Corporate Social Responsibility

Teacher(s)

Denis Sabine (compensates Swaen Valérie); Hericher Corentin; Swaen Valérie;

Language

English

Main themes

The course aims at providing tools enabling the students to elicit critical thinking on ethical, social and environmental issues raised by contemporary organizations. The specificity of the firms' impact on economic life will be addressed by analyzing the principles and practices covered by the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR will be studied as a reflector of the modern firms' self-awareness process in terms of social responsibility and as a source of innovation in the face of today's challenges of competitiveness, sustainable development and transparent corporate governance. The theoretical references will moreover give way to more personal questioning periods developed by the students in terms of their own aspirations, perceptions and observations as citizens. All these elements foster personal change that in its turn conveys transformations within the chosen organizations.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Understand the background of CSR and the local, European and global contexts in which CSR is currently developing. Elicit critical thinking on ethical, social and environmental issues raised by contemporary organizations. Apply CSR theories and frameworks to analyse organizational challenges to evaluate different scenarios in practice, with a view to propose recommendations for the organization. Co-create your CSR/sustainability projects and get a feel for complex stakeholder dialogue in developing responsible and sustainable solutions. Know your personal ethical values which can help you in the future to make better choices and give meaning to your private and professional life.

Content

The 2024-2025 course will cover the following Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) topics:

• Defining CSR.
• Understanding CSR by comparison to related concepts: sustainability, compliance, stakeholder management.
• Positionning CSR in the supply chain
• Analyzing forms of and motives for CSR.
• Discovering CSR reporting and discussing the role of CSR-related labels and certifications.
• Identifying washing and corporate hypocrisy.
• Reflecting on the role of individuals in CSR.
• Getting a snapshot of current CSR research.
• Going further with critical perspectives on CSR.

Teaching methods

• Lectures based on academic research illustrated by pratical examples. 
• Testimonials from companies.
• Practical sessions for the group case study.
• Reports with feedbacks. 
• Discussions in class and practical sessions.

Evaluation methods

First session
The course evaluation contains individual and group assignments. The grade is composed of two parts:

- A case-study: the case-study is a group assignment. Groups will deliver three reports. The case-study accounts for 30% of the final grade. 
- A personal reflection essay. This individual assignment accounts for 5% of the final grade. 
- An individual exam. Each student will take an exam at the end of the course. This exam includes multiple-choice questions and open questions. The individual exam accounts for 65% of the final grade. 
Second session
A student who does not pass the course in January will take a new exam in August. The final grade will be composed solely of the grade obtained for this exam. The grades from the case study and individual assignments will not count. The August exam is longer than the November exam. 

Online resources

Moodle

Bibliography

See on Moodle

Faculty or entity

> CLSM