Study Guide

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

PLEASE kindly note! The course workspace will be opened by 25.06.2023 (well in advance before the course starts). The students can start working on their assignments immediately and finish the course on the last day of the classes.

Course schedule (5 meetings online):

14th August, Mon, 16-19 pm
15th August, Tue, 16-19 pm
16th August, Wed, 16-19 pm
21st August, Mon, 16-19 pm (must attend; peer review of assignment presentations)
22nd August, 16-19 pm, Q&A.

Zoom link for all sessions is this: https://metropolia.zoom.us/j/4891765119 , Meeting ID: 489 176 5119

Materials

Recommended readings:

CSR has attracted a lot of attention and there are multiple publications on this topic. For this course, we can recommend to read these 2 recent online e-books that should give a good overall 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) RECOMMENDED: 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) additionally, you can consult "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 definition in CSR. It has an excellent collection of definitions 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.

Leaning 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: online sessions, interactive discussions, case presentations, reading, and doing individual assignments.

Employer connections

The course will rely on the industry-university cooperation (as planned in October 2022).

Exam schedules

The course includes 2 assignment presentations:
Assignment 1 - due date is 20th August, 23.59 pm
Assignment 2 - due date is 10th September, 23.59 pm.

The assignment instructions will be available by 25.06.2023. Any earlier submissions are very welcome!

The course grade is comprised of:
40% for Assignment A + 40% for Assignment B + 20% for class discussion and participation in class activities (including the peer review of presentations on 21st August, Monday at 15-18 pm).

Completion alternatives

Please inform the course instructor in advance if you are not able to attend online meetings. Some of the materials will be video-recorded, so an alternative implementation method is without attendance (or with a reduced attendance), but with an additional task.

Student workload

The course workload is 5 ECTS, which is appx. 130h of work (online meetings, readings, assignments and self-study).

Content scheduling

Course contents:

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

Further information

The course is held in English.

Course instructor

Zinaida Grabovskaia, PhL, Senior lecturer
Head of Master’s Programme in Business Informatics
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Room 250, Leiritie 1, 01600 Vantaa, Finland
tel. +358 40 198 4008
Email: zinaida.grabovskaia@metropolia.fi

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.

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.