GRA 8264 Succeeding with Sustainable Growth (2022/2023)

GRA 8264 Succeeding with Sustainable Growth (2022/2023)

Course code: 
GRA 8264
Department: 
Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
Credits: 
5
Course coordinator: 
Per Espen Stoknes
Course name in Norwegian: 
Succeeding with Sustainable Growth (2022/2023)
Product category: 
Executive
Portfolio: 
EMBA Business Administration - Elective courses
Semester: 
2023 Spring
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

This course introduces green growth as a field of leadership and strategy. Most studies show that sustainable business attract employees, collaborate better with regulators, and discover new opportunities for innovation. We spell out these links, discuss hybrid business models and explore the personal motivation and ethics of sustainable leadership. Participants will gain insight into the main differences between green economics and mainstream economics, learn how to set hybrid visions and acquire the tools for analysing opportunities for green growth. We will also discuss controversies of “greenwashing”, the circular economy and radical resource productivity. 

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

Participants will learn: 

  • how sustainability can improve corporate financial performance
  • the concept of Green Growth and related theories of economic sustainability
  • the main differences between "Green Economics" and mainstream economics. 
  • circular economy and resource productivity
  • planetary boundaries and ecological footprint
  • leadership and motivation in leading sustainable companies.
  • criteria for distinguishing greenwashing from green growth in marketing
Learning outcomes - Skills

Participants will be able to

  • develop sustainability opportunities for any company by mastering green growth tools to analyse both low-hanging fruits and long-term breakthrough options 
  • identify opportunities in the main sectors: buildings, transport, energy, food, industry, and public sector
  • to avoid pitfalls and master success criteria for the communication of climate and sustainability issues.
General Competence

Participants will be challenged to reflect on: 

  • personal motivation and ethics of sustainability leadership.
  • ideology and motivation: how to resolve "sustainability versus profits dilemmas” ?
Course content
  • Green Growth: Definitions, Current trends - future scenarios
  • Opportunities in the main sectors: buildings, transport, energy, industry, food, public sector
  • "Green Economics" and mainstream economics
  • How and why are "sustainability" and “profits” related
  • "Greenwashing: When is “green” a fraud?
  • Circular economy and radical resource productivity - is sufficient decoupling of value creation from resource use possible?
  • Leadership and motivation in leading companies
  • The communication of climate and sustainability issues 
Teaching and learning activities

A mix of lectures, plenary discussions and case-work, as well a group-work on creating a green strategy improvement for a company, with group presentation.

Attendance to all sessions in the course is compulsory. If you have to miss part(s) of the course you must ask in advance for leave of absence. More than 25% absence in a course will require retaking the entire course. It's the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ It's learning or other course materials.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component will be graded using points on a scale 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 course. Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam components will get a lower grade or may fail the course. Candidates may be called in for an oral hearing as a verification/control of written assignments.

Specific information regarding the points system and the mapping scale beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

The course is a part of a full Executive MBA programme and examination in all courses must be passed in order to obtain a certificate.

In all BI Executive courses and programmes, there is a mutual requirement  
for the student and the course responsible regarding the involvement of the student's experience in the planning and implementation of courses, modules and programmes. This means that the student has the right and duty to get involved with their own knowledge and practice relevance, through the active sharing of their relevant experience and knowledge.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Activity
Form of assessment: 
Class participation
Weight: 
20
Grouping: 
Individual
Comment: 
Class participation, counts 20% of the final grade.
Exam code: 
GRA 82641
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: 
Activity
Form of assessment: 
Presentation and discussion
Weight: 
30
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 6)
Duration: 
1 Day(s)
Comment: 
Presentation and discussion, counts 30% of the final grade
Exam code: 
GRA 82641
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: 
50
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 6)
Duration: 
4 Week(s)
Comment: 
Written assignment, counts 50% of the final grade.
Exam code: 
GRA 82641
Grading scale: 
Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade
Resit: 
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Continuous assessment
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Teaching
40 Hour(s)
Prepare for teaching
35 Hour(s)
Student's own work with learning resources
75 Hour(s)
Sum workload: 
150

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 135 hours.