The USC Center for Sustainable Cities is teaming up with the USC Marshall School of Business to teach organizations about different ways of improving the bottom line.

The Sustainable Organization Series aims to show how to serve shareholders while finding ways to reflect deeply held values about preserving an ecological balance by avoiding the depletion of natural resources.

It’s all about sustainability, the buzzword in 21st-century corporate management, according to a university official.

“Everybody kind of understands what it means, but not what to do,” said Jennifer Wolch, director of the USC Center for Sustainable Cities. “Our goal is that you will walk out of the session with the tools to implement more sustainable practices on Monday morning.”

One session on building a sustainable organization and sustainable strategies for investors and firms was held this month. Two others in March will focus on using renewable resources and making buildings environmentally friendly.

While the concept of sustainability is in the air and environmental concerns abound – Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” was one of the most successful documentaries in film history, and children learn to separate recyclables from trash in preschool – sustainable practices have been implemented at a slow pace.

“Some are getting it, while others are ignoring it,” Wolch said. “The skeptics wonder if it’s worth the trouble and many are not convinced. There’s a lot of inertia. We want to give them the information to do this so that it doesn’t require a large extra effort.”

Participants actually can build a custom plan for their company during the workshops, said Wolch, who is also the USC College dean of graduate programs.

Yet the classes do not just emphasize getting started. They also look at expanding the scope of sustainability in businesses, Wolch said.

Changing the light bulbs is one step; changing the outlet is another.

Last year WalMart – one of the largest companies in the world – committed to the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy. Since then, the simple step of a no-idling policy on WalMart trucks has saved the company $145 million – while helping to keep the air cleaner.

“This starts people in the firm thinking about these issues,” Wolch said. “And the more companies get on board, the cheaper it gets to be sustainable.”

The partnership between the USC Marshall School and the center was natural.

“This is a prime opportunity to get businesses interested in sustainable practices,” said Karla Wiseman Bright, interim executive director of the executive education program at the school. “Because the business school is seen as an education resource in the business community, layering the aspect of sustainable business practices is a good match.”

The center, which was founded in 1998, engages in multidisciplinary research and education on the environmental, social and business-economic sustainability challenges facing metropolitan regions.

And the USC Office of Executive Education, founded in 1951, helps leaders learn the latest in management techniques while becoming a more valuable asset to their company.

“Currently, there’s a big push by stakeholders for businesses to be smart about what they’re currently doing regarding the use of the Earth’s resources,” Wiseman Bright said. “Not only do companies get financial savings from instituting these programs, but they get a public relations benefit as well.”

Hilary Bradbury, director of sustainable business programs at USC’s Center for Sustainable Cities, said it is possible for business to flourish while taking the ecosystem into consideration.

“We know that our local ocean is full of plastic, and sea lions are dying. We know we can’t surf when it rains,” Bradbury said. “We know that cancer and heart disease is higher here because of our pollution. Does this mean doom and gloom? Is this just the way it has to be if we are to preserve our economy? The answer is a resounding no.”