• be familiar with and able to use, compare and critically reflect upon the concepts, theories and perspectives relating to CSR and sustainability that have been presented and discussed during the course
• understand and be able to explain and reflect upon the most recent developments (practical and theoretical) in the field of CSR and sustainability
• be able to put the concepts, theories and perspectives of the course to use – in a qualified and nuanced manner – in an analysis of a CSR- and sustainability-related topic
• be able to exemplify concepts, theories and perspectives by relating them to present day challenges met by private businesses and other organizations

The aim of the course is to provide students with in-depth knowledge of current developments in the broad field of CSR (corporate social responsibility). Students will be working on corporate cases and discussing topics such as globalization and global governance, global supply chains, business-NGO partnerships, organizational implementation of responsible business practices, and the value and limits of strategic approaches to CSR. Apart from viewing CSR as a global concern, the course will contextualize debates around responsible business by emphasizing country- and industry-specific concerns. Intellectually and philosophically, the course provides students with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the frontiers of knowledge in the field as many of the most significant recent research contributions are read and discussed.

Apart from the readings included in the course compendium, additional materials will be uploaded on Learn.




 

Indicative literature (incomplete):
 

Christensen, L.T., Morsing, M. & Thyssen, O. (2013): CSR as aspirational talk. Organisation, 20(3), 1‐22.

Donaldson, T. (1996). Values in Tension: Ethics Away from Home. Harvard Business Review, 74(5), 48-62.

Hansen, H.K. (2011). Managing Corruption Risk. Review of International Political Economy, 18(1),  251-275.

Lawrence, A.T. (2010). Managing Disputes with nonmarket Stakeholders: Wage a Fight, Withdraw, Wait, or Work It Out?. California Management Review, 53(1), 90-113.

Locke, R., Fei, Q. & Brause, A. (2007). Does monitoring improve labor standards? Lessons from Nike. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 61, 3-31.

Matten, D. and Moon, J. (2008). “Implicit” and “explicit” CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 404-424.

Paine, L.S. (1994). Managing for Organizational Integrity. Harvard Business Review, 72(2), 106-117.

Painter-Morland, M. & ten Bos, R. (2016). Should Environmental Concern Pay Off? A Heideggerian Perspective. Organization Studies, 37(4), 547-564.

Painter-Morland, M. (2011). Rethinking Responsible Agency in Corporations: Perspectives from Deleuze and Guattari. Journal of Business Ethics, 101, Supplement 1, 83-95.

Rasche, A. (2010). The Limits of Corporate Responsibility Standards. Business Ethics: A European Review, 19(3): 280–91.

Rasche, A., Morsing, M. & Moon, J. (2017). The Changing Role of Business in Global Society: CSR and Beyond, in: Rasche, A., Morsing, M. & Moon, J. (eds.) (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility – Strategy, Communication, Governance.  Cambridge University Press.

Roberts, J. (2003). The manufacture of corporate social responsibility: constructing corporate sensibility. Organization, 10(2), 249-65.

Robinson, J. (2004). Squaring the circle? Some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development. Ecological Economics, 48, 369-384.

Scherer, A.G. and Palazzo, G. (2007). Toward a political conception of corporate responsibility: Business and society seen from a Habermasian perspective. Academy of Management Review, 32, 1096-1120.

Scherer, A.G., Rasche, A., Palazzo, G. & Spicer, A. (2016). Managing for Political Corporate Social Responsibility: New Challenges and Directions for PCSR 2.0. Journal of Management Studies, 053(3), 273-298.

Vallentin, S. (2015). Instrumental and Political Currents in the CSR Debate: On the Demise and (Possible) Resurgence of ‘ethics’. In: Pullen, A. and Rhodes, C. (eds.): The Routledge Companion to Ethics, Politics and Organizations (pp. 13-31). London: Routledge.