currently in the midst of putting together a business plan for his company that will reduce energy costs and maximize energy savings.
Students could follow up Parameswaran’s class with Strategic Marketing (MKT 608) in winter 2010, which focuses on the solar energy sector. The course includes a virtual collaboration between SBA students and students from the T.A. PI Management Institute in India.
In another class, Operations Management (POM 521) four students collaborated on a semester long green energy project in winter 2010. They analyzed King Pharmaceuticals, a $1.78 billion dollar company with a penicillin manufacturing plant in Rochester, to identify specific operations management issues or problems, and implement viable solutions. The company is spending millions of dollars annually on energy costs, which is expected to increase 6 to 8 percent in the coming year, according to Joseph Schiele, assistant professor.
The group discovered that developing a process to identify areas of the plant where energy consumption can be improved, rather than just a change in fixtures and equipment, could result in a potential cost savings in the tens of thousands of dollars — if not more — at the Rochester facility alone.The process may be applied to all five of the company’s manufacturing facilities, multiplying the savings.
Group member Sarah Greb, who works for King and proposed her employer for the project, is eager to present their findings.
“My boss keeps asking how the project is going, so I know the information will be well-received,” she said. “Our corporate office put out a challenge on how to help our company become more energy friendly, and I know they like to hear, ‘I know how to save you some money.’”
The SBA at OU knows how to recognize a potential gold mine like clean energy, noted Joseph Hodges, board member of Hammerhead, one of the first companies to enroll in the SBA’s Experiential Learning and Innovation program based in the SBA’s Center for Integrated Business Research and Education.
“OU is more in touch with its community and what’s going on in the world than other universities,” Hodges said.
For more information about OU's SBA programs,
view the website.
