GRA 6038 Ethics and Sustainability in Organizations
GRA 6038 Ethics and Sustainability in Organizations
The main aim of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to take an active, professional part in countering the social, economic and environmental challenges of the 21st century, including climate change, poverty, environmental degradation and employment issues generated by the automation of human labor. Private and public organizations, as well as governments and individuals, on different levels are ethically responsible for finding constructive measures to deal with these challenges. To do so, knowledge about the scope and relevance of sustainable development is crucial.
This course highlights the relevance of ethics and sustainability for the decision-making processes in organizations, and provides a theoretical framework for understanding and balancing responsibilities toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030. The course has an applied orientation, introducing cases and dilemmas for discussion in light of the theoretical and practical input.
The candidate …
- Has thorough knowledge of the basic concepts and theories of applied ethics and sustainability research and their links to core organizational objectives and strategies.
- Can analyze and evaluate companies’ engagement associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) from environmental, social and economic perspectives.
- Can analyze and evaluate processes that can lead to misbehavior and neglect of sustainability concerns in organizations, as well as constructive ways to establish and maintain responsible leadership and decision-making.
- Can see sustainability issues from the point of view of different stakeholders, including employees, media and investors.
- Is aware of climate challenges, and psychological barriers and solutions, of green growth and green growth strategies from a corporate perspective.
The candidate …
- Has applied the knowledge above in concrete situations through analyzing situations, dilemma training, dialogue and practical applications.
- Can provide justification for their choices based on factual and normative input, and analyze disagreements about ethical and sustainability issues.
- Can evaluate social responsible investment from different perspectives.
- Is aware of how organizations in the private and public sectors address the above issues in practice.
The candidate …
- Will be able to view their own professional education and practice in the light of possible effects on society and the environment.
- Will have insight into the requirements necessary to establish sustainable business, and recognize ethics as an integral part of any high-level professional competence.
- Will realize that ethical decisions related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) have personal ramifications, shaping the individual's responsibilities at work in different sectors.
- Will become better equipped to navigate in organizational environments where dilemmas and challenges are commonplace.
Issues covered in the course:
- Introduction to ethics in organizations
- Sustainable development and corporate responsibility — in practice
- Moral psychology
- Professionalism and conflict of interest
- Ethical navigation
- Anti-corruption and bribery
- Dilemma workshops
- Sustainability and stakeholder management — industry case, ciruclar economy
- Sustainability and climate psychology
- Ethical investment - Social responsible investment (SRI), ESG, and impact assessment and innovation
The course will be taught through lectures, guest lectures, group work and presentations. Digital tools for communication and dialogue will be applied.
The course will consist of six 3-hour plenary sessions, four 3-hour group sessions and two 6-hour dilemma workshops. The plenary and group sessions will present the main concepts and ideas, and provide students with cases to discuss. In group sessions the students will be divided into four groups, while in the dilemma workshops they will be divided into eight groups. Each student can participate in 18 hours of plenary session teaching, 12 hours of group teaching and 12 hours of dilemma workshop activities.
This course has two required coursework papers connected to the two dilemma workshops. In each of the workshops, students are divided into groups of five to six who will work together on a paper with a one-week deadline. The papers will be evaluated on how they demonstrate empirical, theoretical, structural and critical capabilities. The group papers will be evaluated on a pass/fail scale, and students will get feedback on strengths and weaknesses of their papers. Students who are unable to participate in the dilemma workshops will need to submit individual papers within the same timeframe and with the same deadline as the group papers. These individual papers will get a pass/fail grade, but no other evaluative feedback. Each student needs to contribute to two papers that have received a pass grade, either as group or individual papers, to be eligible for the exam.
The plenary sessions will include different forms of active learning in small groups. After four of the sessions students will receive topics for essays following up on the lecture topics. All four essays are to be submitted together with the take home exam. One of the essays will be evaluated as part of the exam. The essay choosen will be decided after the exam is submitted.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Covid-19
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.
| Mandatory coursework | Courseworks given | Courseworks required | Comment coursework |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory | 2 | 2 | It is a requirement that each student must have written two papers containing an analysis of a dilemma or case in order to take the final exam. The students can cooperate in groups in writing the papers. |
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Duration: 48 Hour(s) Comment: A 48 hour take home exam concludes the course. The student will submit the four essays based on topics given in class. One of these essays will be chosen after the exam is delivered and count for 25% of the final grade. The remaining 75% of the grade will be based on an assignment published at the beginning of the home exam. Exam code: GRA60382 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.