MAN 5075 Green Growth as Competitive Advantage

MAN 5075 Green Growth as Competitive Advantage

Course code: 
MAN 5075
Department: 
Law and Governance
Credits: 
30
Course coordinator: 
Per Espen Stoknes
Course name in Norwegian: 
Grønn vekst og konkurransekraft
Product category: 
Executive
Portfolio: 
Master of Management
Semester: 
2017 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
Norwegian
Course type: 
Associate course
Course codes for multi- or associated courses.
MAN 5076 - 1. semester
MAN 5077 - 2. semester
Introduction

With companies such as Tesla, Novo Nordisk, Skanska, Vestas, IKEA, REC Solar and Storebrand, the green growth agenda has gained momentum. International institutions such as the OECD, EU-Commission, UNEP, World Bank, WBCSD and GGGI has also pushed the opportunities of the coming green shift towards 2050. Since the British economist Sir Nicholas Stern’s (2006) report, there has been increasing economic arguments in favor of bold environmental measures as profitable and smart rather than simply as costs. Such statements have nevertheless been contested, and the economic results variable. Further it has been unclear what exactly a green growth entails. But such debates have sparked new research, practices and reporting on what green growth is and how to precisely distinguish greenwashing from genuine green growth. 

Norwegian and Scandinavian companies and institutions have in any case already started the shift towards greener business development and strategies. Also unions and public agencies have started calling for more green jobs and procurement. This program will give participants the necessary competencies and skills to move from rhetorics about green economics into informed practice in Nordic organisations.  The focus will be on green business models and strategy, accounting and measurements, innovation and leadership. Participants will get the tools necessary to succeed with implementing the practices of green economics for growth and profitability.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge
  • get overview over central theories, methods and approaches in green economics and environmental economics
  • achieve knowledge about tools for whole-system thinking, including system dynamics
  • get practical understanding of the most central concepts within green strategy, innovation and accounting
  • accumulate experience from cases with organisational change into green business, organisation and policy.

 

Learning outcomes - Skills
  • be able to lead and facilitate all phases and steps in a green strategy process and associated reporting
  • be able to develop guidelines for green accounting in their own company/industry
  • be able to describe, develop and communicate green innovations
  • leadership skills for transitioning to green business
Learning Outcome - Reflection
  • Students shall be able independently to continue own competence development and specialisation
  • Students wish to strengthen green growth in own organisations
  • Students shall be able to contribute to public discourse relevant to the discipline of green economics
  • Students shall understand what responsible investment in financial, social and natural capitals is (”green ethics”)
Course content

Module 1) The challenges of Green Growth (4 days)
-Introduction to Green Growth: Definitions, Current trends - future scenarios
-How big is the green economy in Norway, EU, globally?
-Green jobs & green growth in the main sectors: buildings, transport, energy, industry, public sector
-Defining "Green Economics" (Green vs Environmental vs. Ecological Economics)
-"Greenwashing: When is ”green” a fraud?
-Radical resource efficiency - is decoupling possible?
-Leadership and motivation in the Green Economy
-Ideology and motivation: are "sustainability" and ”profit” compatible?

Group learning process:
-Use tools to analyse how green is my job and my business? How green is our industry?
-Exploring motivation and ethics of leadership

Module 2) Green Business Innovations, (4 days)
-The innovation process in a Green Economy framework:
-Funding of green innovations: trends and pitfalls
-Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship: from seed to growth stage – the psychological challenges
-Are "green investments" more profitable short or long-term?
-Social entrepreneurship
-Tackling Cultural and Organisational inertia: the decision-making challenge

Group learning process:
-Develop Smart Green ideas - make business models for innovations
-Identify existing elements of green strategy in own companies

Module 3) The Big Picture - and the long term future
-Understanding the next 40 years
-Climate change drivers: how serious is it?
-Earth System Science: seeing the connections in the world’s ecosystems
-Will we see a broad attitude shift in favour of green policies?
-Poverty alleviation and green economy
-Will human creativity and innovation be sufficient?

Group learning process:
Develop ”stunt” scenarios for society and self
 

 

Module 4) Green Accounting for the 21st century
-Current legal requirements for green reporting and future trends
-Tools for assessing social and environmental impacts: Cost-Benefit Analysis, Life Cycle Analysis, Environmental Impact Assessment, ISO14001
-New approaches in accounting: Green accounting, critical accounting
-What is ”value” – and the challenges of measuring it
-What is natural capital? Valuing Ecosystem Services
-The Three Capitals approach
-The science of well-being and measurements of quality of life

Group learning process:
-Perform an energy audit of your company,
-Calculating Greenhouse Emission per Value Added

Module 5) Green strategies: implementing the theory in practice
-The Green executive and environmental management
-How to make a green strategy?
-Green ethics - corporate ethics
-Eco-labelling and environmental management systems (ISO etc)
-Policy strategies for enabling the transition: overcoming the obstacles (procurement, perverse subsidies, taxes etc)
-Nudging and behavioural economics for greening consumers
-Profiting on green economy in the Nordic countries

Group learning prosess: develop green business plans / projects for own companies/projects at specific strategic levels:
1) Outreach, 2) compliance, 3) greener operations, 4) supply chain, 5) product portfolio, 6) business models
 

Learning process and requirements to students

The programme is conducted through five course modules over two semesters, a total of approx. 150 lecturing hours.

Project tutorials differ in each Executive Master of Management programme. It will consist of personal tutorials and tutorials given in class. Generally the students may expect consulting tutorials, not evaluating tutorials. The total hours of tutorials offered is estimated to 4 hours per term paper.

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all programmes, it is the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ itslearning or other course materials.

The students are evaluated through a term paper, counting 60% of the total grade and a 24 hours individual home exam counting 40%. The term paper may be written individually or in groups of maximum three persons. All evaluations must be passed to obtain a certificate for the programme. 

The term paper is included in the degree’s independent work of degree, cf national regulation on requirements for master’s degree, equivalent to 18 ECTS credits per. programme. For the Executive Master of Management degree, the independent work of degree represents the sum of term papers from three programmes.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Qualifications

Bachelor degree, corresponding to 180 credits from an accredited university, university college or similar educational institution
The applicant must be at least 25 years of age
At least four years of work experience. For applicants who have already completed a master’s degree, three years of work experience are required.

Exam categoryWeightInvigilationDurationGroupingComment exam
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
MAN 50751
Grading scale:
ECTS
Grading rules:
Internal and external examiner
Resit:
Examination when next scheduled course
60No2 Semester(s)Group/Individual (1 - 3)Term paper, counting 60% of the total grade.
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
MAN 50752
Grading scale:
ECTS
Grading rules:
Internal and external examiner
Resit:
Examination when next scheduled course
40No24 Hour(s)Individual Individual 24 hours home exam, counting 40% of the total grade.
Exams:
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:60
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group/Individual (1-3)
Duration:2 Semester(s)
Comment:Term paper, counting 60% of the total grade.
Exam code: MAN 50751
Grading scale:ECTS
Resit:Examination when next scheduled course
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:40
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Individual
Duration:24 Hour(s)
Comment:Individual 24 hours home exam, counting 40% of the total grade.
Exam code: MAN 50752
Grading scale:ECTS
Resit:Examination when next scheduled course
Exam organisation: 
Ordinary examination
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 30 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 800 hours.