Wharton Undergraduate Concentration

Environmental Policy and Management

Acronyms on the following list of courses refer to the following departments:
Insurance (INSR), Legal Studies (LGST), Operations and Information Management (OPIM),
Business and Public Policy (BPUB), and Environmental Studies (ENVS).


Required: Four of the following courses:

OPIM 762 - Environmental Sustainability and Value Creation (Q1-Spring 2008) -
INSR 205 - Risk Management - This course describes the concepts and techniques available to corporations, non-profit organizations and other organizations in their efforts to manage pure risks. In this context, pure risks are contingencies which can result in a financial loss (or no loss) without a corresponding opportunity for financial gain. The costs associated with such pure risks as product liability, environmental impairments, property losses, job-related risks, and employee benefits (e.g., pensions, health insurance, etc.) affect the daily management of organizations. Managers who make decisions without appropriate consideration of risk management issues can jeopardize the long-term survival of their organizations. The course examines a common set of techniques which can be used by managers in dealing with these problems, including risk assumption, prevention, diversification, and transfer via insurance and non-insurance market mechanisms. In turn, students learn to recognize that the institutional structure of the organization itself influence its own risks and their corresponding treatments.
:: Cross listed: INSR 805

'LGST 215 - Environmental Management: Law & Policy - This course provides an introduction to environmental management with a focus of law and policy as a basic framework. The primary aim of the course is to give students a deeper theoretical and practical sense of the important relationship between business and the natural environment and to think critically about how best to manage this relationship.
:: Cross listed: LGST 815, MGTM 213, MGMT 713

OPIM 102 - Decision Processes - This course is an intensive introduction to various scientific perspectives on the processes through which people make decisions. Perspectives to be covered include cognitive psychology of human problem-solving, judgment and choice, theories of rational judgment and decision and the mathematical theory of games. Much of the material to be covered is technically rigorous. Prior or current enrollment in statistics 101 or the equivalent, although not required, is strongly recommended.

OPIM / BPUB 261 - Risk Analysis and Environmental Management - This course is designed to introduce students to the role of risk assessment, risk perception and risk management in dealing with uncertain health, safety and environmental risks including the threat of terrorism. It explores the role of decision analysis as well as the use of scenarios for dealing with these problems. The course will evaluate the role of policy tools such as risk communication, economic incentives, insurance, regulation and private-public partnerships in developing strategies for managing these risks. A project will enable students to apply the concepts discussed in the course to a concrete problem.
:: Cross listed:BPUB 761, BPUB 961, ESE 567

BPUB 204 - Cost Benefit Analysis - Cost benefit analysis -- the principal tool for project and policy evaluation in the public sector. For government whose "products" are rarely sold, the valuation of costs and benefits by means alternative to market prices is necessary. It is the counterpart to cost accounting in private firms and provides guidance for avoiding wasteful projects and undertaking those that are worthwhile. Given government regulations, cost benefit evaluations are critical for many private sector activities. Real estate developers, manufacturing firms, employers of all types are required to provide evaluations of environmental impacts and of urban impacts for their proposed projects. They too must engage in cost benefit analysis, in the valuation social benefits and costs. Government analysts, consultants, and private firms regularly carry out cost benefit analysis for major investments -- bridges, roads, transit systems, convention centers, sports stadia, dams -- as well as for regulatory activities -- OSHA workplace safety regulations and the Clean Air Act are two important examples.
:: Cross listed: BPUB 777, BPUB 960

Students are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to take:

ENVS 200 - Introduction to Environmental Analysis - An introduction to philosophy, techniques, and selected details of application of a broad spectrum of disciplines that relate to environmental problems.
:: Cross listed: (COLL 003)

ENVS 301- Environmental Case Studies - A detailed, comprehensive investigation of analyses of selected environmental problems. Guest speakers from the government and industry will give their accounts of various environmental cases. Students will then present information on a case study of their choosing.

University Minor

MBA Major

MBA/MES Joint Concentration