Renowned Business Strategist to Address Systems Thinking at Beard Symposium

Dr. Peter Senge, who has been named one of the top 20 most influential business thinkers by the Wall Street Journal and a top 10 management guru by Business Week, will keynote the fifth annual Beard Institute symposium, Sustainable Business: Responsibilities & Results, on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Dr. Peter Senge

The Beard Institute, the outreach center of the Palumbo•Donahue School of Business, will host the event from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Fairmont Hotel in Pittsburgh.

“At Duquesne, our definition of sustainability includes environmental stewardship, ethical management practices, responsible financial management and community engagement,” said Jim Byrne, executive director of The Beard Institute. “We host the symposium every year to educate the business community about the vital importance of sustainable business practices.”

In academic and business circles, Senge is known for applying his organizational systems thinking to sustainability in his noted book, The Necessary Revolution. He is the author of the widely acclaimed book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization and serves as a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Senge also is the founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning, a global community of corporations, researchers and consultants and has lectured extensively throughout the world, translating the abstract ideas of systems theory into tools for better understanding of economic and organizational change.

In addition to Senge’s morning keynote, the symposium also will feature:

  • Ted Senko, CPA, global chief executive, climate change and sustainability services, KPMG
  • Chris Park, principal of sustainability, energy and environment practice, Deloitte
  • Zoe Tcholak-Antitch, director, North America, Carbon Disclosure Project
  • Jean Sweeney, vice president of environmental, health and safety operations, 3M.

During the luncheon, 3M will be recognized as the winner of the Beard Institute’s 2011 Green to Gold award. The award recognizes an American company that demonstrates commercial success in sustainable business practices; the 2011 nominees included Colgate-Palmolive, JC Penney, Target and Entergy.

For more information on Sustainable Business: Responsibilities & Results, contact the Beard Institute at 412.396.5259 or email culverd@duq.edu.