Key Information
About the content
Examine the role and responsibilities of a socially responsible business and how they can contribute to sustainable development with this online course from the University of Warwick.
- Explore the principles of corporate social responsibility
Corporations are increasingly expected to be visibly socially responsible, driving sustainable development and maintaining transparency in reporting their processes.
On this six-week course from the University of Warwick, you’ll reflect on how businesses engage with and report on the three pillars of sustainability. You’ll further your understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different contexts and learn how to embed CSR principles into your operations.
- Examine international perspectives on globalisation and sustainability
You’ll be introduced to key concepts including corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, business ethics, and the social licence to operate, allowing you to fully understand how a corporation should interact with these concepts when driving sustainable development processes.
You’ll explore the global nature of business operations, and examine CSR processes in international contexts, allowing you to assess how sustainability practices differ around the world.
- Investigate the relationship between corporations and stakeholders
It can be difficult to plan a CSR initiative that represents the interests of all stakeholders within an organisation.
You’ll explore corporate relationships with employees, consumers, government, suppliers, civil society, analysing stakeholder expectations and how your organisation can deliver on the CSR principles that represent all stakeholders.
- Learn how to deliver CSR reports
You’ll be introduced to international frameworks and learn what should be included in a comprehensive CSR report.
Using case studies from different global contexts, you’ll finish this course having gained insights into reporting styles and learn how to model your own report to reflect the context of your organisation.
Prerequisite
This course is designed for mid-level managers and employees interested in how to embed corporate social responsibility principles in their operations.
It will benefit both those already in the role of reporting corporate social responsibility and those new to the concept.
Syllabus
Syllabus
Week 1: Understanding concepts and approaches
Week 2: Globalisation and sustainability. The triple bottom line
Week 3: The relationship of the company with shareholders and suppliers
Week 4: The relationship of the company with employees and government
Week 5: The relationship of the company with consumers and civil society
Week 6: Corporate Social Responsibility reporting
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Demonstrate understanding of what it means to be a socially responsible business and the expectations of society about businesses role in sustainable development
- Identify the difference between true embeddedness of corporate social responsibility principles in business operations and green or whitewashing
- Discuss the complexity of the relationship of a company with all its stakeholders (employees, consumers, government, suppliers, civil society and shareholders) in a rapidly changing international context
- Critically evaluate corporate social responsibility reports according to their merits against the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental)
Instructors
Rosa Fernandez
I'm Associate Professor in Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick. Economist by training, my research interests are linked to sustainability (energy, food, CSR, education) and EU.
Content Designer
The University of Warwick ((/ˈwɒrɪk/)) is a public research university in Coventry, England. It was founded in 1965 as part of a government initiative to expand access to higher education. Warwick Business School was established in 1967 and Warwick Medical School was opened in 2000. Warwick merged with Coventry College of Education in 1979 and Horticulture Research International in 2004.
Platform
FutureLearn is a massive open online course (MOOC) learning platform founded in December 2012.
It is a company launched and wholly owned by The Open University in Milton Keynes, England. It is the first UK-led massive open online course learning platform, and as of March 2015 included 54 UK and international University partners and unlike similar platforms includes four non-university partners: the British Museum, the British Council, the British Library and the National Film and Television School.
