Course 2020-2021 a.y.

30281 - CSR & ETHICS IN BUSINESS

Department of Management and Technology

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 21 - 22
BIEF (2 credits - I sem. - OB) - BIEM (2 credits - I sem. - OB)
Course Director:
ESTHER ROCA BATLLORI

Classes: 15 (I sem.) - 16 (I sem.) - 17 (I sem.) - 18 (I sem.) - 21 (I sem.) - 22 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 15: ESTHER ROCA BATLLORI, Class 16: SOOK LIAN DAPHNE TEH, Class 17: LUCA PISTILLI, Class 18: NICOLA MISANI, Class 21: SOOK LIAN DAPHNE TEH, Class 22: LUCA PISTILLI


Suggested background knowledge

To feel comfortable in this course, students should be familiar with basic concepts in management.

Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

Sustainable development goals, ecological problems such, globalization of supply chains and growing social and ethical conflicts affect business and decision-making processes. Consequently, companies are increasingly required to respond to these challenges developing adequate policies and practices. The seminar aims at providing students with basic concepts and a first understanding of the ethical and strategic implications of corporate responsibility and sustainability. Adopting a management perspective, the seminar intends to familiarize participants with the complexity of these decisions, and with the business opportunities resulting from a proper stakeholder management approach. We accomplish these objectives through engaging students in active learning based on highly interactive lectures, mini-case studies coupled with plenary discussions, and by providing evidences thanks to managers and practitioners’ leadership examples.

CONTENT SUMMARY

  • Understanding tne decision-making processes
  • Dealing with complex decisions, dilemmas and trade-offs in CSR and sustainability.
  • Defining business ethics, CSR, and corporate sustainability.
  • Understanding the challenges: from climate change to social and ethical conflicts.
  • A strategic approach to CSR and sustainability: competitive opportunities, legitimacy and risks.
  • How to adopt CSR and sustainability practices: transforming existing corporations and starting new firm.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...

The course equips students with the basic knowledge and skills to:

 

  • Understand the complexity of decision-making processes
  • Identify the moral content on decision-making processes
  • Analyze the main challenges related to sustainable development.
  • Differentiate between sustainability, CSR, business ethics, stakeholder theory, social entrepreneurship.
  • Understand why CSR and ethics matter for business.
  • Understand the business case for CSR and elaborate on the relations between the firm financial and social performance.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Provide business examples of CSR and sustainability.
  • Identify the importance of the moral and social issues on decison making processes.
  • Recognise the distinctive features of a sustainable and responsible company.
  • Evaluate and discuss the CSR and sustainability strategy of a company.
  • Outline the main characteristics of a social enterprise.

Teaching methods

  • Online lectures
  • Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
  • Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
  • Individual assignments
  • Group assignments
  • Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

DETAILS

The course uses multiple teaching approaches to favour active learning processes.


Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
 x    
  • Group assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x    

ATTENDING STUDENTS

For all students (attending and not attending), the final evaluation is expressed as “pass or fail”.

  • Attendance at seminars is compulsory for all the sessions and is verified by the teachers. No class exchanges are accepted. Assessment based on individual written exam based on open questions and  different group actitivities developed during the lessons. Student are required to show that they can apply some basic theories and conceptsto  a specific case study, , and that they can analyze and discuss CSR and ethical problems at business level.

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

For all students (attending and not attending), the final evaluation is expressed as “pass or fail”.

  • Assessment based on individual project(100%). The project will cover the different parts of the teaching material, in particular checking the basic theories, constructs, and facts.

Teaching materials


ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

The material will be comunicated to the students at the first session of the course.

Last change 28/07/2020 11:53