Life-Cycle Assessment, Life-Cycle Thinking, and Business Strategy

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Joshua Skov

Instructor of Management and Industry Mentor, Center for Sustainable Business Practices, Lundquist College of Business

 
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Why this course

  • Life-cycle analysis is a critical topic for sustainability and the future of business. Professor Skov’s course helps students bridge the gap between technical and leadership roles

  • The course explores the grey areas between business models and decision-making, helping students to become “LCA savvy consumers” while juxtaposing the power of technical analysis along with its limitations


Course Highlights

Learning Goals:

  • Give students the skills and confidence to be the liaison between technical detail and executive-level decision making

  • Build intuition about life cycle impacts with a curated mix of examples

  • Bluntly juxtapose the power of good technical analysis with its limitations

Student Project Examples

  • LCA (Life-Cycle Assessment) of packaging options for a food processor manufacturing frozen desserts

  • LCA of food packaging alternative for a university campus student union building (disposable packaging vs. reusable plates and flatware)

  • LCA of distilled spirits from a food processing waste stream

For more information on projects see here.

Latest Coverage

Latest coverage of our award winners
Aspen Institute Business & Society Program: Shaping a Sustainable Future for Business
Aspen Institute Business & Society Program: Shaping a Sustainable Future for Business

In a year of so many crises, one bright spot has been business taking a bolder stance on climate policy—as Business Roundtable did with its endorsement of carbon taxes.

Medium Article: Don’t say, “When it’s over…”
Medium Article: Don’t say, “When it’s over…”

This pandemic isn’t something that just ends. We need to wrestle with the nature of the journey in order to prepare ourselves for the path to a way out.

Lundquist College of Business News: Ideas Worth Teaching Honors
Lundquist College of Business News: Ideas Worth Teaching Honors

University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business Instructor Joshua Skov is among the thought leaders reinventing business education on an international scale, according to The Aspen Institute.

Biography

Joshua Skov has been a consultant to business and government organizations on sustainability strategy for more than 15 years. Acting as a liaison between technical analysis and executive-level decision making, he has served more than 50 clients in the United States and abroad in a range of industries, including energy, food, waste management, and consumer products. He has served on advisory bodies for the World Resources Institute, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, ICLEI, and the National Academies. He is a cofounder and former principal of Good Company, a leading regional sustainability consultancy. He teaches MBA courses on clean energy and life-cycle assessment, as well as industrial ecology (a required course for the MBA students in the sustainable business track). Skov also teaches the gateway course to the undergraduate minor in sustainable business (MGMT 250: Introduction to Sustainable Business).