Research Seminar "Sustainability Management in Global Business"

2023/2024

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

3

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Департамент стратегического и международного менеджмента

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

2-й курс, 2 модуль

Преподаватель

Иванова Екатерина Александровна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

At the time of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) and BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-Linear and Incomprehensible) world caused by planetary ‘grand challenges’ such as climate catastrophe, inequality, consequences of pandemics, social impact of supply chain practices, flourishing global businesses are encouraged to devote substantial efforts to ethical and responsible management practices contributing to sustainable development. That is why purpose-driven businesses are expected to act as agents of world benefit, serving all stakeholders, in making our planet a better place for living by contributing to the 17 United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in accordance with the environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. For conscious business leaders a paradigm of humanistic management, based on the protection of dignity and the promotion of well-being rather than just wealth acquisition is becoming a new norm. This course provides key frameworks and tools for integrating sustainability management into running a global business with higher purpose, stakeholder orientation, conscious culture, responsible leadership and sustainability practices in a net zero economy. Designed with the application of the most innovative pedagogies focusing on experiential learning, the course aims to develop a new generation of responsible business leaders with a holistic mindset that rests on a multi-disciplinary approach to learning and requires profound ecological awareness, development of systems thinking (knowing) combined with emotional (feeling) and spiritual (being) intelligence.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the evolution, key concepts and practices of sustainability management and sustainable development with focus on implementing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• Gain the extensive knowledge on sustainability strategies in global business, developed and communicated in line with the generally accepted international frameworks and standards (e.g. the UN Global Compact, ISO 26000, GRI, etc.) and approaches for addressing the ESG challenges at the operational level;
• Grow personally and professionally through experiential learning opportunities, based on learning from inspiring case studies and reflecting upon the interaction with ethical, responsible and sustainable management practices from the cutting edge guest-speakers;
• Develop critical and appreciative view of the world, facilitate cultivation of the sustainability mindset, by taking into account contemporary debates on the role of business in society and nature with respect to local culture, global challenges, and opportunities;
• Create stories of local sustainability champions for the AIM2Flourish.com platform by addressing one or several of the UN’s SDGs.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• • Interlink different subjects and disciplines on a specific, theoretical, methodological and empirical level
• • Translate a complex societal problem into a scientific research question, develop a research design for a study to answer it, by applying up-to-date social empirical methods, such as appreciate inquiry interview
• • Demonstrate solid knowledge and thorough understanding of the key terms, concepts, and their managerial implications for sustainability management, stakeholder management and sustainable development.
• • Demonstrate solid knowledge and thorough understanding of the UN Global Agenda 2030 and implementation of the UN 17 SDGs in the local and global context.
• • Demonstrate solid knowledge and thorough understanding of the centrality of stakeholder theory in sustainability management and sustainable development.
• • Demonstrate solid knowledge and thorough understanding of the changing roles and expectations in the relationships between business, governments, society and nature in different contexts.
• • Be aware of, and understand the appropriate seminal academic publications on sustainable management and sustainable development.
• • Cultivate the sustainability mindset: as an integrated way of thinking (knowledge), doing (competency), and being (values) in ecological worldview, systems thinking, emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence.
• • Acquire the capacity to listen and communicate to professionals and laymen in English with precision and clarity both orally and in writing.
• • Analyze, communicate and present ideas, principles and evidence that support a reasoned and consistent argument.
• • Contribute successfully to a peer work group, while delegating and coordinating tasks in culturally diverse teams.
• • Through self-learning train how to effectively manage time, extract essence from large amount of information, and approach it analytically.
• • Develop proficiency in analyzing complex organizational situations, identifying key problem areas, and formulating strategies for ethical, responsible and sustainable management practices in global business.
• • Develop an ability to critically evaluate courses of managerial action in cases relating to ethical, responsible and sustainable management practices in global business.
• • Synthesize material, write and debate analytically on current business ethics, responsible business and sustainable development problems in national and international contexts.
• • Conduct research projects both independently and in groups in a multicultural context.
• • Grow in personal awareness, creativity and independent critical thinking with relevance to complex social situations.
• • Basic ICT competences for communicating, retrieving and elaborating on the UN SDGs research projects.
• • Demonstrate solid knowledge and thorough understanding of the complexities of incorporating challenges of sustainable development into organizational strategies and sustainable lifestyles.

Course Contents

• Introduction into sustainable development
• Concepts and reasons for sustainability management
• Sustainability strategies and stakeholder perspectives
• Experiential learning on sustainability management
• Sustainability management in tools and instruments
• Final presentations on the AIM2Flourish project

Assessment Elements

• Book world café and cinemalogia (group)
  In class group facilitated discussion
• Case study on sustainability management (group)
  In class moderated group work on the case-study
• Reflection papers (individual)
  Written reflection papers.
• UN SDGs research project AIM2Flourish.com (group and individual)
  Experiential learning project

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 2nd module
  0.2 * Reflection papers (individual) + 0.2 * Book world café and cinemalogia (group) + 0.2 * Case study on sustainability management (group) + 0.4 * UN SDGs research project AIM2Flourish.com (group and individual)

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Principles of management : practicing ethics, responsibility, sustainability, Laasch, O., 2021
• The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility [Электронный ресурс] / А.Crane, D.Matten, A.McWilliams, J.Moon, D.S.Siegel, eds.; БД oxfordhandbooks. - Oxford University Press; 2008. – Режим доступа: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211593.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199211593 – Загл. с экрана.
• The power of and : responsible business without trade-offs, Freeman, R. E., 2020

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Laszlo, C. (2003). The Sustainable Company : How to Create Lasting Value Through Social and Environmental Performance. Washington, DC: Island Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=118249