“THE CONCEPT ‘CREATING SHARED VALUE’ REALLY OPENED MY EYES.”
TIAS EXPERIENCE
“I’ve come to realize that we can dream bigger when it comes to how we deal with resources and people.” Those are the words of Erwin Tuin, Customer Care Manager at car leasing firm ALD Automotive. Erwin is currently taking the TIAS Executive Master of Management and Organization, and will soon start his graduation project. Though he hasn’t yet completed the program in full, he’s taken on the role of catalyst and raiser of tough questions in his organization, to further interconnect business and society and shape the Corporate Social Responsibility policy in the image of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “I’m learning so much about how we can navigate this as an organization, and how I can make an impact.”
OLD SOLUTIONS TO NEW PROBLEMS
Erwin started his career at Rabobank. As an adviser at first, before moving on to various management roles. During this time he completed his Higher Professional Degree (“HBO”) in Financial Service Management, and discovered that life-long learning suited him. The main thing Erwin wants to learn in the Master of Management and Organization is how to deal with increasingly complex issues. “As humans, we’re naturally inclined to rely on past experience. I understand that’s a good thing, but it sometimes causes friction in practice. Then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, maybe we’re not asking the right questions here.’ I mean, we’re coming up with an old solution to a new problem. Something didn’t sit right with me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. In discussions with Senior Management, I also realized that I wanted to have more input, and I wanted to have a well though-out story to back up my perspective and ask the right questions.”
“We often rush through decisions, when we need calm consideration of the broader perspective.”
LEARNING TO ASK BETTER QUESTIONS
“I wanted to learn how to slow things down by asking better questions, so we don’t rush into solutions. Too often we as humans look for a solution because ‘it makes everyone feel good, and then we’ll work on the right things’ or what we decide are the right things at the time. In the ‘rat race’, we often rush through decisions, when we need calm consideration to look at our needs from a broader perspective. To zoom out and then back in, you may often need a scientific approach. Has anyone studied this in the past? When have others stood at this same crossroads? What makes my decision different? How can I take things a step further? This realization only represents half of what I know now, but it did motivate my decision for a program that linked up with my questions.”
“We need catalysts to better shape the interconnectedness of business and society.”
WHY TIAS?
In his search for the right program, Erwin was struck by how TIAS explicitly mentioned “society”. “I wasn’t familiar with TIAS at the time, but that’s not a word you often see in the descriptions of similar programs. I discovered that TIAS integrated ‘society’ into their program, instead of tacking it on as an afterthought. That was a big plus for me. And after almost a year in this program, I can confirm that TIAS also walks the walk. This area was not completely unfamiliar to me, but I hadn’t realized just how interconnected business and society are.”
“Now I really understand the major role business has to play in solving societal problems. The responsibilities of business, and to the same extent those of our organization, are bigger than ever. We have a duty of care towards one another. During the program, this brought me to the realization that we need catalysts at the companies we collectively call ‘business’, to help shape the interconnectedness of business and society.”
Name Erwin Tuin
Position Driver Care/Customer Care Manager at car leasing firm ALD Automotive. In this role, Erwin is responsible for the Customer Care department. Due to his department’s interfaces with customer satisfaction, marketing and sales, he sits around a lot of tables in the organization.
Program TIAS Executive Master of Management and Organization “With everything we take from nature and society, I think the companies that focus the most on ‘creating shared value’, and actually acting on it, have the best prospects for the future.”
LECTURERS, FELLOW STUDENTS AND COURSE CONTENT
Erwin saw the Executive Master of Management and Organization program as comparable to a Business Administration study program. “You know the content will be multi-faceted. But it was never too general. The program delves into enough detail for me to gain competence in other areas. That’s what I really like about it.”
Credible, relatable and welcoming “Lecturers and professors have good links with industry in addition to their academic pursuits and this means that science is something that constantly evolves. It is constantly being put to the test in practice. That’s what makes the professors’ stories so credible and relatable, and what makes class discussions so welcoming to students. At the same time, you come into contact with other students from lots of different backgrounds. Practically every sector is represented. You engage in more in-depth discussions with them, where you find common ground and ways to complement each others’ thinking. That sparks curiosity. Frankly, just like me, they’re not always the easiest people to deal with. They have a certain degree of influence over their organizations in their current roles. So they’re not interested in just giving up on their current perspective as soon as someone else claims to have the truth.” He chuckles: “After almost a year in the program, that’s actually something you don’t do as much, because you’ve learned it’s best to ask the right questions.”
Better understand other people’s perspectives For Erwin, the most inspiring part of the program so far is that he found a new level of depth in himself, which he never knew was there before. “The confidence that you find there, as well as the strength you draw from it, is just wonderful. I’m someone who says ‘give me a question, a challenge, a team and a task, and I’ll get down to work and make an impact.’ But the point was that when I would deliver something or give a presentation in a meeting with Senior Management and other higher-ups, I was sometimes asked questions and I thought, ‘why didn’t I think of those questions myself?’ I’m now far more versatile in my self-expression and development, so I can better understand other people’s perspectives on what is happening or what I’m doing. You learn from different points of view and ways of looking at your own work and issues. That makes it easier to anticipate the questions that used to catch me off guard. Plus, taking questions that others would ask and incorporating them into my own story takes us all to the next level together. That’s how you develop not only yourself, but also your environment. Because your environment will have to do its best to find new questions. This already helps me a great deal in my day-to-day work.”
Thinking conceptually about SDGs and car leasing Erwin also highlights that the program has taught him to think more conceptually. “Before the program, if you’d asked me what our car leasing company can do for initiatives like the UN’s sustainable development goals (or SDGs), it would have given me pause: ‘A car leasing company? Doesn’t that run contrary to the idea of sustainability in the first place?’ Now I understand what it is about, the first steps to take, and why a leasing company may just have a leading role to play here in the area of mobility. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that a year ago. I would’ve found it all too abstract then.”
“Before the program, if you’d asked me what our organization can do for the SDGs, it would have given me pause.”
BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
One of the main reasons Erwin opted for TIAS was, as he mentioned earlier, the program’s focus on interconnectedness with society. TIAS aims to “develop leaders to serve society by transforming business”. TIAS fully tailors its programs to this with content that helps participants develop a transformative mindset, and strengthens their competencies so they can make an impact on business and society. For instance, the Future of Business and Society module prompted Erwin to think about how his organization could work towards sustainability. “Speaking more on behalf of my organization, I think the better you seize on this topic, the more in control you are. As an organization, this gives you the power to decide how to proceed, and at what pace. So I’m all for a more fervent embrace of sustainability – even if it may pose a challenge. At the end of the day, this approach is better for you than sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the axe to fall from new regulations or from competitors who beat you to solutions.”
Equity and equality Another vital topic for Erwin, which he wrote a paper on, is equity and equality in relation to diversity and inclusivity, and how to shape this through responsible leadership. “Some social tension appears to exist around these terms. This is because it sounds like some people have to scoot over to give others more opportunities. But that approach falls short as well, because what you’re really saying then is: ‘I allow you to have these opportunities.’ We shouldn’t look at it like that in my view. If you want to be more inclusive, you let more people in. It’s also appropriate here to think about what you should do more and less of, to adapt to the new composition of the team. If you really apply this, you come across particularly thorny topics. Where people tend to stick to what they call their ‘traditions’ or ‘customs’. So you’ll need to redefine some conventions, so they also work for people with other customs and traditions. This diversity and inclusivity lens really made the program special.”
“Everything I’m learning in the Master program, I can pass on in a slightly different form.”
Stay on your toes
According to Erwin, the way you shape this transformation to equity in diversity and inclusivity starts with a growth mindset. “I believe that in your organization, you have to incentivize people to stay on their toes, and to think about the opportunities and positive aspects of taking on this responsibility and doing something useful with it. I’ve noticed that these are the key ingredients for transformation. I think it sometimes feels harder to combine our strengths and imagine where we need to go together. But if you achieve consensus, by creating a climate where every voice gets heard, to ensure broader discussions, you get better results.”
Creating a transformation mindset
Erwin applies this to his work by challenging the people around him more, to ask questions and tap into their creative problem-solving potential. “I noticed this was difficult at first. ‘Is Erwin acting differently? Is he taking a class or something?’ Ah well, so be it. Everything I’m learning in the Master program, I can pass on in a slightly different form. This way, I create a somewhat different system around us, where I can share everything. This results in more diverse mindsets and different solutions. I think that’s the starting point for creating a transformation mindset. This stops the more traditional mindset of thinking along hierarchical lines. I don’t want to be the inhibiting factor in my environment. So, if I can use my new knowledge to help the people around me develop or to think more critically and creatively, where we just set the boundaries, this is a coordinated way to give them more space to develop, which ultimately leads to better solutions. This way the transformation itself grows.”
Corporate social responsibility
To Erwin, “transformation” also means working together to further interconnect business and society. “You can shape corporate social responsibility with this interconnectedness, by strengthening our responsibility to one another. The concept of ‘creating shared value’ in the program really opened up my eyes. I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of it myself. It just makes so much sense! Why wouldn’t we interconnect the needs of business and the needs of society? When in the red, it’s usually easy for an organization to sponsor good causes. Or you come up with a narrative for why it won’t work out this year. And that’s about the extent of your interest in society as an organization. It really pains me to see that. If you can interconnect business and society so they go hand-in-hand, not only does everyone work together, you also help find solutions to the very issues that led to the establishment of the SDGs. Thanks to this program, that’s what I increasingly believe in.”
“If we don’t maintain dialog with people who think differently, we’ll lose each other.”
FLESHING OUT THE SDGS
Erwin currently sees his organization laying the groundwork to further flesh out the SDGs. “We are militant about objectives that contribute to them. For instance, we’re looking at whether solar power as well as rainwater collection can contribute to both our business interests and the environment. I should add that the SDGs are the stepping stones for the CSR policy. Our EcoVadis gold medal shows we’re clearly heading in the right direction!”
Raising the tough questions “Of course you also have the SDGs focusing on sustainable mobility, being a good employer, and transparent and responsible business practices. Those are the three main pillars of our CSR policy, to which we’ve added the fourth pillar of reducing our own environmental footprint. In my role, I make sure teams can discuss these topics freely. It doesn’t help organizations if these kinds of plans are the sole domain of the Management. I see curiosity around these sustainability projects. I can also be the one to raise the tough questions. In part, this is because I see that I need to. When the first dominos fall, I don’t want to break the chain.”
More influence “If we don’t maintain dialog with people who think differently, we’ll lose each other. I think I’m known for being progressive, but I’m not deaf to the arguments of people with other views. In short, I try to raise my voice more around the SDGs that we need to support better. In part so our organization can have even more influence in those areas. It may sound a bit vague, but that’s the reality of it for me.”
TIP FROM ERWIN
“For people looking for solutions to increasingly complex problems, in a world where business and society are so interconnected that they’re really one and the same, the TIAS Master of Management and Organization is the perfect fit for you. It gives you a clear breakdown of all the pieces in play. Because you get exposure to the science behind these issues, you gain the self-confidence to keep planting those seeds, raising the tough questions, and choosing your own path forward. That’s what makes it different.”
Sparking change
These times call for professionals and managers who can devise solutions to complex issues at the interface between business and society. Erwin is taking the Executive Master of Management and Organization (MMO) at TIAS: this part-time Master program offers you the knowledge, expertise and tools to spark change in your own organization. It also gives full attention to the latest developments in the world of business and in society. Download the brochure and discover what the MMO can do for you and your organization.
THE BUSINESS SCHOOL FOR TOMORROW’S LEADERS
TIAS School for Business and Society is a place for leaders, professionals and managers just like you who are looking for change. Who want to bring out the best in themselves and make an impact for their organization and its environment. TIAS has a wide selection of part-time Master programs, advanced programs, MBAs, master classes, TIAS 8-hour programs and personalized solutions.
Business and society are the common threads running through our programs. You develop yourself in four areas of competence: responsible leadership, cooperation, business modeling and sustainable innovation. It’s the combination of these four qualities that will help you transform your business and create impact as a leader of tomorrow.
Curious whether TIAS is the right business school for you? Click here to learn more about the TIAS School for Business and Society.
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