Corporate Social Responsibility

Teacher(s)

Denis Sabine (compensates Swaen Valérie); Hericher Corentin; Roszkowska-Menkes Maria (compensates 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 2025-2026 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 relation to the conduct of business.
• Analyzing forms of and motives for CSR.
• Discovering tools for CSR communications.
• Identifying washing and corporate hypocrisy.
• Reflecting on the role of individuals in CSR.
• Getting a snapshot of current CSR research.

Teaching methods

• Lectures based on academic research illustrated by pratical examples. 
• Case sessions.
• Peer learning.
• Presentations by students.
• Reports with feedbacks. 

Evaluation methods

First session
The course evaluation contains a continuous evaluation and a final exam. The grade is the weighted average of the continous evaluation (30%) and the final exam (70%).
Second session
In case of a second session, the course evaluation is based on a new final exam (100%). Any grade obtained earlier does not count anymore. 

Online resources

Moodle

Bibliography

See on Moodle

Faculty or entity

> CLSM