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Corporate social responsibility, sustainability and business ethics (ULMS073)

This module will provide students with a critical introduction to the behaviour of organisations and businesses in society. Students will be introduced to the role of organisations within their wider stakeholder environment. This module has a particular focus on understanding the reasons behind legal and voluntary decisions, and other issues linked to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

This module is designed to give an understanding of core issues in current management practice. It is guided and illustrated by relevant theory, with time for discussion and reflection, using case studies as stimulus for debate. During this time, students, equipped with a core understanding of current issues, will be able to critically engage with some timely questions in a discursive manner to develop and challenge their own opinions.

We will consider questions like:

  • What are the reasons behind the current popularity corporate ethical behaviour?
  • Why is it important and who do these decisions effect?
  • What is corporate governance and what are the links to business strategy?
  • How does an organisation’s CSR agenda effect their stakeholders including customers, business partners, employees, the environment?
  • How would stakeholders from different parts of the global supply chain feel about this issue, would they likely share your perspective and if not why?

Key areas of study will include corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and business ethics. These concepts will be interactively and practically explored using a case studies and scenarios linked to core theoretical perspectives and global perspectives brought by students studying the module who live in countries with differing positions in the global supply and manufacture chain of many multinational corporations.

This course will provide students with an opportunity to learn essential core skills and techniques involved in understanding the necessary and voluntary ethical conduct and corresponding decisions made by organisations in a range of sectors. Students will be able to use their new understanding of corporate conduct in society to understand and rationalise how these decisions can help organisational performance.

Module leader: Matt Mitchell

Matt is a postgraduate researcher in operations and supply chain management, with a master’s degree in programme and project management. His thesis is on the market value effects of new product introduction delays for focal companies and suppliers. Matt also has a teaching qualification, as well as industry experience of being a finance analyst for a national organisation.

Aims

  • To introduce students to the understanding the concept of corporate social responsibility from various theoretical perspectives, with a focus on corporate governance, ethical leadership and organisational strategy
  • To highlight the importance of the role of ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility within contemporary society and how this links to organisational decision making
  • To understand the current ethical challenges facing managers and employees in organisations today, and the corresponding issues for stakeholders
  • To develop skills in research, collaborative learning, critical thinking and communicating academic ideas using relevant theory and appropriate case study materials.

Content

Broadly the module syllabus will cover position of the corporation in society, corporate governance and strategy, the ethics of corporate behaviour, corporate social responsibility, and philanthropy. These concepts will be illustrated using core theory and engaging case study material to enable students to understand the practical outcomes of the issues in question.

Structure

The module will be delivered over a three-week period in six two-hour sessions (four hours per week, total 12 hours contact time).

Each session will consist of short lecture-style sessions interspersed with case study material to enable group discussions. The lecturer will introduce and teach the core ideas and concepts for the session before engaging the students in collaborative learning time, where as a group we will discuss the issues and range of connected perspectives. Students will be expected to participate fully and actively throughout the sessions, undertaking prior reading and research where necessary to enable them to have adequate knowledge and examples to enable them to participate during the contact time.

In addition, it is expected that students will spend 34-38 study hours outside of the classroom contact hours on activities including assigned reading, optional reading of areas of personal interest, homework tasks, web research and preparation for assessment. The ‘flipped classroom’ approach will be used, requiring students to prepare in advance for the sessions. Students should be aware that to fully benefit from the face-to-face classroom sessions, the preparation work assigned should have been done prior to the lecture.

The course will be practical in nature, with the sessions highly focused on giving the students as much practical experience as possible and encouraging them to put theory into practice throughout.

The indicative schedule is as follows:

Session one: What is responsibility and who is responsible?

The course will begin with some introductory information about the module, including the aims and assessment method. The focus of the lecture will then be ‘What is responsibility and who is responsible? We will consider this issue from the perspective of the organisation/corporate before looking at the wider stakeholder map. The session introduces students to the various views on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and what CSR covers.

Student activity: Case study analysis and group discussion. Using case studies drawn from different organisations students will have an opportunity to identify examples of responsibility (voluntary and legally required) working in small groups before sharing their thoughts with the wider class.

Session two: Ethical decision making

In this lecture we will consider the rise in popularity of CSR, and what this means. Using case examples grounded in core theories we will consider the importance of CSR and accompanying ethical decision making and the impact of these decisions for different stakeholder groups.

Session three: Corporate values, norms and beliefs linked to corporate culture and CSR strategy

In this lecture we will look at corporate values, norms and beliefs linked to Corporate culture and CSR strategy. This lecture will ground CSR in the organizational management and behaviour of organisation by linking it to other core operational areas like Corporate Strategy, Human Resource Management, and marketing. We will examine examples of CSR within Corporate Culture, before critically analysing the reasons for these decisions. We will assess the impact and value of these CSR strategy by looking at levels of integration within the organisation and transparency within what is shared publicly about the CSR programme. We will consider the use of CSR as a management tool, and how it can connect to leadership and management as well as branding and reputation.

Session four: CSR and the wider stakeholder map – applying CSR: motivations, methods and outcomes

The focus of this session is the application of CSR from the organization within their wider stakeholder map, to include their marketplace, workplace, local communities and within the environment of the natural world (rivers, air systems, soil systems). Drawing on example case studies we will consider the reasons for interest in a prominent CSR strategy and methods organisations have used to apply their strategy and the outcomes of this. Particular attention will be paid to examples of corporate reputation in the wake of disaster avoidance and negative PR, partnered with the potential of strong CSR to create niche marketing opportunities. As a group we will consider the multiple perspectives within these cases and critically discuss and evaluate their value and merits in line with corporate responsibility and the notion of sustainable development.

Session five: CSR within the Globalised World

In this lecture we will adopt a global perspective and focus on the responsibilities and challenges for organisations who operate globally both from a supply chain and sales perspective. Within this lecture students will learn about the challenges of accountability and the link to business ethics when operating globally. Issues within contractual arrangements, cultural and legal challenges, diversity issues and ethical dilemmas arising from differences in local norms. As citizens within a globalising world, we will consider the main actors and their contexts, looking at their responsibilities (legal and voluntary) in partnership with consumer pressures and changing expectations of the marketplace. Drawing on knowledge and experiences from within our global classroom we will consider these issues and the ideas drawn from core theories for those working at different stages of the supply chain. How are decisions that are made in organizational meetings impacting local communities and economies? Is it as simple as right and wrong, ethical and unethical?

Session six: Managing CSR: strategy

This lecture will focus on understanding how organisations respond to key stakeholders in the wake of critical incidents relating to CSR, and how they use these experiences to both enforce their regular social responsibility policies but also look to readdress long‐term social responsibility enforcement and short‐term social responsibility recovery. Example case studies will be used to illustrate such instances and provide an opportunity to draw together learning themes taught across the module. Latterly, working in small groups students will be asked to drawing learning from across the module to plan and respond to scenarios, before presenting to the wider class and taking questions to justify their approach.

Teaching methods

The teaching approach will include the following:

  • Taught sessions
  • Flipped classrooms - preparation work
  • Small group working
  • Group discussions
  • Online learning
  • Use of multimedia and interactive materials
  • Use of case studies.

Assessment

Assessment will be by a reflective written essay with a total word count of 1,000-1,200 words. This assessment will give 100% of final grade. Guidance will be given within the lecture time, with opportunity for questions.

Standard University policies apply regarding late submission of assessments.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

  • Display confidence in understanding and communicating complex ideas in written and spoken language; understanding the thoughts and ideas of others, and challenging these in an appropriate way, grounded in academic theory or case example
  • Research a topic, work to present ideas in academic written English, including the appropriate use of reference and source material
  • Analyse a company CSR strategy and apply reasons drawn from the wider environment as to why the current CSR is positioned in this manner, providing grounded suggestions as to changes which could be made and the likely impacts of these decisions for other stakeholders
  • Demonstrate a general understanding of various theories and approaches in leadership
  • Present the core skills and techniques of corporate social responsibility from a range of perspectives
  • Explain the importance of the role of ethics to multiple parts of the organisation
  • Critically analyse and evaluate the importance of ethical decisions and how these are viewed by different stakeholders, whilst drawing on relevant theory to contextualise and ground their arguments.

Skills

Key skills that will be developed:

  • Teamwork, through group discussions, activities, and case studies in class
  • Communication, developed orally in class discussions, activities and debate in class, and via completion of written assignment
  • Problem solving, through case studies and brainstorming
  • Time management, through completing case studies and a group presentation within defined and fixed timeframes
  • Critical analysis and evaluation - students will be given multiple opportunities to contribute reflective thoughts on materials presented during class time
  • Presenting case studies and a defined subject will improve students’ presentation skills.

Reading

The University Library website provides access to many relevant books, as well as academic journals and databases.