English   Danish

2015/2016  KAN-CCMVI2032U  Business and Society: Beyond Compliance toward Sustainability, Innovation and Social Impact

English Title
Business and Society: Beyond Compliance toward Sustainability, Innovation and Social Impact

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration Summer
Start time of the course Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 100
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Karen L. Becker-Olsen, kbecker@tcnj.edu
    Sven Bislev - Department of Intercultural Communication and Management (ICM)
In case of any academic questions related to the course, please contact the course instructor or the academic director, Sven Bislev at sb.ikl@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • CSR and sustainability
  • Intercultural studies
Last updated on 12-05-2016
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • discuss the historical interplay between firms and their communities with a particular focus on the role firms play with regard to issues of sustainability, innovation, and social impact,
  • to navigate the increasingly difficult interactions with governments, NGOs, investors, and consumers as various stakeholders vie for limited resources
  • and to analyse the issues of sustainability, innovation, and social impact through a long-term lens with a view to 'upstream' solutions for global issues.
Course prerequisites
No prerequisites.
Examination
Business and Society: Beyond Compliance toward Sustainability, Innovation and Social Impact:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Ordinary exam: 1-5 August 2016
Retake exam: Within two months from the ordinary exam.
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
a 10-page home assignment, with a new exam question
Course content and structure

This course will explore the role firms play in the development of a civil society. We will begin by examining the historical context of firms as agents of social and community development as well as their interaction with governments. We will then move to examine the contemporary environment with particular emphasis on differences across cultural and political lines. We then complete our study with a look to toward the future. Across these three broad time horizons, we will overlay issues of sustainaiblity, innovation, and social impact. 

 

Class 1: The Rise of the Firm - An examination of the early role of firms in the development of societies

 

Class 2: Turn of the Century - Power to industry and beginnings of regulatory restrictions

 

Class 3: Post-WWII - Cold War shifts in political power, consumer activism, and economic prosperity

 

Class 4: The Rise of CSR - Moving out of the era of corporate compliance into a triple bottom line 

 

Class 5: The International Arena and CSR - Examining the political, social, and cultural differences

 

Class 6: First World Problems, Third World Problems - Finding a balance 

feedback activity: Case Study and Presentations

 

Class 7: Sustainable Solutions - Understanding environmental and economic impacts 

 

Class 8: Innovation - Upstream challenges and long-term impacts

 

Class 9: Social Impact - Quanitfying the result

 

Class 10: Where do we go from here - A look to the future 

 

Class 11: The ideal interaction - what should the role of firms be 

 
Teaching methods
This class will feature a series of readings and case studies and will be primarily discussion oriented. Students will be expected to prepare synthesis notes from readings and be ready to participate in discussions, debates, and case analyses in class. Students will prepare materials individually, but will be expected to work in small groups during class and for presentations.
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 10 hours
Classroom attendance 33 hours
Preparation 144 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 12 hours
Further Information

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

 

Feedback Activity: A feedback activitity defined by the course instructor will take place app. half-way through the course.
 

 

The timetable is available on http://www.cbs.dk/files/cbs.dk/isup_timetable_2016_updated.pdf
Expected literature

Primary literature (must-have books):

Various Readings and Cases

Global CSR

URL: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/coursepacks/copy/43289800

Harvard Publishing, 2016

 

Secondary literature (nice-to-have books):

Joel Makower: Beyond the Bottom Line: Putting Social Responsibility to Work for your Business and the World

ISBN 9780684813103

Simon and Schuster, 1994

 

Andrew Savitz: Triple Bottom Line

ISBN 978-1-118-33037-1

John Wiley and Son, 2014.

This US edtition is not available through Academic Books

 

William McDonough: The UpCycle

ISBN 978-0-86547-748-3

North Point Press, 2013

This US edtition is not available through Academic Books

 

Richard Pascale: The Power of Positive Deviance

ISBN 978-1-4221-1066-9

Harvard Business Press, 2010

This US edtition is not available through Academic Books

 

Additional resources

Reading and Case packet from Harvard -- https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/coursepacks/copy/43289800

 
Last updated on 12-05-2016