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Regular version of the site
Bachelor 2022/2023

ESG: Sustainable Development Thinking

Type: Compulsory course (Business Informatics)
Area of studies: Business Informatics
When: 4 year, 3 module
Mode of studies: offline
Open to: students of one campus
Language: English
ECTS credits: 3
Contact hours: 30

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Sustainable development is the development of society in which the satisfaction of the needs of the present generation does not undermine the possibility of meeting the needs of future generations. The UN gives sustainable development a simple definition: “development without destruction”. Sustainability and ESG are the growing trends of the last five years in business and society. Recently, this agenda has become an absolute focus for most marketers, moving from the category of discussions and experiments to the plane of real communications and strategies. Interest in the agenda is confirmed by the growth of advertising budgets for environmental and social campaigns, the increase in the number of applications and relevant nominations at industrial marketing and advertising festivals, the emergence of new specialized conferences and workshops, as well as the dynamics of queries on the topic in search engines.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • To get acquainted with the basic concepts, concepts and standards in the field of business ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in the context of solving management problems.
  • To get an idea of the ‘best’ and the ‘worst’ practices of international and Russian companies in the context of business ethics and CSR.
  • To understand the barriers and opportunities to stimulate socially responsible behaviour in Russia.
  • To develop basic skills to identify, analyse and resolve ethical dilemmas in the workplace, resolve corruption cases, represent the interests of stakeholders in corporate documents on business ethics and responsible CSR practices to assess the consequences of organisational and managerial decisions, taking into account the social significance and implementation of managerial decisions in conditions complex and dynamic environment.
  • To form one’s own position in relation to socially responsible behaviour.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Students understand three constituting fields of managing responsibly: sustainability, responsibility and ethics.
  • Students will be able to understand the ethical frameworks that support different approaches to decision-making and their strengths and weaknesses. In particular, students will understand how the current dominance of normative theories of rational choice based on expected utility, often preferred by economists, can lead to socially irresponsible management and an unsustainable business.
  • Student will understand the role of different concepts and approaches to CSR
  • Student will understand relevant ESG trends
  • Students will acquire theoretical knowledge and practical skills in applied ethics, ethical thinking and ethical behaviour as mediation.
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • The nature and essence of ethics, problems and opportunities for the formation of ethical and moral behavior. The problem of sustainability
  • Business ethics: origins, structure, issues and problems
  • Professional ethics and its impact on business
  • Moral standards of the organisation and ethical dilemmas in business
  • Ethics management in organisation
  • Anti-corruption corporate policies
  • Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability
  • Non-financial reporting for financial sustainability
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Seminar 1 (Tom)
  • non-blocking Seminar 2 (Tom)
  • non-blocking Seminar 3
  • non-blocking Seminar 4
  • non-blocking Seminar 5
  • non-blocking Essay
    Written work in the form of an essay (word count 300 to 450 words, font Times New Roman, font size 12, font color black, single line spacing, and justified text alignment) is prepared by students at home within the time limits set by the course instructor according to one of the assigned videos of student’s choice. The list of films includes "A Life on our Planet" (2020), "Waste Land" (2010), "The True Cost" (2015), "Closing the Loop" (2019) and "The Hedge Fund".
  • non-blocking Quiz 1
  • non-blocking Quiz 2
  • non-blocking E-Portfolio
    This learning tool is a contemplative art-based project, which consists of an electronic portfolio of digital photographs and reflective essays on the photographs. This project aims to help students learn to: • Cultivate the sustainability mindset: an integrated way of thinking (knowledge), doing (competency), and being (values). • Become more aesthetically sensitive and enhance their observational skills and creativity. • Develop ability to pay close attention to the process of building more enduring and meaningful relationships with nature and other living species within it.
  • non-blocking Test 1
    The assigment includes open questions.
  • non-blocking Video 1
    The assigment includes a task on recording a short video.
  • non-blocking Test 2
    The assigment includes open questions.
  • non-blocking Video 2
    The assigment includes a task on recording a short video.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • 2022/2023 3rd module
    0.05 * Quiz 2 + 0.001 * Seminar 1 (Tom) + 0.15 * Seminar 4 + 0.049 * Video 1 + 0.07 * Essay + 0.08 * Test 2 + 0.15 * Seminar 3 + 0.001 * Seminar 2 (Tom) + 0.12 * E-Portfolio + 0.049 * Video 2 + 0.05 * Quiz 1 + 0.08 * Test 1 + 0.15 * Seminar 5
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Key concepts in corporate social responsibility, Benn, S., 2011

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Adam Smith. (2012). The Theory of Moral Sentiments. [N.p.]: Dover Publications. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1155879
  • Adam Smith. (2017). The Wealth of Nations. [N.p.]: Dancing Unicorn Books. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1468236
  • Bowie, N. E. (2013). Business Ethics in the 21st Century. Dordrecht: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=581508
  • Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy : between facts and norms, Habermas, J., 1998
  • Eugene Heath, Byron Kaldis, & Alexei Marcoux. (2018). The Routledge Companion to Business Ethics. Routledge.
  • Friedman, M. (DE-588)118535625, (DE-627)079335764, (DE-576)161016375, aut. (2002). Capitalism and freedom Milton Friedman; with the assistance of Rose D. Friedman; with a new preface by the author.
  • Ludwig Wittgenstein, Edoardo Zamuner, Ermelinda Valentina Di Lascio, & D. K. Levy. (2014). Lecture on Ethics. Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Philosophical investigations, Wittgenstein, L., 2000
  • Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut Economics : Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1850087
  • Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Business Ethics : An Ethical Decision-Making Approach. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1470324
  • The practice of management, Drucker, P. F., 2007
  • Weber, M., Livingstone, R., Owen, D. S., & Strong, T. B. (2004). The Vocation Lectures : ’science As a Vocation, “politics As a Vocation.” Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=526579