GRA 6837 CSR, Innovation and Strategy for Sustainable Business
GRA 6837 CSR, Innovation and Strategy for Sustainable Business
Resit examination only autumn 2020. The course will run again autumn 2021.
CANCELLED AUTUMN 2020. RESIT EXAMINATION ONLY.
Addressing sustainable management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a requirement in today's business. Civil society, media and governments increasingly expect that companies should look beyond short-term profit toward a broader goal of long-term sustainable value creation. The launch of UN Sustainable Development Goals also calls for a broader business agenda. Still, the approach applied by many companies is not capturing the potential good for business and society.
The risk of sustainability and CSR failures is well-illustrated through many CSR-related scandals. The purpose of CSR engagement, however, is not only to reduce risk. Addressed, CSR and sustainability appropriately provide opportunities to improve day-to-day business, develop a competitive advantage, and improve reputation and brand. Sustainability and CSR are strong drivers of profitable innovation which will be a key element in this course.
The course addresses how to approach CSR and sustainability in day-to-day business – and align these considerations with overall business strategy. Issues addressed are: climate and environment, human rights, ethics, sustainability, corruption, supplier relations, community involvement, relevant international laws and regulations, interaction with stakeholders like government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media, social responsible investment (SRI), as well as reputation and branding. Innovation, circular economy, implementation and communication related to CSR will be addressed in the course.
- This course and GRA 6841 Energy in Green Transition: Markets, Policies and Business Innovation can be taken individually or be combined.
This course is designed to provide:
- Advanced knowledge of the Corporate Social Responisility (CSR) and sustainability concept
- Understanding the societal challenges to business in the global economy
- Knowledge of relevant tools for developing a sustainability strategy
- Knowledge of the concept and role of corporate responsibility with regards to employees, media, risk and reputation
- Insights into innovation and business models for turning responsibility and sustainability into a value driver
- Analytical thinking and problem-solving – including dilemma training
Skills developed upon completion of the course include the abilities to:
- Develop a corporate strategy for sustainability, topics to address, work plan, implementation, report and evaluation
- Identify profitable ideas for sustainability-based innovation and value creation (including circular economy and nudge)
- Address reputation and branding from corporate responsibility perspective
- Forge a cooperative dialogue and collaboration with different stakeholders (including employees, suppliers customers, governments, media and NGOs)
- Design a communication plan – how to convey the good and bad news internally and in media
Upon the completion of the course the students should be able to reflect on:
- To which extent companies have a responsibility for sustainable development
- To which extent people in general has a responsibility towards sustainable development
- What responsible investment entails
The course will be based on faculty and guest lectures as well as group work and discussions. These are the key topics covered:
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability - applying the Sustainable Development Goals as a basis for business strategy corporate development
- Customer attitude vs behavior challenges and nudge - circular economy and sustainable business models
- Innovation and strategy for sustainability
- Stakeholder management with focus on non-governmental organizations and media - identifying win-win opportunities.
- Stakeholdership and partnered governance in the global economy
- Socially Responsible Investment
The teaching will be based on lectures, cases, group work, presentations and multimedia tools.
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.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course starts.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
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.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Class participation Weight: 30 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 8) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Class participation included presentations. Exam code: GRA68371 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 70 Grouping: Group Duration: 1 Semester(s) Exam code: GRA68371 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 3 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 80 hours.