Corporate Social Responsibility (5 ECTS)

Learning outcomes

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.

Teaching methods

Teaching methods: interactive lectures, cases, team work, virtual learning.

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 recognize business opportunities in CSR.
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.

Location and time

Dates:
Friday 14.8.2020 12-3 pm,
Mon-Tue 17-18.8 12-3pm
Mon-Tue 24-25.8. 12-3pm

Learning materials and recommended literature

Course material and virtual sources to be defined by the lecturer

Exam dates and retake possibilities

An exam usually takes place in the second week of this intensive course. Two resits organized and supervised by the Business School staff.

Student workload

5 credits to be earned as an intensive course. Students must reserve time for a pre-task as well as individual and team work in the afternoons and evenings plus during the weekend between the contact sessions. A final task must be turned in by the date informed by the lecturer, typically 1 - 2 weeks after the last contact session.
Requires good time management skills.

Assignment outline:
The students analyzes available solutions to selected CSR challenges & outlines own proposals based on doing responsible business. They report the results orally (in teams) and individually (in written blogs/diary format) based on a small-scale project done during the course.

Content scheduling

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

Further information for students

Prerequisites: Strategic Management 5 ECTS, Organization Theory 5 ECTS, or equivalent understanding of managerial work
Students should be prepared to tackle the issues already a week or two before the first contact session. Instructions will be given via the virtual learning environment of Metropolia, in the course-specific OMA workspace. Access to OMA will be given after the registration has been confirmed.

Assessment methods and criteria

Individual assignments, Team project, possibly a test - to be confirmed by the lecturer at the beginning of the course

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.

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

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.