MN 3481: Business, Sustainability and Society

DEPARTMENT OF: Management / Academic Session: 2009/10
Course Code: / MN3481 / Course Value: / 1.0 / Status:
(i.e.: Core, or Optional) / Core N2N7
Optional N200
Course Title: / Business, Sustainability and Society / Availability:
(state which teaching terms) / Both
Prerequisites: / MN2201 / Recommended: / MN3301
Co-ordinator: / Dr Laura Spence
Course Staff: / Dr Laura J. Spence, Reader in Business Ethics. Room FE147. Tel: 01784 276403. Email: [NB: Does not work on Fridays]
Dr David Bevan, Lecturer in Corporate Social Responsibility. Room MX19. Tel: 01784 276120. Email:
Aims: / The aim of this course is to provide participants with knowledge of the issues pertinent to the role of business in the context of social and sustainability issues. This will be achieved through a particular focus on corporate social responsibility and business ethics in an international social context. A range of pedagogical approaches will be employed to instil a personal critical awareness in dealing with business in society.
Learning Outcomes: / On successful completion of the course students will be able to:
·  Articulate a range of traditional and postmodern ethical theories, and be able to apply them to business situations (i.e. to develop moral imagination and reasoning).
·  Compare alternative theories and concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility
·  Analyse sustainability and CSR issues in functional aspects of business such as marketing, human resource management and supply chain management.
·  Evaluate and critique organisational responses to sustainability in contemporary society.
·  Understand and discuss the complexities of the macro environment for business including the ethical agency of government, civil society, and economic systems.
Teaching & Learning Methods: / The course will use lectures, seminars, guest speakers. There will be student led debates (e.g. on a topical sustainability issue) and presentations by small groups within each cohort. For example, the students will be expected to present ethical analyses of business cases early in the course to enhance (and check) their understanding of ethical theory.
Additional reading material and links to contemporary debates in the media will be provided via Moodle. This range of pedagogical approaches will develop ethical sensitivity and a critical articulateness.
Formative Assessment & Feedback: / Classroom discussion and debates will be used to provide formative assessment, including the opportunity for informal self and peer assessment. Tutors will offer verbal guidance, while discussions can be continued on the discussion board on Moodle (to allow students in other groups to share in the learning point).
Summative Assessment: / Exam (70%) three hour long – a mock paper will be provided. Students will be required to answer 3 questions of 10.
Coursework (30 %) An extended reflexive essay on a topic of the student’s choice in consultation with the tutors. Word length: 2500
Deadlines: Individual reflexive essay deadline: 18 November 2010

TEACHING & LEARNING PROGRAMME

Date / Lecture Topic / Tutor / Accompanying Workshop
27/09/2010 / 1. Introduction to the course: Sustainability, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility / Laura Spence & David Bevan / No workshops
04/10/2010 / 2. Introduction to ethical theory (i): Kant, Utilitarianism, Social Contract / David Bevan / Practising Theory workshop: Ethical theory
11/10/2010 / 3. Introduction to ethical theory (ii): Virtue, Discourse ethics, Care / David Bevan / Practising Theory workshop: Ethical theory
18/10/2010 / 4. Introduction to ethical theory (iii): Postmodern theories / David Bevan / Practising Theory workshop: Discourse analysis of a CSR statement
25/10/2010 / 5. Stakeholder theory / David Bevan / Practical workshop: Doing a stakeholder mapping
01/11/2010 / 6. From Corporate Social Responsibility to Sustainability / David Bevan / Case Workshop: Unilever
08/11/2010 / 7. Capitalism and economic models for sustainability / David Bevan / Practical workshop: Writing a sustainability policy
15/11/2010 / 8. Accountability and sustainability reporting / David Bevan / Role play workshop: The role of accounting and auditing
18/11/2010: Essay Submission
22/11/2010 / 9. Systems theory / David Bevan / Film workshop: The Story of Stuff
29/11/2010 / 10. Civil Society Organizations / David Bevan / Case Workshop: a CSO investigation
06/12/2010 / 11. Marketing / David Bevan / No workshops
Winter break
Date / Lecture Topic / Tutor / Accompanying Workshop
10/01/2011 / 12. Employees / Laura Spence / No workshop
17/01/2011 / 13. Human Rights & Fair Trade. / Laura Spence / Black Gold: Multinationals and the Coffee Trade
24/01/2011 / 14. Codes of Conduct / Laura Spence / Practical workshop: Writing a Code of Conduct for the School of Management
31/01/2011 / 15. Social Entrepreneurship. / Laura Spence / Case workshop
6pm. RHUL Annual Sustainability Lecture, Lord Robert May
07/02/2011 / 16. Climate Change / Laura Spence / Practical workshop: Carbon footprinting
14/02/2011 / 17. Environmental Ethics / Laura Spence / Practising theory
21/02/2011 / 18. Responses to the environmental challenge / Laura Spence / Film workshop: ‘A Time Comes’ – the Kingsnorth Powerstation
28/02/2011 / 19. Supply Chains. / Laura Spence / Case workshop: The South African orange supply chain.
07/03/2011 / 20. Poverty alleviation and microfinance / Laura Spence / Exam revision workshop: Possible topics and approach.
14/03/2011 / 21. Business, Sustainability and Society: A look to the future / Laura Spence / Individual exam consultations
21/03/2011 / 22. Review lecture / Laura Spence & David Bevan / No workshops

ASSESSMENT

Coursework: 30%

Submission: Thursday, 18 November 2010

The course work will take the form of an extended reflexive essay based on a focus of individual choice (in consultation with tutors) relating to sustainability, business ethics and/or corporate social responsibility. Word length: 2500

Examination: 70%

Three hours long. Students will be required to answer 3 questions of 10.


RESOURCES

Essential Reading

Crane A, and Matten, D. (2010) 3rd ed. Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization, Oxford University Press, Oxford. [ISBN: 978 0 19 9564330]

Recommended Reading

Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L. J. (eds) (2008) Corporate Social Responsibility: Readings and Cases in a Global Context, Routledge, London. ISBN: 978-0415424295

Desjardins, J. (2009) An Introduction to Business Ethics New York:McGraw-Hill Higher Education. [ISBN 978-0071263399]

Background Reading

Bannerjee, S. B. (2007) Corporate Social Responsibility: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, [ISBN 978-1848444546]

Beauchamp, T., Bowie, N. and Arnold, D. (eds, 8th edn) (2008) Ethical theory and business, Pearson Prentice Hall, Harlow. [ISBN 978-0132080033]

Brenkert, G. (2004) Corporate Integrity and Accountability, Sage, California. [ISBN 9780761929550]

Burchell, J. ed (2008) The Corporate Social Responsibility Reader Routledge, London. [ISBN 978-0415424349]

Desjardins, J. (2007) Business, Ethics and the Environment: Imagining a Sustainable Future Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA. [ISBN 978-0131891746]

Gibson, K. (2007) Ethics and Business: An Introduction Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. [ISBN 978-0521682459]

Hendry, J. (2007) An Introduction to Ethics for Business, Government and the Professions, available from http://www.ethicsforbusiness.co.uk/download/index.htm

Jamieson, D. (2008) Ethics and the Environment: An Introduction Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-52168284-8].

Raufflet, E. and Mills, A. (2009). The Dark Side: Critical cases on the downside of business Greenleaf publishing, Sheffield.

Serres, Michel (1995) The Natural Contract (E. MacArthur, & W. Paulson, Trans.). Ann Arbor MI: The University of Michigan Press. [ISBN 978-0472065493]

Sharma, S. and Starik, M. eds (2004) Stakeholders, the Environment and Society, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. [ISBN 1845423623]

Stead, J. G. and Stead, W. E. 3rd edn (2009) Management for a Small Planet, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield. [ISBN 978-1906093303]

Stern, N. (2006) Stern Review. Final report available from: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm


Key Journals

Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Journal of Business Ethics

Business Ethics Quarterly

Business Ethics: A European Review

Business and Society

Business and Society Review

The Environment

Environmental Politics

Business, Strategy and the Environment

Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development

International Journal of innovation and Sustainable Development

Environment, Development and Sustainability

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management

Journal of Cleaner Production

Environmental Values

Energy & Environment

Futures

General Management

Academy of Management Review

Harvard Business Review

Organisation Studies

Human Relations

Film

·  The Time Comes (Nick Broomfield, 2009) - Documentary film of the direct action of the Kingsnorth Six agains coal fired powerstations. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/31/kingsnorth-activists-climate-change-coal .

·  An Inconvenient Truth – Climate Change Documentary by former Vice-President of the US, Al Gore. http://www.climatecrisis.net/

·  The Age of Stupid (Franny Armstrong, 2009) - Docudrama set in 2055 looking back on the present day to understand what we could have done to prevent runaway climate change. http://www.ageofstupid.net/

·  Fast Food Nation (Richard Linklater, 2006) – Drama based on Eric Schlosser’s expose of the junk food industry. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/fastfoodnation/

·  Black Gold: Multinationals and the Coffee Trade (Nick and Marc Francis, 2007) - A documentary about the inequalities in the coffee sector. http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/

Blogs

·  http://craneandmatten.blogspot.com/ Business ethics orientated blog by authors of a leading business ethics textbook

·  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot George Monbiot - outspoken and engaging Climate Change journalist and author on a wide range of environmental issues.

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