Corporate Social Responsibility (5 ECTS)

Objective

At the end of this course students will be capable of understanding the roots of CSR, the critical elements of a CSR initiative, the implementation issues of a CSR initiative, developing a strategic communication plan for CSR, as well as auditing an existing CSR initiative.

Content

CSR Background and Core Issues, CSR and the Sustainability Sweet Spot, Lessons on Launching and Sustaining Sustainability Efforts, CSR as Innovation, CSR Case: Samsung, LG, Pepsi, Unilever, CSR as Global Citizenship – the IBM Case, CSR in Cultural Context, Developing Strategic Partnerships between nonprofits and business. Cases will be provided also from the public / third sector.

Location and time

Course schedule (5 meetings online):

15th August, Mon, 16-9 pm
16th August, Tue, 16-19 pm
17th August, Wed, 16-19 pm
22th August, Mon, 13-16 pm (must attend)
23th August, 13-16 pm, Q&A.

Materials

Course contents

- Key concepts in CSR;
- Latest approached to CSR;
- Strategic CSR;
- Social challenges and responsible business: cases.

Assignment outline (2 assignments):

A. The student analyzes available solutions to selected CSR challenges (in a case presentation in 10-12 .pptx slides and videod, followed by a peer review), and
B. the student outlines own proposal based on doing responsible business.

The student reports the results orally (in A, as a case presentation) and in writing (in B, in a pptx. or blog format) based on own small-scale project planned during the course.

Recommended readings

CSR has attracted a lot of attention and there are multiple publications on this topic. For the course, we can recommend to read these 2 recent online e-books that should give a good iverall view of the CSR:

1) RECOMMENDED: Olkkonen, Laura and Quarshie, Anne (2019). "Corporate Social Responsibility in Finland: Origins, Characteristics, and Trends". Springer International Publishing 2019. - This is a good, very modern, easy-reading book, available as an e-book from MetCat Finna, Metropolia´s online library.

2) Haynes, K., Murray, A., Dillard, J. (2012). "Corporate Social Responsibility: A Research Handbook". Routledge 2012. - This a time-proven, deep-diving book that provides a classic view of CSR and its main debate topics. For advanced readers. It is available as an e-book from MetCat Finna, Metropolia´s online library.

3) "Dictionary of Corporate Social Responsibility: CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance", Eds. S.O.Idowu, N.Capaldi, M.S.Fifka, L.Zu, R.Schmidpeter. Springer International Publishing 2017. - Use this e-book if you need a quick access to a defintion in CSR. It has an excellent collection of defintions and key concepts in CSR. It is available as an e-book from MetCat Finna, Metropolia´s online library.

4) additionally, the course also has a collection of ARTICLES in "Documents".

Teaching methods

The course is aimed at the Master´s students who already have work experience and have probably come across CSR activities in their work life, or have initial understanding of this area and its application, as well as have opinions about societal, sustainability, environmental and other challenges that business could or should be responsible for.

Learning outcomes:

The student understands contemporary debates about corporate social responsibility. The student recognizes different levels of CSR, ranging from occasional to strategic, and can also recognize business opportunities in CSR; and is able to come up, argue for, and plan for own innovative CSR activity on the selected level.

The course pulls together the skills related to creative & innovative solution building including problem solving, systems thinking, design thinking together with CSR knowledge and business knowledge.

Teaching methods include interactive discussions, case presentations, face-to-face online sessions, reading and doing individual assignments.

Employer connections

The course is aimed at the Master´s students who already have work experience and have probably come across CSR activities in their work life, or have initial understanding of this area and its application, as well as have opinions about societal, sustainability, environmental and other challenges that business could or should be responsible for.

Student workload

5 ECTS = appx. 27 hours of student work per 1 credits (including instructions, self-study, assignments, readings, etc)

Further information

The language of tuition is English.

Evaluation scale

0-5

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good overall performance: can apply and articulate concepts and information well both verbally and in writing, certain areas of individual or team output require further attention; shows appropriate level of interest and motivation in individual and team activities. Good presentation delivery and analysis.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent performance in all elements of the course: shows interest and motivation in individual and team activities and assignments, fully applies and clearly articulates concepts and information both verbally and in writing. The student is able to support his/her argument with references to the recommended reading and lecture content. Excellent presentation delivery and analysis.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Assessment methods and criteria

The course is assessed on the 0 (failed) – 5 (excellent) grading scale.

The course grade is comprised of:
40% for Assignment A + 40% for Assignment B + 20% for class dicussion and participation in class activities (including the peer review of PechaKucha presentations on 24 August, Monday at 12-15 pm).

Approved / Failed

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Satisfactory

Sufficient performance: has completed basic requirements to pass the course and has made an attempt to apply and articulate concepts and information both verbally and in writing but has not made enough effort overall. The student has demonstrated little effort, interest and motivation for individual or team activities / assignments and the output is rather weak.

Good

Good overall performance: can apply and articulate concepts and information well both verbally and in writing, certain areas of individual or team output require further attention; shows appropriate level of interest and motivation in individual and team activities. Good presentation delivery and analysis.

Excellent

Excellent performance in all elements of the course: shows interest and motivation in individual and team activities and assignments, fully applies and clearly articulates concepts and information both verbally and in writing. The student is able to support his/her argument with references to the recommended reading and lecture content. Excellent presentation, delivery and analysis.

Further information

The language of tuition is English.

The course is assessed on the 0 (failed) – 5 (excellent) grading scale.

Further information

The language of tuition is English.

The course is assessed on the 0 (failed) – 5 (excellent) grading scale.