LISTEN NOW: Can the COVID-19 Crisis Spark Lasting Change in Society?

The COVID-19 pandemic may have helped to open people’s eyes on issues related to climate change and the value of local economies, but turning that awareness into lasting change will not be easy, according to Michigan Ross Professor Andy Hoffman.

In an appearance on ”The Conversation Lab” podcast and radio show with host Don Shafer, Hoffman discussed the fallout from the pandemic. “Change happens in crisis, and we’re in a crisis,” Hoffman noted. But for lasting change to result, “It will take concerted effort, because we are a species that does not like change. We are a species that has inertia, and, like a rubber band, without concerted effort we will snap back to where we were before.”

The wide-ranging conversation also covered a number of other issues, including the true purpose of business and the role of business education.

“How do we make business graduates that are actually thinking about society? Making money, of course; leading their companies, of course; but doing it in a way that serves society?” Hoffman asks.

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Andy Hoffman is the Holcim (U.S.) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, Professor of Management and Organizations, and Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability.

Media Contact: Bridget Vis, Public Relations Specialist, visb@umich.edu