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Instructors: Prof. Dr. Timo Busch
Event type:
Lecture + practical course
Displayed in timetable as:
Sust. and Mgt.
Hours per week:
3
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
- | -
Comments/contents:
Today, firm of all kinds—from traditional manufacturing firms that extract countless raw materials to a wide variety of new start-ups—are facing massive challenges of sustainability. For some, this shift offers new business opportunities, developing new products, reinventing old ones, or for solving problems through business model innovation. For other firms, sustainability puts their business model under pressure and the solutions for new paths are far from obvious. Thus, understanding and addressing sustainability in businesses is of key importance for long-term success and competitiveness.
The course will discuss real-world sustainability challenges in the environmental (e.g., planetary boundaries), society (e.g., labor standards in global supply chains), and economics (e.g., limits to growth). Translating the challenges of the sustainability dimensions – environmental, social, and economic – to management decisions, this course will address questions such as: What are main motivations for corporate sustainability? What are future business opportunities and risks? How can firms undergo change at the pace needed to create a more sustainable world? Is there a business case for sustainability (win-win situations)? How should sustainability be communicated to its customers and other stakeholders? Where do firms face trade-offs when addressing sustainability? What are basic strategies for sustainable business practices? How can we apply these in practical situations?
Learning objectives:
- To learn about the sustainability dimensions – environmental, social and economic;
- To learn about challenges and opportunities for companies dealing with sustainability – drivers for action and the business case for sustainability;
- To learn about business approaches to engage in sustainability matters, including stakeholder management, sustainability marketing, and sustainable entrepreneurship.
- To apply solution-oriented thinking in practical, case-based tutorials.
Didactic concept:
The lectures and tutorials are based on a hybrid learning plan. More concretely, the lectures will be held in person and the tutorials will all be held online. For lectures and tutorials, we will use the following websites and software:
- Stine (course overview, scheduling, and general announcements to all students);
- OpenOLAT (course materials, including PDFs of lectures, tutorial assignments, recorded lectures, student presentations, and messaging)
- Zoom (student presentations during the tutorial) – a permanent Zoom link will be uploaded in Stine and OpenOLAT.
For most of the lectures, the presentations will be uploaded in bundles twice during the semester. For the tutorials, the introduction to all five case studies will be uploaded in two versions – a PDF version and a video in MP4-format with instructions – both available in OpenOLAT.
For the tutorials, two different groups will meet live via Zoom every other week*.
We will go through five case studies on the following subjects: environmental sustainability, social sustainability, sustainability management, sustainability marketing, and sustainable entrepreneurship.
- For Group 1 – tutorials begin October 21, 2021
- For Group 2 – tutorials begin October 28, 2020
*Please check Stine at the beginning of the semester for your group’s list, scheduling, and the permanent Zoom link for all tutorials.
Literature:
Here's a list of recommend textbooks:
- McDonough, W., Braungart, M. Cradle to cradle: Remaking the way we make things. North point press, 2010.
- Elkington J. Cannibals with Forks: The triple bottom line of 21st Century Business, Capstone Publishing, 1997
- Freeman R. Strategic management: A stakeholder approach, 2010.
- Hart, S. L.. Capitalism at the crossroads: The unlimited business opportunities in solving the world's most difficult problems. Pearson Education, 2005.
- Hawken, P., Lovins, A. B., & Lovins, L. H. Natural capitalism: The next industrial revolution. Routledge, 2013.
- Hollender, J., Breen, B. The responsibility revolution: How the next generation of businesses will win. John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
- Jonker, J., de Witte, M., Management models for corporate social responsibility, Springer, 2006.
- Lindgreen, A., Koltler, P., Vanhamme, J., Maon, F., A stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, Gower, 2012.
- Marcus, A., Shrivastava, P., Sharma, S., Pogutz, S. Cross-sector leadership for the green economy, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
- Meadows D., Randers J., Meadows D. Limits to growth – The 30-year update, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2004
- Weizsäcker E. U., Lovins A., Lovins H. Factor 4, Droemer Knaur, 1995.
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