MAN 5075 Green Growth as Competitive Advantage
MAN 5075 Green Growth as Competitive Advantage
By now most companies have committed to sustainability efforts—and yet many still see those efforts as a cost rather than a source of value. With companies such as Tesla, Novo Nordisk, Unilever, Interface, Vestas, IKEA, Microsoft, Apple, or Orsted, the green growth agenda has entered the mainstream. Also, international public institutions such as OECD, the EU Commission, UNEP, World Bank, IEA, and IRENA have long highlighted all the opportunities in the transition ahead towards 2050. Economic considerations have increasingly been introduced as arguments for sustainability - no longer just a cost but both profitable and smart, both privately and publicly. Such claims have, however, been contested and the results were long divergent. Recent research increasingly shows clearer connections between economic profitability and various indicators of sustainability and green growth (such as ESG). The program summarizes the latest knowledge about how and why the implementation of healthy growth can create both increased profitability and inclusion, as well as how to precisely differentiate greenwashing from real green value creation.
In recent years, Scandinavian and Norwegian companies have also increasingly restructured their business development and strategy towards green growth and the circular economy. Unions and governmental organisations are calling for green jobs and green procurement. This program will provide participants with the necessary and critical skills to translate the rhetoric of a green economy into practice in Nordic business and working life. The program puts particular emphasis on green strategies, business models, accounting and reporting, as well as innovation and leadership. These are the crucial areas in which to succeed in practice with becoming future-fit, profitable and fast-growing in a green economy.
- have advanced knowledge on green economics, particularly in long term trends in global resource use, inequality and planetary boundaries
- have thorough understanding of green strategy, circular economy, innovation and integrated accounting (including EU CSRD, ESG etc)
- have advanced knowledge on tools for organisational change toward greener business, leadership, organisation and scenarios.
- have advanced knowledge about public regulations of green procurement, innovation and taxation conducive of green growth
- be able to analyse and implement all stages in a green strategy analysis and reporting
- be able to analyse and communicate green innovations and their profitability in a way that attracts investments
- be able to analyse profitability of green growth projects for companies and society
- be able to analyse central theories and methods within the field and independently apply them to problem solving
- be able to develop guidance for tailored green, integrated accounting and reporting for own company / industry
- can execute and lead transition to greener economic value creation in both public and private sectors
- can independently continue their own competence development and specialisation
- can contribute to discourse relevant to the discipline of green and climate economics both among specialists and to the public
- can contribute to new thinking and communication in innovation processes
Module 1) The Green Growth Challenge
Themes:
- Introduction to Green Growth: Current trends and future scenarios
- How much green growth can be found in Norway, EU, globally?
- Green jobs and green growth in key sectors: construction, transportation, energy, industry, public sector
- Definitions and boundaries of Green Economy (green vs environmental vs ecological economics)
- Greenwashing: When is 'green' just a label or a fraud?
- Circular economy and radical resource productivity: Is it possible to disconnect economic growth from resource consumption growth?
- Leadership and motivation in the green economy
- Ideology and motivation: Are sustainability and profitability compatible?
Active learning in groups:
- Use of strategic analysis tools to determine identify opportunities for green growth in their organizations.
- Explore their own motivation and values in relation to leading green initiatives
Module 2) Green Innovation
- The innovation process in the context of green growth and green investments: What is the impact?
- Funding green innovations: Trends and pitfalls
- Characteristics of good pitches to investors/CFOs that create trust and engagement
- How to address systemic and organizational resistance to change and innovation?
- Intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship: Challenges from seed stage to growth phase, including psychological factors
Active learning in groups:
- Develop smart green ideas for innovations and new business models
- Tools to transition from incremental innovation to systemic innovation and design thinking
Module 3) The Big Picture and the Long-Term Future
- How to think about the future: What are scenarios, visions, forecasts, and predictions?
- Climate change: How significant will they be this century? What can be done? How much will be done?
- Earth System Science: Understanding and seeing the connections between the economy and the Earth's ecosystems?
- The need for and effect of visions and roadmaps to 2050.
- To what extent will human creativity and innovation be sufficient to meet the challenges of systemic inequality and multiple crises?
- What is the future of the economics field itself? How to think like a 21st-century economist?
Active learning in groups:
- Play simulator for world development in the next 10-50 years
- Develop alternative scenarios for society and oneself
Module 4) Green Accounting in the 21st Century
- Overview of sustainability reporting requirements (ESG, CSRD) and integrated reporting
- Tools for assessing social and environmental impacts (such as LCA, capro)
- What is broad value creation – and the challenges of measuring different types of values
- Multiple capitals approach: social and natural capital, and valuation of ecosystem services.
- Measurement of social capital: happiness, trust, and quality of life accounting
- Corporate social responsibility (CSR): What is it – how widespread is it? And is it profitable?
Active learning in groups:
- Conduct an energy accounting for their own company
- Calculation of greenhouse gas emissions per value creation unit (Capro)
Module 5) Green Leadership: How to Lead in the Green Transition?
- What is green and sustainable leadership? Theory and numerous examples
- Status of sustainability leadership in Norway; how far have we come?
- The importance of inner motivation, vision, and purpose
- How to implement a green/sustainable strategy? Barriers and tools.
- Gender balance and the potential of women in sustainability leadership
- Strategic sustainability transformation: What will be the next management models in strategy and sustainability?
- About exams, examples, and solution proposals for answering exam questions
Active learning in groups:
- Me as a sustainability leader: My communication style when interacting with others
- Double materiality analysis and its use
- How to engage and mobilize stakeholders for a common purpose
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.
In all BI Executive courses and programs, 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.
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 and at least four years of work experience. For applicants who have already completed a master’s degree, three years of work experience are required.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Submission PDF Exam/hand-in semester: Second Semester Weight: 60 Grouping: 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: Submission PDF Exam/hand-in semester: Second Semester Weight: 40 Grouping: 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 |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 150 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 150 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 500 Hour(s) | Self study, term paper and exam |
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.