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.
Learning objectives
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.
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.
Learning material and recommended literature
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.
Evaluation 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.
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.
