module specification

The field of corporate social responsibility has practically transformed our world and reoriented the way corporate entities conduct and perceive their operational activities. Corporate managers and those who represent corporate entities are expected to always behave ethically. Modern societies now expect that solutions to our social and environmental problems cannot only be the prerogative of nation governments, businesses of the 21st century have a lot to contribute when finding solutions to these problems. The demands modern stakeholders put before corporate entities have continued to increase; tomorrow’s managers need to know how to meet these demands. Some scholars have in fact argued that corporate social responsibility has drawn our attention to some of the excesses which globalisation has brought unto the corporate scene in the 21st century. We have seen some unacceptable practices which have accompanied globalisation and consequently made the job of CSR and what it advocates much more difficult. Many things have been made a lot more challenging for everyone because of this. We cannot ignore the adverse impacts of these excesses. There are several unacceptable practices in the form of injustices and human rights abuses, extreme poverty in several nation states both - emerging and even some advanced nations, environmental degradation, some irresponsible and reckless practices by some corporate leaders and terrorism on a very large scale. In recent years, a number of social, economic and environmental problems have continued to cause concern to us all, for example, climate change, waste management and irresponsible use of our depletable resources just to mention a few. Sustainable Development is a buzzword in CSR; both corporate and individual citizens still need to demonstrate that we are serious in executing what sustainable development means to us, what it requires from us all and how the needs of future generations of all inhabitants of this planet would be sustainably met; these are issues tomorrow’s managers would need to know how to embed in corporate strategies. This module aims to lay the foundation on how modern managers should address these and other CSR related issues.

Note: If there are not sufficient student numbers to make a module viable, the School reserves the right to cancel such a module. If the School cancels a module it will use its reasonable endeavours to provide a suitable alternative.

N/A

The module will explore the following CSR issues:

• Meaning and origins of corporate social responsibility, and the evaluation of core issues, policy and legislation surrounding CSR. (LO1)
• Managing and implementing corporate social responsibility, identifying risks and opportunities. (LO2)
• Corporate social responsibility and its theories.
• The UN Sustainable Development Goals (LO4)
• Socially Responsible Investment and the capital market (LO5)
• Corporate Social Responsibility around the world (LO6)
• Stakeholders and corporations (LO3)
• Business and society (LO3)

Teaching is delivered through a weekly two-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar, with the total student contact time of 3 hours per week over 12 weeks. Lectures will introduce key topics related to CSR and Sustainability concepts, theories, policies and practice.  . Seminars will be student led in many cases which might require students being asked prior to the seminars to search for up to date articles on relevant topics of the lectures. This might involve them being asked to critically evaluate and debate key issues in the article. 

Student learning is further supported by the virtual learning environment, Weblearn, where students can find additional learning material including lecture slides, reading list, details of assessment and feedback.

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

1. Critically evaluate core issues, policy and legislation surrounding CSR

2. Analyse and interpret CSR reports of corporate entities.

3. Discuss the interrelationships between business and society.

4. Discuss the need for sustainable business models.

5. Analyse the link between CSR and financial performance. 

6. Explore how CSR is perceived and practiced around the globe.

There will be one in-course assignment which will be weighted as follows:

1. Individual essay of 3,000 words with a weighting of 100%