Business leaders need to understand how sustainability impacts business. However, sustainability challenges are complex, interrelated, and can be hard to understand. Simulations are uniquely positioned to cut through those problems. I’m pleased to endorse The Green Business Lab as an effective tool for aligning business leaders to a brighter tomorrow.

I spent more than a decade designing, building, and delivering scores of business simulations for global companies. The Green Business Lab’s design is robust, seamless, and effective for multiple leader levels. It uses an easy-to-understand fictional industry that lets everyone contribute equally. The experience opens the door for direct application of learning objectives back to the leader’s real-world job.

I know from my strategy role at an environmental consulting firm that we are all at different places in our sustainability journey. GBL creates a learning mindset, side-stepping sustainability advocacy messaging in favor of focusing on creating a sustainable business. I really like that GBL is not a greenwashed bolt-on to a business simulation, but was built from the ground up to showcase what sustainable business looks like.

We all know the power of engagement, of storytelling, and rolling up your sleeves to just get started. GBL does this in spades. Its compelling story, interactivity, and accountability encourage participants to really “dig in.” As a result, GBL experiences become shared stories that are remembered – and learned from – long after the workshop is over.

I use the Green Business Lab in two different courses, a capstone marketing strategy course and an MBA course focused on running a sustainable business. I love this simulation because you can adapt it to different courses because of the open-ended nature of some aspects of the Lab. In addition, having open-ended capabilities allows me to make adjustments to focus on the concepts that I am covering in my courses.

Other things I like about this simulation that makes it stand out from many other simulations include:

• Students really enjoy the hands-on aspect of the project, to build and test a real product.
• It allows students to work on their business communication skills because they send out emails to various stakeholders.
• This simulation makes students aware of the importance of external stakeholders to their business.
• It allows for a lot of creativity regarding how students will tackle different problems in the Lab.
• It has students make decisions on issues that are current and based on situations that real businesses have had to face.
• It includes different roles for different team members, which helps keep various team members accountable, reducing slacking.

Overall, I have gotten very positive student feedback regarding the use of this simulation in my courses. I love that I can use this simulation across multiple courses due to its flexibility.

The Green Business Lab is not like other strategy simulations; it is much more interactive. In the Green Business Lab, you respond and adapt to realistic problems, including labor issues, environmental supply chain issues such as where raw materials are grown, building a physical product as a team, and managing to a triple bottom line.

At the end of each cycle, it is fun to watch all of the teams demonstrate their products on the test track and watch their commercials. Although this program is a simulation, the hands-on aspect of physically building a product, creating commercials, and communicating with stakeholders makes the program engaging and exciting.

Significant Improvements in business sustainability worldwide would truly make a positive impact to our objectives at World Wildlife Fund. Due to growing pressure for resources such as food, fiber, and fuel, there is an increasing need for businesses to be good corporate citizens and understand and be accountable to improving their impact on the planet. Fundamental to businesses making progress is teaching employees, managers, and leaders the importance of integrating environmental and social factors into their decision-making practices. The benefit for companies is that it is increasingly important to understand the risks that climate change and other environmental threats pose for their company and supply chains.

The Green Business Lab is a terrific business sustainability simulation that addresses topics such as climate and energy, water, forests, and supply chain risk from the business perspective. It provides robust and adaptable content, realistic scenarios, and a hands-on learning environment. I would recommend it to any business or university that wants to make strides in learning about business sustainability and how to apply it to our world that needs a lot of help.