INSPIRED | 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
For Sriram Narayanan, advancing inclusion is a passion that extends far beyond the classroom. In early 2022, Narayanan was honored with a 2021 Champion Award from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS). The designation recognized Narayanan’s dedicated efforts as a statewide partner of the organization, including his creation of a new podcast centered on disability employment and inclusion, Abilities, Opportunities and the Future of Work . Narayanan hosts the podcast alongside Nacsha Ealy, business relations consultant at MRS. Episodes showcase how workforces with disabilities can be integrated, shining a light on firms, community organizations, nonprofits and other state organizations that are seamlessly integrating people with disabilities into the workforce.
ETHICS, AT THE CORE OF EVERYTHING ///////////////////////////////// How the Broad College is weaving ethics and social responsibility into the fabric of education, research and engagement
Honoring thought leadership in inclusion and opportunity /////////////////////////////////
several stakeholders in the Broad College and beyond to ramp up ethics and social responsibility–related initiatives to launch a series of talks and webinars related to the issue of ethics, and we have recruited a full-time managing director for this.” More specifically, the CESRL will create, curate and nurture curricular content and cocurricular experiences that help students develop a deep understanding of ethical conduct and socially responsible decision making. In addition, it will serve as a resource for research and scholarship in ethics and social responsibility, solidifying Broad faculty as thought leaders on these topics. “For project-based learning, we envision CESRL as the connective tissue for addressing complex problems in companies, state agencies and nonprofits that can transcend beyond a single class or group of students,” said Dunn, who is the center’s associate faculty director for curricular initiatives. “These are intended to provide students with a greater understanding of challenges in making ethical and socially responsible decisions.” Considering that ethics and social responsibility are a major area of research among students and faculty, the CESRL will put a much-needed spotlight on this work. “The center also allows us to establish continuity for the already excellent work that our students are doing,” Narayanan said.
and Dunn, ethics and social responsibility are more relevant to our work than ever. “The pandemic and the resulting challenges in society have brought to the forefront that we are facing a number of difficult society-wide
Across all industries, in business and far beyond, we are at a critical juncture when it comes to the role of ethics in higher education. At the Broad College, we consistently challenge ourselves to consider how we can integrate ethics into everything we do: from curriculum to research to programs and partnerships. We are committed to exploring methods for effectively engaging students, faculty, staff and the public to discover and demonstrate the moral standards that shape ethical habits and set the foundation for strong
communities. This commitment requires ongoing improvement and action. We consistently ask ourselves: How can we inspire ourselves and others to seriously consider the ethical decisions of our work, from every angle? Over the past year, two Broad leaders have taken a deep dive into exploring this question: Sriram Narayanan , Kesseler Family Endowed Faculty Fellow in supply chain management, and Jennifer Dunn , fixed-term associate professor of management. According to Narayanan
problems, as well as significant inequalities in who suffers from
these problems,” Dunn said. “Many of these are not new challenges, but they have received an increasing amount of attention and a greater sense of urgency to address them. Employees, consumers, investors and the media are scrutinizing businesses to understand the extent to which they are contributing to these social problems versus contributing to their solutions.” SHARING INSIGHT THROUGH THE MSU ETHICS SYMPOSIUM In October 2021, more than 200 MSU students, faculty, staff and alumni gathered in person and online for the MSU Ethics Symposium , held in the Edward J. Minskoff Pavilion. The event explored how ethics can be woven into everything we do in higher education, from teaching to research to outreach. The symposium welcomed two featured speakers, Anita Allen of the University of Pennsylvania and Kirk Hanson, senior fellow of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Allen discussed the intersections between outreach, practice and pedagogy, while Hanson explored the ways in which centers and institutes are created to work collaboratively.
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JOINING US AS ONE OF OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AT THE MSU ETHICS SYMPOSIUM WAS KIRK O. HANSON, LONG-TIME FACULTY MEMBER AT THE STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND SENIOR FELLOW OF THE MARKKULA CENTER FOR APPLIED ETHICS AT SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY.
LAUNCHING THE CENTER FOR ETHICAL AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP In March 2022, the Broad College took a major step toward delivering on its commitment to ethics and social responsibility: launching the Center for Ethical and Socially Responsible Leadership (CESRL). The center aims to elevate the importance of ethics across our curriculum, research, scholarship and more. “One of the Broad College’s biggest highlights of the past year was the formal launch of the CESRL,” said Narayanan, who is the center’s inaugural faculty director. “We are working with
Together, these conversations in ethics accomplished more than connecting minds across departments — they signaled the kickoff of a new initiative at MSU and a revisited commitment to ethical decision making on a monumental scale. “Practically speaking, both ethics and social responsibility issues are deeply intertwined,” Narayanan said. “There is a moral imperative to educate the next generation of business leaders at the Broad College and beyond about the impact of business decisions on society,” Dunn added, “and to teach them about the ethical implications of those decisions beyond the cost/benefit to immediate stakeholders.”
There’s no growth in the comfort zone. I’m uncomfortable on a daily basis because I’m constantly learning. Deirdre O’Brien | B.A. Operations Management ’88, senior vice president of retail + people at Apple In November 2021, the college welcomed Deirdre O’Brien, as the executive guest at the Broad College’s 2021 Sylvan T. Warrington Visiting Lectureship in Ethics and Leadership. In her more than 30-year career journey with Apple, O’Brien has helped create the Apple Store, launch Apple’s first online and retail stores and directly support the release of every major product the company has had for the last two decades. O’Brien shared this career journey, lessons in ethics and personal advice with more than 250 students.
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