BU121 Post Midterm

Benefits and Challenges of teamwork

Positive:

• Assessment load - shared workload, less stressful

• Learning gains - peer learning, more done as group, exposed to unique ideas

• Social - meeting new people/making new friends, meeting in person

Negative:

• Logistical/Organization - group roles, different schedules (difficulty organizing meetings), dividing task fairly

• Fairness - Unequal contributions, gain credit despite not contributing, overall mark dependent on others

Integrated Model of Group Development (IMGD)

Stage 1: Dependency and inclusion - think infancy: members are dependent on the leaders, conformity is high and rejection is feared

Stage 2: Countertendency and fight - think adolescence: challenging authority/leaders, conflict arises over values

Stage 3: Trust and structure - think adulthood: implementing roles, structure is ore formalized, feels like a team

Stage 4: Performance and productivity - think maturity: team performs in flow, conflict is understood and dealt with, high trust, clear roles/communication/objectives

Stage 5: Termination: team comes to an end - feedback, reflect, learn build, close, let go

Contributory dissent

capabilities required to engage in healthy and divergent discussions about critical business problems without undermining leadership or group cohesion

Importance of workplace teams/Implications of Dissent

Fast moving, complex business environment presents challenges and opportunities that are difficult to addrss alone; managers need diverse perspectives to move forward

• many leaders say thet welcome dissent but get defensive when it is received

• many employees are uncomfortable offering dissent

How can managers encourage contributory dissent

• Inspire, don’t direct

  • Instead of offering solutions, create an environment in which great ideas can happen

• Explicitly demand dissent: give permission

  • Show employees that there are ways to challenge ideas while still respecting colleagues’ roles and intellect

• Actively engage with naysayers

  • absorb dissenting comments, treat them as useful data points, assess their validity and engage in what may be a challenging discussion

  • consider ways a project can fail before launching

• Under the dynamics of debate

  • listen to and encourage opposing points of view in a measured and respectful way

  • let employees lead discussion

  • be aware of cultural differences

• Choreograph debate

• Embrace the obligation to dissent

  • Requires humility and confidence and reminder that dissent is valuable

• Make space to analyze different views

  • take time, be open minded and respectful

  • ask lots of questions, gather info, assess others motivations/assumptions and ackknowledge their views before finalizing yours

• Agree to iterate or disagree

  • Listen for insights and find ways to build on solutions rather than digging in

Co-Operative vs Collaborative Learning

co-op: divides tasks between members, individuals do their own tasks separately, each member becomes expert in their assigned area, members come together to share findings

collaborative: does not divide task, individuals discuss all elements together, team comes to a shared understanding of the problem, combines strengths/perspectives of all members

What is ESG?

Set of practices and metrics used to evaluate a company’s impact in three areas(environmental, social, governance)

What does each section of ESG deal with?

E = energy use, greenhouse gases, water use, pollution, waste, materials, encroachment on nature

S = labour practices, human rights, employee health and wellbeing, diversity, equity and inclusion, impact on community, impact on customers

G = company’s management and decision making processes, internal controls/audits, board government oversight, executive pay, shareholder rights, transparency

What impact does ESG have on business

Changes how risks and opportunities are measured and managed

Allows companies to show stakeholders that they are mitigating risks and planning for a changing future

Impacts Investors/lenders/financial markets, employees, customers, suppliers, government, communities decisions

“If a company has the bigger picture in mind, it is a better place for my money”

Key terms and concepts(Just transition, sustainability, sustainable development)

Just transition = greening the economy in a fair and inclusive way

Sustainability = integrated approach balancing environmental, social, and economic concerns

Sustainable development = meeting present needs without harming future generations

Key Terms and Concepts(greenhouse gases, GHG externality, green financing, grey financing, greenwashing, greenhushing)

Greenhouse gases = Gasses which absorb and re-emit ifrared radiation, thereby trapping it in earth’s atmosphere and causing the GHG effect

GHG Externality = Most of the impacts of GHG emissions do not fall on those conducting the activies - instead they fall on future generations or people living in developing countries - so those responsible for the emissions do not pay the cost. The adverse effects of GHGs are therefore “external” to the market.

Green Financing = Financial flows(lending, equity positions, or underwriting and advisory services) associated with zero or low carbon assets or activities

Grey Financing = Financial flows towards activities and technologies that contribute significantly to GHG emissions

Greenwashing = The act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or service

Greenhushing = The practice where companies underreport or deliberately withhold information about their environmental efforts and achievement, usually due to fear or criticism, skepticism, and the desire to avoid the spotlight until substantial results are achieved.

Carbon Neutral, Net-zero carbon, Nature Positive/Net positive, Negative emissions

Carbon Neutral = any CO2 released into the atmosphere from a company’s activities is balanced by an equivalent amount being removed

Net-zero Carbon Emissions = Activity that released no carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Often short formed to net-zero

Nature Positive/Net Posititve = An approach that enhances ecosystems, our planet and our societies (instead of simply doing ‘less harm’). Net positive is similar(ex. a business approach in which a company puts back more in society, the environment and the global economy than it takes out

Negative emissions = removal of GHGs from the atmosphere by deliberate human activities (in addition to the removal that would occur via natural carbon cycle processes

Decarbonization

The process by which countries, individuals or other entities aim to achieve zero fossil carbon existence; typically refers to a reduction of the carbon emissions associated with electricity, industry, and transport

Adaption, Mitigation, Mitigation Hierarchy

Adaption = adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts. adaption refers to the changes in processes, practices and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change.

Mitigation = A human intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of GHGs

Mitigation Hierarchy = Dealing with climate impact in the right order

• Avoid: first, try not to create emissions in the first place

• Reduce: If you cannot avoid them completely, lower the amount as much possible

• Take responsibility for what remains: For emissions that still happen, support action outside the company’s value chain to help address them.

High level takeaways within development and evolution of the ESG movement, Why those outcomes occurred

High level takeaways: empty world to full world

1760-1940s: Industrial Revolution and production era. Common business models use take-make-waste approach.

Mid 1960s-1970s: Social movements gain momentum. Activists boycott Vietnam war and advocate for civil rights.

1980s: World bank begins shaping economic and social strategies for developing countries

Early 2000s: Carbon disclosure project (CDP) and Global reporting initiative (GRI) are created.

Mid to late 2010s: GRI standards are introduced in 2016, adding to the formalization for ESG reporting

Role of Indigenous Knowledge on ESG

• Indigenous peoples are custodians of unique knowledge and practices that emphasize the balance between humans and the natural world

• However, conservation science has been following a topdown model where experts design projects, collect data, and draft policies without indigenous input

• Western conservation models have treated indigenous peoples as threats to biodiversity instead of acknowledging their role in protecting it

ESG Trends to watch in 2026

• Geopolitical conflicts and divergent energy strategies by world’s largest economies

• Growing recognition that 1.5 degrees Celsius will be overshot drives prioritization of adaption and resilience efforts

• Solar industry may consolidate while hydrogen investments grow; continued uptake on electric vehicles

• Rapid expansion of AI-driven data centres put pressure on energy supply emissions and water availability

• Water-related issues come to a head as agriculture and data centers fight for resource

Environment ESG Issues and strategies - Climate change

• Climate change exposes companies to climate related risks: physical and transition risks, expose companies to potential negative financial impact

• However, companies and identify climate related opportunities in the transition to net zero which can lead to potential positive financial impacts.

Environmental and Social ESG Issues and strategies - Sustainable Procurement

• Committing to a ‘just transition’ to sustainability

• more than 800 million jobs are highly vulnerable to climate extremes and economic transition impacts

• policies need to promote a fair, inclusive, and equitable transition towards a global economy in balance with its environment

Social ESG

• Most employees care about how they are treated and care how other stakeholders are treated

• Managers in every industry face a talent challenge

Social - Why/where/when & how people work

Why: belonging, meaning, purpose, self-actualization, burnout, pandemic reset, changing demographics, no longer a transaction model,

Where: 83% if employees prefer a hybrid model and only 35% are satisfied with employer’s current arrangements, highest-profule frinction point

When/How: shift from ‘set hours’ to ‘always on’, tech-enabled flexibility is a blessing and curse, new challenge - working alongside AI

Social ESG - DEI

DEI = diversity, equity, inclusion

• Reframe focus as creating conditions for all workers to flourish

• Foster four freedoms to benefit employees and employers

Social ESG - Paradox of green/ethical consumerism

Despite widespead claims of environmental concern, consumer actions often fall short

What is governance in ESG

• Ineffective corporate governance leads to breaches in a company’s ability to meet E and S

• PLUS corporate governance affects the integrity of all ESG disclosures, determining whether ESG metrics are ethically pursued and reported

• Essential in ensuring that ESG strategies translate into concrete action and system change

Challenges to making governance progress

• Business ethics & Board composition

  • most individuals in charge of programs are unaware of navigating the world without privilege

  • senior leaders are looking for an easy solution to a complex problem (ex. focus on only talent pipelines when they also need to tackle entry barriers

• Corporate leadership & Incentive structures

  • incentives to compensate based on financial results leads to the CEO taking actions that boost the short-term stock price at the expense of long term value

Governance factors

Business ethics, board composition, corporate leadership, risk and crisis management, resource allocation, incentive structures, political responsibility, transparency, anti-corruption and integrity, tax strategy, fair competitive practices, stakeholder engagement, supply/value chain management

Performance feedback

• Objective input observed through measurable data, facts, and backed up by verifiable evidence

• Subjective input influenced by personal opinions, feelings, or experiences

• Rmb that the recipient may see things differently than you do

Fear: My feedback is going to be taken the wrong way

You cannot control how recipients react and response; only how you deliver it

Other fears

• The feedback is going to be long and drown out

• I need to make the feedback perfect

Truth, relationship, identity triggers

truth trigger: It stings when feedback doesn’t feel true

Relationship trigger: Sometimes it’s not what’s said, it’s who said it

Identity trigger: When feedback shakes your sense of who you are

How to improve the probability of getting constructive feedback

• Ask for a tip

• People are more likely to give you something actionable

• Protects our ego and lets down our defensive armour

How to be coachable

Being confident in your skills, knowledge expertise, and instincts while also being completely aware that there is much you do not know.

How may the use of AI and Gen AI negatively impact the workforce

• Will Development simply accentuate power of mammoth tech corporations?

• AI-Generated ‘workslop’ puts burden on receiver of output to revise and improve

  • Wastes time

  • damages how colleagues see each other

  • reduces trust and weakens culture

How may the use of Ai and Gen ai positively impact the workforce

• Judgement developed through experience making trade-offs = superpower

• AI is improving rapidly at prediction but cannot perform judgement

• similar adoption pattern as electricity

• co-invention will drive real economic transformation

• experimentation needs to start now

• adoption path may not be linear but long term every sector will be impacted

• early data show declines in entry level, AI exposed fields BUT overall employment rose and wages did not fall

• Young workers may be shifting to startups

How may the use of Gen AI negatively impact education

• billions of people are without access to information and communication technology

• even with technology access, digital literacy is not evenly shared (highly dependent on quantity and quality of prompt

• some versions of Gen AI require payment, creating financial barrier

How may the use of Gen AI positively impact education

• may offer scalable, personalized, higher quality tutoring for every student

• may offer teaching assistant and teaching resources for every teacher

• Support writing tasks(codes, essays, poems, scripts)

How may use of Gen AI negatively impact climate change

• Significant energy required to train Gen AI models and deploy them in real world applications

• Significant water required to cool hardware

• Increasing number of Gen AI applications boosts demand for computing hardware creating indirect environmental impacts

  • mining for raw materials

  • use of toxic chemicals

  • product transportation

How may Gen Ai’s climate impacts be reduced

• turning down GPUs can reduce comsumption to 30% without significantly impacting model performance

• reduce precision of computing hardware

• stop training process slightly earlier

• computations per chip continues to improve

• model architectures that can solve problems faster can use less energy

• split/delay operations to different times and sources

• optimize prediction of solar and wind energy generation

How may the use of Gen AI impact accuracy of information

• we believe what is false

• we dont believe what is true

How may the use of AI and Gen AI impact representation and bias in information

• training data

• missing data

• lack of diverse ai developers

How may the use of AI and Gen AI impact information transparency and consent

• creates may lose control over rights and compensation

How may the use of AI and Gen AI impact cybersecurity

• AI-powered malware

• Phishing

• Deepfake attacks

• Synthetic data

• Cyberattacks

• Data overflow/IP leaks

How should the use of AI and Gen AI be governed

EU AI Act - AI systems should be overseen by people, rather than automation, to prevent harmful outcomes, includes different rules for different risk levels

Canadian Voluntary Code and Conduct - Aligned with international Bletchley Declaration, Part of larger Pan-Canadian AI strategy and Bill C-27 (Digital Charters Implementation Act)

Why is it important to engage critically with technology?

Technologies give us more info that is more readily available than any previous era + more ways of interrogating, organizing, processing, and creating new things with information

Differences between data, information and knowledge

Data: Foundation layer - raw, unprocessed facts, figures, signals that have no inherent meaning on their own.

Information: Data that gains meaning through it’s production, dissemination, and consumption. In other words, it is information shaped by the social and technical environment in which it circulates.

Knowledge: Relies and decisions about how we can measure, test, and know things. It is framed by assumption

Information systems’ characteristics and biases

• volume and speed

• accessibility

• unclear boundaries

• collection of data

Information systems’ characteristics and biases

Attention economy: the competitive environment in which digital platforms, businesses and content creators

Social Proof: most influential when we are uncertain of our own information and judgement

Network effect: The tendency of a service to become more useful and valuable as more people use it, and more dominant and harder to opt out of.

Virality Bias: Degree to which emotional impact and corresponding likelihood that content will be shared and discussed - matters more than the integrity of the content itself

Confirmation Bias: seeking only information that reinforced one’s existing worldview

Filter Bubble - Personalized algorithms tailor results to individual preferences and history

Echo chamber: grouping like-minded people together, driving views towards extremes

Vocal minority effect/Minority rule bias: a small, vocal group disproportionately influences decisions over the silent majority

Algorithmic Bias: ML systems inherit and amplify biases from training data, with limited transparency

Recency Bias: over-weighting recent events at the expense of longer-term patterns or trends

Differences between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation

Misinformation: false information shared by mistake

Disinformation: false information shared on purpose

Malinformation: based on a fact, but used out of context to mislead

Level of Manipulation - Intent to deceive (from low to high)

Satire or parody - No intention to cause harm but has potential to fool

False connection - When headlines, visuals, or captions don’t support the context

Misleading content - Misleading use of information to frame an issue or issue

False context - When genuine content is shared with false contextual information

Imposter content - When the genuine sources are impersonated

Manipulated content - When genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive

Fabricated content - New content that is majority false, made to deceive and manipulate

Motivations and actions of actors who spread false and manipulated info

Well intentioned people(belief info to be true): to inform, help, or warm others

Profiteers(may not know): financial gain - ad revenue, clicks, viral traffic

Attention hackers or ‘trolls’(know it is false): attention entertainment, provocation, causing chaos/disruption

Coordinated influence operators(know it is false): political, ideological or strategic goals; to manipulate public opinion

Adverse effects of false and manipulated information

Difficult to make sense of which information to believe and which to reject

Impacts:

• decision making

• diversity of perspectives

• ability to engage in constructive dialogue and debates

• trust in public institutions

• participation in democratic processes

Strategies to build resilience against false/manipulated info

Apply skeptical thinking, check for source bias, recognize manipulation and persuasion techniques, be aware of emotional triggers, use digital literacy and fact-checking tools, slow down and think critically (system 2 thinking)