Professor
Department of Organizational Behavior
Weatherhead School of Management
Distinguished Visiting Scholar
Benedictine University
Visiting Professor
The Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University
As one of the originators of the concept of sustainable value, Chris Laszlo, PhD, reframes sustainability as a business opportunity, turning environmental and social risks into drivers of innovation, greater employee engagement, and a new, inimitable source of competitive advantage.
Laszlo is the author of six books, including Quantum Leadership: New Consciousness in Business (2019), Flourishing Enterprise: The New Spirit of Business (2014), Embedded Sustainability: The Next Big Competitive Advantage (2011), and Sustainable Value: How the World's Leading Companies are Doing Well by Doing Good (2008), all from Stanford University Press. An earlier book, The Sustainable Company (2003, paperback 2005), was published by Island Press. He has numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the general editor of The Business of Sustainability, the second volume of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability (2010). Professionally, Laszlo was elected a Fellow of the International Academy of Management. His book Flourishing Enterprise was chosen as one of the top sustainability books by Sustainable Brands. In 2012 he was selected by his peers to be a “Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior” by Trust Across America™. In 2018 he was elected incoming chair of the AOM MSR Interest Group executive committee.
As a co-founder and managing partner of Sustainable Value Partners LLC, he provides advisory services to senior leaders in some of the world’s largest companies. Laszlo has led hundreds of seminars and spoken widely on sustainability for strategic advantage both at companies and at leading business schools such as INSEAD, Darden School of Business, Cornell University, and Kenan-Flagler Business School.
In addition to his academic experience and consulting work, Laszlo spent nearly 10 years as an executive at Lafarge, a world leader in building materials; he held positions as head of strategy, general manager of a manufacturing subsidiary, and vice president of business development. Prior to that, he spent five years with Deloitte Touche, where he consulted on strategy to global industry leaders.
Laszlo received his doctorate with distinction in economics and management science from the University of Paris. He holds a MPhil in economics and a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University, and a BA with honors from Swarthmore College.
Initially Appointed: 2007
Teaching Information
Teaching Interests
Courses Taught
Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship
Flourishing Enterprise
Flourishing Enterprise: Creating Sustainable Value for Business and World Benefit
Managing People and Organizations
Quantum Leadership: Creating Value for You, Business, and the World
Office Hours
By Appointment Only
Awards and Honors
CWRU Sustainability Champion Award
2018
CWRU Sustainability Office
Recipient of the Doctoral Teaching & Mentoring Award
2016
Elected Fellow
2015
International Academy of Management
"Flourishing Enterprise" chosen one of Top Sustainability Books
2015
Sustainable Brands
Top 100 Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business Behavior for 2012
2012
Trust Across America
Invited Commencement Speaker
2011
Duquesne University
External Appointments
- Guardian, Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative. 2017 - 2021
- Fellow, International Academy of Management. 2015 - 2022
- Faculty Advisor, MPOD Faculty Advisor, 2021 - 2022
- Committee Member, New Online MBA Healthcare program course development, 2021 - 2022
- Committee Chair, Engaged Management Scholarship conference 2020 organizing committee, 2019 - 2020
- Chairperson, AOM MSR Interest Group Executive Committee, 2018 - 2022
- Chairperson, AOM Management Spirituality & Religion interest group, 2018 - Present
- Committee Member, Member of five PhD or DM Committees, 2017 - 2018
- Guest Speaker, Graduate Student Council, 2017 - 2018
- Committee Member, Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, 2017 - Present
- Faculty Executive Director, Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit, 2016 - 2018
- Committee Member, Ignacio Pavez doctoral committee, 2013 - 2016
- Faculty Advisor, Fowler Center, 2010 - 2018
Publications
- Leah, J. S., Laszlo, C. (2022).
Creating Positive Impact: The Power of Greater Purpose and Consciousness of Connectedness Engaged Management Review - Widing, R. , Laszlo, C. (2021). In Danica Purg, Misho Minkov and Tjasa Cankar (Ed.)
Revisiting Corporate Leadership, Purpose and Governance (vol. 1, 1 ed., pp. 34-41) Bled: International Academy of Management and IEDC Bled School of Management - Laszlo, C. (2021).
Prospective Theorizing: Researching for Social Impact Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion - Laszlo, C. , Waddock, S. , Maheshwari, A. , Nigri, G. , Storberg-Walker, J. (2021).
Quantum Worldviews: How science and spirituality are converging to transform consciousness for meaningful solutions to wicked problems Humanistic Management Journal - Pavez, I. A., Kendall, L. D., Laszlo, C. (2020).
Positive-impact companies: Toward a new paradigm of value creation Organizational Dynamics - Laszlo, C. , Cooperrider, D. L., Fry, R. (2020).
Global Challenges as Opportunity to Transform Business for Good Sustainability, an Open Source journal of MDPI - Laszlo, C. (2020).
Quantum Management: The Practices and Science of Business-led Flourishing Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion (JMSR) - Laszlo, C. , Widing, R. (2019). In John North (Ed.)
The Changing Role of Business: A Comment on the Recent U.S. Business Roundtable Statement (vol. GRLI Web blog/communications October 2019, October 2019 ed., pp. 9) Brussels: Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative - Tsao, F. C., Laszlo, C. (2019).
Quantum Leadership: New Consciousness in Business Stanford University Press - Laszlo, C. (2019).
Strengthening Humanistic Management The Humanistic Management Journal - Laszlo, C. , Gullett, K. , Gupta, M. , (2018).
MobilityWorks: Faster, Higher, Stronger Cleveland: Ivey Publishing - Laszlo, C. , Waddock, S. (2017).
Torn Between Two Paradigms AI Practitioner Journal, Vol 19, No. 2 - Laszlo, C. , Gullett, K. , Krueger, T. (2017).
Amorim: The Future of Natural Cork Ivey Publishing - van Esch, C. , Laszlo, C. , Gullett, K. , Cooper, B. , Zhou, j. (2017).
Calvert Investments: Environmental, Social, and Governance Sustainability Ivey Publishing - Laszlo, C. (2016).
The Quantum Leadership Project: Accelerating Globally Responsible Business Global Responsibility: The GRLI Partner Magazine - Laszlo, C. (2016).
Consciousness development for responsible management education (pp. 1 page commentary) - Laszlo, C. , Gullett, K. , Dicht, C. , Schulstad, M. , Sugiyama, K. (2016).
Food Donation Connection: Profitably Scaling Food Waste Reduction Ontario: Ivey Publishing - Pavez, I. , Bello, M. , Laszlo, C. , Gullett, K. (2015).
TriCiclos: The challenging of scaling recycling in Latin America (pp. 13) Western Ontario: Richard Ivey School of Business - Laszlo, C. , Haile, Y. , Buse, K. R., Saillant, R. (2015).
Eco-communal management, transition engagement, and connectedness: a Moderated model for the performance of renewable energy projects in emerging economies ICRERA, IEEE - Laszlo, C. , (2015). In Susan Susan Albers Mohrman, James O'Toole, Edward E. Lawler III (Ed.)
Sustainability for Strategic Advantage: The shift to flourishing Stanford University Press and Routledge - Laszlo, C. (2015).
Embedding sustainability in Latin American companies: the no trade-off model - Laszlo, C. , Pose, I. B. (2014).
Appreciative Inquiry and Sustainable Value Creation SAGE - Laszlo, C. , Saillant, R. , Cooperrider, D. L., Brown, J. S. (2014).
Flourishing Enterprise: The New Spirit of Business Stanford University Press - Widing, R. , Cooperrider, D. L., Laszlo, C. (2013).
Business as an Agent of World Benefit - Ludema, J. , Laszlo, C. , Lynch, K. (2012).
Embedding Sustainability: How the Field of Organization Development and Change Can Help Companies Harness the Next Big Competitive Advantage Emerald Books - Cooperrider, D. L., Laszlo, C. (2012).
Innovation's New Frontier Leadership Excellence Magazine - Laszlo, C. , Zhexebayeva, N. (2011).
Embedded Sustainability: the Next Big Competitive Advantage Stanford University Press - Laszlo, C. , Zhexembayeva, N. (2011).
Embedded Sustainability: A Strategy for Market Leaders The European Financial Review
Presentations
- Laszlo, C. IONS Webinar (1,200 registered participants), "The Global Consciousness Institute: Tools and Frameworks for a New Leadership and Educational Paradigm", Institute of Noetic Sciences, (2021).
- Laszlo, C. International Leadership Association (ILA) annual meeting, "Global Consciousness, Equity, and Flourishing: Tools and Frameworks for a New Leadership Paradigm", International Leadership Association, Geneva, Swtizerland. (2021).
- Laszlo, C. XIII Encuentro Mundial de Valores, "Flourishing Enterprise", EMV Monterrey Mexico, (2021).
- Laszlo, C. IHMA Intellectual Shamans webinar, "Prospective Theorizing: Researching for social impact", International Humanistic Management Association, (2021).
- Laszlo, C. P. Fifth Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit, "Flourishing Enterprise", Case Western Reserve University and Berrett-Koehler, (2021).
- Laszlo, C. PRME Annual Meeting, "Decolonizing the Business School - What is Hindering us?", U.N. Principles for Responsible Management Education, (2021).
- Laszlo, C. Annual Global Forum, "Revisiting Corporate Leadership, Purpose and Governance. Panel Track Leader, The International Academy of Management, Global Forum, October 9, 2020", International Academy of Management, (2020).
- Widing, R. (Presenter Only), Laszlo, C. (Presenter Only) International Academy of Management Annual Conference, "Revisiting Corporate leadership, Prpose and Governance", IEDC Bled School of Management, Virtual presentation to 300 attendees from around the world. (2020).
- Widing, R. (Moderator), Laszlo, C. (Moderator) International Academy of Management Annual Meeting, "Revisiting Corporate Leadership, Purpose and Governance", IEDC Bled School of Management, Via Zoom to 300 attendees from arounf the globe. (2020).
- Laszlo, C. Distinguished Speaker Series, "What is Quantum Leadership", UMass Lowell Donahue Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, (2020).
- Laszlo, C. 8th Annual MENA Regional Conference DUBAI, "Social Enterprise in Support of the U.N. SDGs", PRME and Zayed University, Dubai, UAE. (2018).
- Laszlo, C. Family Business Network Summit, "Quantum Leadership: The Neuro-science of Higher Order Consciousness", FBN, Singapore. (2018).
- Laszlo, C. Global Oneness Day, "Quantum Leadership ", AITIA, Shanghai, China. (2018).
- Laszlo, C. Quantum Leadership, "Quantum Leadership: The Shift to Flourishing", AITIA, Shanghai, China. (2018).
- Laszlo, C. 2018 SUSTAINABILITY LEADERS CONGRESS PLENARY PROGRAM, "Flourishing Enterprise", SC Johnson , Berlin, Germany. (2018).
- Laszlo, C., Dunne, D. AACSB MBA curriculum redesign session on Business Schools as Enablers of Social Change, "From Sustainability to Flourishing: reframing biz school mindset for social change", AACSB, (2018).
- Laszlo, C. GRLI Annual General Meeting, "Quantum Leadership", GRLI, (2018).
- Laszlo, C. AOM Symposium, "Toward a New Consciousness of Connectedness and Caring", AOM, (2017).
- Laszlo, C. PRME Summit at the United Nations in NYC, "Keynote on Flourishing Enterprise", PRME, NYC. (2017).
- Laszlo, C. Fourth Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit, "The Shift to Flourishing", Fowler Center , (2017).
- Laszlo, C. Regenerative Capitalism, "New Consciousness in business", REGEN Summit Boulder CO, (2017).
- Laszlo, C. US Ambassadors Speakers Series, "Sustainability for Value and profit", US State Department, Brazil. (2017).
- Laszlo, C. OECD Wellbeing Conference, "Flourishing Enterprise", OECD Paris, France, (2017).
- Laszlo, C. Clarke workshop, "Flourishing Enterprise: Creating Economic Prosperity, a Healthy Environment, and Human Wellbeing", Clarke, (2017).
- Laszlo, C. Family Business Network Summit, "The new capital of consciousness", Family Business Network, (2016).
- Laszlo, C. L4WB Tuebingen Germany, "New Consciousness in business", Ethics Institute, (2016).
- Laszlo, C. GRLI Annual General Meeting, "New Consciousness in business", Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, (2016).
- Laszlo, C. MOD/MPOD 40th Celebration, "Panel discussant", Weatherhead School OB Department, (2016).
- Laszlo, C. Global Oneness Day, "Business as an agent of world benefit", Humanity's Team, (2016).
- Laszlo, C. L4WB New York City, "Leading for Wellbeing", Fordham University, (2016).
- Laszlo, C. The Future of the Corporation, "Flourishing Enterprise", The International Academy of Management, Santiago, Chile. (2016).
- Laszlo, C. Global Oneness Day, "Quantum Leadership", Humanity's Team, (2015).
- Laszlo, C. Milan World EXPO, "Sustainable Value: Is Integration the Trick?", EY Consulting, Milan, Italy. (2015).
- Laszlo, C. InnoQuest 2015, "Flourishing Enterprise", The Entrepreneurs EDGE, (2015).
- Laszlo, C. The Base of the Pyramid Global Summit, "Flourishing Enterprise in the BoP", BoP Network/ University of Vermont, Burlington, VT. (2015).
- Laszlo, C. The Next Frontier in CSR and Sustainability, "Flourishing Enterprise", FISB Annual Conference, Helsinki, Finland. (2014).
- Laszlo, C. Sustainability Circle, "Sustainability for Business Advantage", True Market Solutions, (2014).
Education
PhD
University of Paris
1995
Master of Philosophy
Columbia University
master’s degree in international affairs
Columbia University
Bachelor of Arts
Swarthmore College