Principles for Responsible Management (MGMT5526)
Assessment 2a
Regenerative Business, Planetary Health and the SDG’s (Sustainable
Development Goals)
Image: Paula Prekopova on Unsplash
Background (Text extracted from the Planetary Health Alliance website)
There is no doubt that our global environment is changing – from the hottest years on record,
to the worldwide disappearance of pollinators, to the global collapse of fisheries, and to our
use of about half of the planet's liveable surface to feed ourselves.
We are now in a new geological era, the Anthropocene, characterized by humanity’s dramatic
impact on Earth’s biophysical conditions. And though the average global citizen’s health has
improved over the past century, the stability of our planet’s life support systems has sharply
declined—putting recent public health and development gains at risk.
It is not just climate change; it is everything change! We face not only a disrupted climate
system, but the 6th mass extinction of life on Earth; global scale pollution of air, water, and
soil; shortages of arable land and freshwater; pervasive changes in land use and cover; and
degradation of marine systems.
These anthropogenic environmental changes affect the quality of the air we breathe and of the
water we drink, the quality and quantity of food we produce, our exposure to infectious diseases,
and even the habitability of the places where we live. Changes to natural life support systems
are already impacting our health and are projected to drive the majority of the global burden of
disease over the coming century, hitting today’s most vulnerable people and future generations
the hardest.
Everything is connected — changing our planet’s natural systems comes back to affect us, and
not always in ways that we would expect. Understanding and acting upon these challenges calls
for massive collaboration across disciplinary and national boundaries to safeguard our health
(Planetary Health Alliance).
Dave comments: When you read above that ‘everything is connected’, literally, ‘everything’
means ‘everything’. Because of this recognition of the ‘interconnectedness’ of global systems,
you don’t have to let your thinking roam too far to recognise that business has a significant role
to play in responding positively to the bigger planetary health picture. That’s where, not only
this unit, but this series of assessment items comes in. So, let’s dive straight in and take a look
at what Assessment 2a is all about.
Assessment 2a – Team-based
Regenerative business,
planetary health and the
SDG’s (Sustainable
Development Goals) Written
Report (Worth 30 % of the
overall mark for this unit)
This is a team-based
assessment with 4 - 5
members in each team.
Image: Scott Graham on Unsplash
The organisation you work for has made a commitment to become a regenerative business, and
indeed, your organisation has made some progress in this regard. However, it is a long journey,
and there is still much work to be done. As a starting point, your organization has focused its
attention on the SDG’s as a framework for initiating improvement.
With the above in mind, you are required to prepare a written professional business report of
2000 words +/- 5% (1900 – 2100 words) based on an organisation of your choice. The
organisation can be located in any country and can be from any industry sector.
IMPORTANT
For the purpose of this assignment, you are not only an employee of this organisation, but
you are also part of the management team tasked with writing this report.
The report you are preparing will be a valuable source of information guiding purpose-driven
strategy and decision-making for your organisation moving forward.
Be careful that you write the report as if it is written by staff members from the organization
i.e., it is an internally written report. Your choice of words and use of language must be
reflective of an ‘internally’ written report.
• Wording such as …..At xyz we
view sustainability as critical to our
success. Accordingly, in our efforts
to……etc. etc. would be appropriate.
• Wording such as……XYZ have
much work to do to achieve
sustainability. They need to do abc, and
we suggest that they also do the
following……..would not be appropriate.
You see, there’s a difference. The first
indicates that you are part of xyz, the
second sounds like you’re an outsider.
• This is just an example. There are
many ways to craft text in an appropriate
manner. Just be aware who you are when
writing this report and write it
accordingly.
Image: Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash
Reporting period of interest: This report focusses on the performance of your organisation
for the two-year period 01 July 2021 – 30 June 2023. The two-year period of interest is
intentional for the reason noted below.
Warning: Although it is acceptable to make some reference in the report to your organisation’s
efforts prior to the reporting period of interest, you should stick to the desired reporting period
as far as possible. In other words, don’t pick an SDG and then start talking in detail about what
your organisation did in e.g., 2018, or any other time outside of the above stipulated reporting
period. This is not what is sought. It is old news, and likely no longer relevant. Thus, pick an
organisation that provides you with sufficient accessible information enabling you to write your
report covering the period in question.
General task overview:
a. Introduce the 17 UN SDG’s, describing briefly what they are, how they came about and
their purpose. Also, identify those most ‘material/relevant’ to your organisation. See
point 4 below in ‘Report Structure’. To save your word count, you may choose to insert
an image of the 17 SDG’s in your report, and then use your word count to discuss other
key details such as when and why they originated, for whom and so on.
b. Select two of the SDG’s most material/relevant to your organisation and describe what
your organisation is doing to address each SDG. In other words, how is your
organisation positively contributing to each of the selected SDG areas.
c. Next, present one brief suggestion for each SDG highlighting what your organisation
could be doing to be even more effective in the future. In other words, what could they
do to move from being sustainable, which is a great start, to being restorative and
preferably regenerative, which is even better. You should provide timelines.
d. Then, considering your
organisation’s total operations,
and, thinking about the wider
impact that your organisation has
on the environment and on society
(think here about planetary health),
what does the organisation do that
has a negative impact on any of the
thus far non-identified 17 SDG
areas? Select and comment on one
such SDG area.
e. In respect to this SDG, what could
your organisation do differently to
have at the very least a neutral
effect, and better still, a net positive
restorative or regenerative effect?
f. Finally, what conclusions can you
draw about your business as a
regenerative business in respect to
planetary health.
Image: Eyoel Kahssay on Unsplash
Report Structure
You MUST use the following numbered headings and sub-headings in your submission.
The full report would include:
1. One (1) page Executive
Summary (not included in the word
count). Note that this is not an
introduction. Rather it is an overview of
all the key information contained in the
report. It is a good idea to write this
executive summary after you have
prepared everything else.
• Please do your research on what
an Executive Summary is if you don’t
know.
2. Contents page (not included in
word count).
3. Introduction (100 words) –
Introduce your organisation. Note, from
hereon I will refer to your company as xyz.
Image: Casey Horner on Unsplash
This section covers information such as who xyz is, their age, what they do, their purpose, their
strategy, and market information such as industry competitiveness, their position, what drives
the market and any relevant key customer information.
4. The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)
1. Introduction to the 17 SDG’s (150 words approximately).
2. The relevance of the SDG’s to xyz (150 words approximately).
5. Xyz action in response to SDG’s – Select two SDG’s and identify what xyz is doing
with respect to each (400 words approximately and therefore 200 words for each).
1. SDG x (Actual SDG number and identity)
2. SDG y (Actual SDG number and identity)
6. SDG Improvements – Discuss what xyz could be doing to be more effective in respect
to the above two SDG’s (400 words approximately, and therefore approximately 200
words for each). The key here is to explore how xyz can move from just being
sustainable, which is a great start, to being restorative and preferably regenerative.
i. SDG x (Actual SDG number and identity)
ii. SDG y (Actual SDG number and identity)
7. Negative business impact – Identify how xyz is having a negative impact on one of
the SDG’s not discussed above in parts 5 and 6 (200 words approximately).
8. Addressing negative impacts - What xyz could do differently in respect to this SDG
(mentioned in part 7) to have at the very least a neutral effect, and better still, a positive
restorative/regenerative effect? (300 words approximately).
9. Conclusions – What conclusions can you draw about your business as a regenerative
business and how through what they do they are contributing positively to planetary
health (300 words approximately).
10. References (Not included in the word count) – All the requirements of referencing
(APA style) must be adhered to.
11. Appendix (Additional materials. Not marked and not included in word count) – This
could include examples of regenerative businesses that you found doing your research.
Background reading:
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)
Before commencing work on this report, you
should read and become familiar with the United
Nation’s pages on Sustainable Development and
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). You
can access this information via the link:
Regenerative Business
In terms of regenerative business, you could make
a useful start by looking at the following:
regenerative-business
Image: Pop and Zebra on Unsplash
mindset-and-business-model-design-approach/
at-the-heart-of-creating-value
Planetary Health
Figure Ref: Prescott, S. L., Logan, A. C., Bristow, J., Rozzi, R., Moodie, R., Redvers, N., ... & Berman, B.
(2022). Exiting the Anthropocene: Achieving personal and planetary health in the 21st century. Allergy, 77(12),
In terms of planetary health, you should start by visiting and exploring the Planetary Health
Alliance (PHA) website located at
There are many excellent resources available from this site. Also, if you wish, as a student you
can also join the PHA. Please note that this is NOT a requirement for this unit. I mention this
simply because it might be something that you would like to do to be able to interact with
others at other Universities around the world on planetary health issues. Over 400 Universities
are now connected to the PHA. Indeed, many of my past students have found the topic to be
not only of personal interest, but also important to them for their chosen careers.
The above are just a starting point. If you come across other examples, please make a note of
them and include them in your report Appendix section (not included in word count). This
would be very helpful to me in compiling a more extensive database of relevant materials and
to future students of this and other relevant units.
Note that there are many other materials available that will be useful for you in the preparation
of this report. It is up to you to do the required research beyond the above.
Word count: Your team submission should be 2000 words +/- 5% (1900 – 2100 words) in
length. All team members will receive the same mark. Please read the penalty conditions in the
unit outline for exceeding the accepted limit of 2100 words.
Submission: Please prepare your team submission as a double-spaced 12pt font Microsoft
Word Document and save it as follows: e.g. 2a_yourteamnumber.doc
IMPORTANT:
1. Please ensure that you submit your
document to Turnitin first via the link provided
in the Assessment 2 folder. You need to do this
to obtain a similarity index.
2. I recommend that you do this before 5pm
on the 8th April allowing for time to get the
similarity index before the main Assignment due
date and time of 5pm, 9th April 2024 online via
LMS.
3. Use of ChatGPT and similar - The use of
AI-generated Large Language Models such as
Chat GPT or similar, which includes any
language translation software, is not permitted
for any aspect of any assessment work in this
unit.
Image: No revisions on Unsplash.
Additional important information regarding Assessment items 2a and 2b
Personal learning journal (PLJ)
Students are required to keep a personal learning journal (PLJ) in which they record their
contributions to class discussions, document any questions or insights that arise during the class,
meetings with the unit coordinator, tutor or others, or their own self-directed learning and
associated reflections on the content, process of learning and meaning thereof for themselves.
Please bring a booklet to each class session and team meeting to make notes on the above.
Although the personal learning journal will not directly be assessed, it will be useful for
revision purposes and for providing guidance for self-directed learning as well as discussion
with me or others both now and in the future. You will find these learning journals and their
preparation a very valuable experience. Please take note that I may request to see your learning
journals (though not your own self-reflections, so perhaps keep these in a separate part of your
journal i.e., the back).
Team project log (TPL)
Further, for the team-based assessment items you should keep a team project log record of
each meeting held detailing:
i. A record of when you met (and plan to meet)
ii. A record of what was discussed at each meeting (and will be discussed), and by whom.
iii. A description of any tasks allocated together with the identification of the person
allocated to the task as well as any date-related information i.e., when due, when
completed etc.
It is your responsibility to prepare this TPL. You should identify a different meeting facilitator
and record keeper for each meeting (noting these details for each meeting in your project log
record too). Again, this diary/log is not assessed but you will find it a useful resource for
managing your project as well as meetings, and in addition, noting who has done what, or not
as the case may be!
Important: It is your responsibility to keep your 1) individual learning journal and your 2)
team project log record up-to-date and to make them available for review if requested by your
unit coordinator. While
no mark is assigned for
completing these
documents, failure to be
able to provide them
when requested would
not be viewed
favourably and would
indicate a lack of
commitment to your
team and to your
personal learning.
Furthermore, depending
on the circumstances,
failure to provide these
documents when called
Image: Will Turner on Unsplash
upon to do so, and also, any evidence that supports that individuals’ have not ‘pulled their
weight’ and contributed fairly to the team, may also be interpreted as unsatisfactory
performance in this unit.
Now that you have been introduced to assessment 2a, it would be useful to take a look at
Assessment 2b, also found in the LMS for this unit. Assessment 2b, which not surprisingly is
connected to Assessment 2a, asks you to create a video using your mobile phone on your
Assessment 2a report – Exciting hey!
Associate Professor Dr. Dave Webb
7th February 2024
