GRA 8261 The Challenge of Sustainable Global Growth (2020/2021)
GRA 8261 The Challenge of Sustainable Global Growth (2020/2021)
Both markets, production and sustainability challenges have globalized over the past decades. Firms face opportunities to reach new markets and to tap into advantages such as lower labor costs, economies of scale and resource security. At the same time, and there is growing pressure for sustainable growth while the dynamic competitive landscapes are increasingly difficult to navigate.
In this course, we introduce frameworks and tools to support sustainable global growth. We discuss how external and internal factors influence how firms develop sustainable organizations in global contexts. We discuss internationalization of decision making for sustainable global growth, strategies for global competitiveness and green growth, institutional and cultural influences, and global sustainable value chains. Participants will also gain insight into the main differences between green economics and mainstream economics. We will also discuss controversies of “greenwashing”, the circular economy and radical resource productivity.
The sessions are taught by faculty members at BI Norwegian Business School with extensive experience in sustainable global growth and top tier research publications within the field.
- Participants can analyze the global business context and key decisions for sustainable global growth
- Participants understand theories of economic sustainability and theories of the multinational organization
- Participants understand key concepts such Green Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, Circular Economy, and Resource Productivity
- Participants can critically assess why and how to enter foreign markets, how to create value through global supply chains, and the purpose and challenges of different international strategies
- Participants understand the criteria for distinguishing greenwashing from genuine green growth
The classroom sessions will be interactive and focused on leveraging experiences and available data, cases and examples to develop skills. After finishing the specialization course, participants will:
- have developed skills to assess sustainable business opportunities and challenges when operating in a global context
- have the ability to identify and analyze relevant information to make better decisions in a global business context
- have developed their ability to critically assess the applicability of tools and frameworks for green growth, new markets and sustainable organizational configurations
- be able to make persuasive arguments in both written and oral form
- Participants understand the complexities and challenges related to sustainable global business decisions
- Participants can critically evaluate the influence of institutions and culture and their implications for internationalization decisions
- Participants can draw on insights from established theories to improve their decision-making
- Participants reflect on ideology and motivation: how to resolve "sustainability versus profits dilemmas"
This course focuses on the sustainable global business growth and how to navigate the complex globalization and sustainability pressures to reach sound business decisions. The sessions are interactive, blending cutting-edge research with practical examples. We challenge the boundary conditions of extant knowledge, comparing and contrasting traditional firms with new actors in the competitive landscape.
Key topics include (but are not limited to):
- The macro environment and the opportunities for growth
- Ideology and motivation: to what extent are "sustainability" and “profits” compatible?
- The role of location advantages and disadvantages for sustainable global growth
- Green growth and Green Economics vs. mainstream economics
- Institutional and cultural influences
- Motives for internationalization
- Ideology and motivation for sustainable growth
- Global sustainable value chains
- Foreign entry and operating methods
- International strategies
- "Greenwashing: When is “green” a fraud?
- Circular economy and radical resource productivity - is sufficient decoupling of value creation from resource use possible?
- The communication of global climate and sustainability issues
5 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload between 130 and 150 hours. The course is conducted through a total of 50 hours of lectures and other classroom activities. We expect active class participation and supportive behavior for fellow students. Each participant is held co-responsible for a learning environment that is open, challenging and respectful.
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 program and examination in all courses must be passed in order to obtain the EMBA certificate.
Granted admission to the EMBA programme. Please consult our student regulations.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Class participation Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Comment: Class participation, counts 20% of the total grade Exam code: GRA 82611 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 Weight: 30 Grouping: Group Comment: Group oral presentation in class, counts 30% of the total grade Exam code: GRA 82611 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: Individual Duration: 3 Week(s) Comment: Individual written assignment, counts 50% of the total grade Exam code: GRA 82611 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 50 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 100 Hour(s) | Includes (but is not limited to): Preparing reading material Preparing group oral presentation Individual written assignment |
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.