BUS180 Global Challenges II. Environmental, Social and Governance Challenges in Business

In this course we start from real scenarios, emphasizing ethical dilemmas along with the opportunities and responsibilities of business in contributing positively to societal development and environmental sustainability. The primary concern is sustainability related challenges such as Environmental Challenges (ecology and climate), Social Challenges (Human rights, child labor, slave labor, social inequality, migration, and increased nationalism), and Economic Challenges.

A key focus in the course is to build an understanding of how corporate governance plays a critical role in shaping development and implementation of socially and environmentally sustainable corporate strategies.

Additional emphasis will be placed stakeholder management, how to manage opposing interests, and how to weight the importance of different stakeholders. The theoretical foundation is gathered from Stakeholder theory (Freeman), Shareholder theory (Friedman, Drucker), and CSR (Carroll, Porter). Circular economy will also be introduced and applied. More specifically, the topics of discussion are environmental reporting, greenwashing, depleted resources, corporate branding, investment trends, and the UN sustainable development goals.

The course aims to show how profit, social responsibility and environmental responsibility can go together. This idea is then contrasted to the traditional understanding of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). The course focuses on the opportunities an ESG mindset is presenting to companies.

General:

The student should know how to

1. Collect, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information
2. Show a capacity for independent thought
3. Show capacities for ethical attention and decision making
4. Present and defend their position

Knowledge:

The student should have knowledge of

1. Different ways to understand business responsibilities in relation to sustainability.
2. Trends in societal development relating to environmental challenges.
3. How and why businesses adapt to these trends.
4. Tools (CSR, CSV, triple Bottom Line, Total Societal Impact) used in understanding and handling such societal trends.
5. Ethical dilemmas that employees must relate to in these matters (conflicts of interest, opposing ethical duties, weighting affected parties)

Skills:

The student should be able to

1. Cooperate in groups
2. Show an ability to recognize complexity, synergy, and trade-offs between goals.
3. Use digital tools for collecting relevant information.
4. Critically evaluate sources.
5. Present group projects effectively