English   Danish

2012/2013  BA-HAI_ENSO  EngAGE Business in Society

English Title
EngAGE Business in Society

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Course period Third Quarter, Spring
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for BSc in International Business
Course coordinator
  • Michael Etter - Department of Intercultural Communication and Management
  • Robyn Remke - Department of Intercultural Communication and Management
Co-teaching: Friederike Schultz.
Main Category of the Course
  • Business Ethics, value based management and CSR
Last updated on 02-10-2012
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, students should be able to critically evaluate selected theories within the fields of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and business ethics, as well as discuss how these frameworks can be applied to concrete business situations:
  • Explain, combine and analytically discuss the theories, frameworks, models and concepts presented in the course.
  • Critically discuss the role of business in society, in the context of globalised markets and internationally active firms.
  • Identify business challenges and opportunities arising from internal corporate governance challenges and external stakeholder pressures.
  • Using the concepts and frameworks discussed in the course, sketch responses to these challenges and opportunities, and reason why those responses would pass the “good business ethics” test of critical observers.
  • Understand the importance of stakeholder engagement to obtain buy-in for the business responses deemed appropriate and describe how this could be achieved in practice.
  • To gain the highest grade in the assignments and presentations, students must be able to fully recall basic models and concepts from the curriculum and present them in a comprehensive and well-argued way. Departing from this, students can put their finding into new perspectives.
Prerequisite
EngAGE students only
Examination
The exam in the subject consists of two parts:
EngAGE Business in Society 1:
Weight 80%
Type of test Oral with Written Assignment
Marking scale 7-step scale
Second examiner External examiner
Exam period Spring Term, The regular examination takes place in March. The make-up and re-examination takes place in August.
Aids Without preparation
Duration Please, see the detailed regulations below
Oral group examination based on group project of max. 10 standard pages per student written by 3-5 students. The grade is an overall assessment of the written project and the individual oral performance. 

Reexamination when the regular examination is failed, is a 20 minutes individual oral exam based on upon the same group project with 2 pages supplement. Reexamination when ill at the oral exam is a 20 minutes individual oral exam based on upon the same group project. Re-examination when ill during the writing of the project is a 20 minutes individual oral exam with 20 minutes preparation in the entire curriculum.

Declaration of Authourship (available on E-campus) must be included in the group project.

EngAGE Business in Society 2:
Weight 20%
Type of test Home Assignment
Marking scale 7-step scale
Second examiner No second examiner
Exam period Spring Term, The regular examination takes place in March. The make-up and re-examination takes place in August.
Aids Please, see the detailed regulations below
Duration Please, see the detailed regulations below
Individual assignment of 2-4 standard pages.

The make-up and re-examination is an individual home assignment of max. 4 standard pages.
Prerequisites for attending the exam
Mandatory class participation is a prerequisite for attending the examination. Class participation will be assessed by the teacher of the course with pass/fail. 90% class participation is required to attain a pass.

Retake and make-up examination in case of failed class participation will be a 24 hour individual home assignment of 8 pages which must be assessed by the teacher of the class with pass/fall prior to the regular examination.
Course content
The regulatory backlash caused by corporate scandals and the financial crisis, as well as growing public and media pressure on companies to act in a ‘socially responsible’ way, have put stakeholder engagement on top of the corporate agenda. Regardless of international business managers’ individual philosophical stance on what the role of business in society should be, these pressures cannot go unmanaged and need to be addressed in a strategic manner. A thorough understanding of the corporate governance and social responsibility demands companies face today is therefore a necessary prerequisite in any international business function. The aim of this course is to familiarize students with those demands, both from an internal, as well as an external perspective, and discuss how they can be dealt with. 
Comparing and contrasting competing theories, theoretical frameworks, models and concepts, the course addresses the following key themes and questions: 

• The role of business in society 
• What are the competing views of the role of business in society and why do they exist? Is there a universally ‘right’ and ‘ethical’ way of doing business? 
• Why do ethical and governance challenges arise for internationally active companies? Why has it become increasingly important to address internal and external stakeholder demands in a coordinated, strategic manner? 
• What are the conclusions that can be drawn for business policy from the theories of ethical relativism, utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics? 

• An international firm’s internal stakeholders: Corporate Governance 
• Who are the firm’s internal stakeholders? Why and how should relations between them be structured and managed? What are the different dimensions and mechanisms of Corporate Governance? 
• How does agency theory, and how does stewardship theory propose to deal with internal stakeholders? 

• An international firm’s external stakeholders: Corporate Social Responsibility 
• Who are the firm’s external stakeholders? What are the different dimensions of CSR? Why and how should a firm engage with these stakeholders? 
• What are stakeholder theory’s main arguments? How do these contrast with the ‘shareholder approach’ derived from agency theory and property rights theory? What does social contract theory contribute to this debate? 

• The interplay between internal and external stakeholders: business challenges & opportunities and how to deal with them 
• Which business challenges and opportunities arise from the demands of internal and external stakeholders? Which contextual factors matter most? 
• Who within the corporation should/could address these challenges, and how? When is a proactive, when a reactive approach warranted? 
• What are the main issues to be considered when implementing Corporate Governance/Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting, codes of conduct, etc.? 
• How can stakeholder buy-in be achieved through effective public affairs and relations management?
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussions, exercises, seminars, in-class projects, tutorials, case studies, class discussions, and small group work
Student workload
Class hours 42 hours
Preparation for class 90 hours
Final examination 90 hours
Expected literature
Packet of readings.
Last updated on 02-10-2012