The "Hunt for Good Organizations" is a groundbreaking initiative sponsored by Duke University, US, and the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is an innovative MBA challenge is designed to explore and expand the evolving theory and practice of Good Organizations.

What's It All About?
This unique course promises a transformative journey, empowering students to redefine their perception of organizations and leadership, and examine their own role in shaping a better world. Over the course, student teams will embark on a quest to identify and interview exemplary companies that are transforming their business and operating models in the spirit of goodness. Their mission: to uncover what sets these organizations apart and create insightful case studies that capture "the difference that really makes the difference". Through the elaboration of these case studies, we aim to empower our students to make more informed choices and actions in their own future careers.

Why Is This Important?
The "Hunt for Good Organizations" is more than an academic pursuit; it's a movement. We are dedicated to identifying and celebrating organizations that are actively contributing to a positive societal and environmental impact. Our students will delve deep into these organizations, uncovering and promoting the remarkable ways in which they enable the greater good. But we're not stopping there. Our plan is to share these case studies and best practices with a global audience to stimulate collective learning. Furthermore, we aim to develop robust measurement instruments that can objectively recognize and evaluate good organizations worldwide, facilitating qualification and continuous improvement against the highest ethical standards.

Making a Global Impact
In a world grappling with pressing issues like climate change, inequality, and social injustice, the role of organizations and leadership has never been more crucial. Therefore, our mid-term objectives are ambitious. We aspire to establish an alternative economic narrative that champions an economy for the greater good, with "Good Organizations" leading the way. We believe that by acknowledging and promoting organizations that are actively embodying positive change, we will not inspire others to follow but also set new benchmarks for businesses as forces for good, driving a systemic shift in leadership and business education. By engaging with this initiative, future employees and investors can make informed choices, supporting organizations that align with their values and avoiding those that fall short. Simultaneously, we want to attract a wider academic and public audience to our change initiative, generating vibrant interest and potential future collaboration.

 Join us on this journey to redefine business, leadership, and their role in making the world a better place! 

Over the past decades, the world has been grappling with a series of global discontinuities, requiring nations, organizations, and individuals to make often abrupt and radical departures from the status quo:

• Nations had to redefine their institutional policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, global conflicts, and disrupted supply chains.
• Enterprises had to unleash breakthrough innovations at warp speed, rebuild and reconfigure global supply chains in near-real time, and tightly manage costs as demand patterns shifted in unpredictable ways.
• Employees had to learn how to work, learn and live within the tight confines of their homes, adapt to the steady increases of AI and robotics, and sometimes were directly impacted by the collapse of political and economic systems and the ravages of conflict.

• Economic Inequality: Capitalism tends to concentrate wealth in the hands of a small percentage of the population, leaving a large portion of the workforce with stagnant wages and limited opportunities for economic advancement.
• Financial Instability: The speculative nature of financial markets and the pursuit of short-term profits at the expense of long-term stability are causing recurring financial crises that cause suffering for large swathes of the population.
• Environmental Degradation: Capitalism's focus on endless growth and profit leads to overexploitation of natural resources and ecological unsustainability.
• Job Insecurity: The ruthless pursuit of efficiency and cost-cutting measures can result in job loss, temporary employment, and a lack of social safety nets. Moreover, technological progress and exploitative economic models can further exacerbate job insecurity for many workers.
• Decline in Public Goods: Increasing commoditisation, instrumentalisation and competitive individualism can undermine the provision of public goods such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Private sector interests can lead to underinvestment in these essential services.
• Erosion of Democracy: The influence of powerful corporations and wealthy individuals on politics and policymaking can undermine democratic processes, exerting disproportionate control over government decisions.
• Loss of Meaningful Work: The profit motive of shareholder-centric businesses can lead to a continual devaluation of meaningful work, with workers increasingly alienated from their jobs and lacking a sense of purpose.
• Globalization: Ruthless globalization, as driven by capitalist economic systems, can exacerbate income inequality both within and between nations.

Hence, the course's specific objective is to discover organizations that can serve as “beacons of light” to illuminate a path towards a brighter shared future. For these exemplars we want to understand - beyond simplistic frameworks, models and checklists - what is the “difference that makes a difference” in making these organizations shine. How is their transformational spirit, or essence, activated? How is it institutionalised so that it compels and propels these organizations to “light the way”? Of course, in the shortness of the initiative we can only achieve so much. Therefore, each case competition team will be tasked to develop a Case Study Report and a Pitch Presentation that can pass their learnings on to the next cohort, who we continue to develop and build our insights and understanding.