In the 21st century, corporations cannot ignore the impact of increasing formal (regulatory) and informal (community) expectations relating to their impact on society and the natural environment.  This course examines the scope of these expectations, explores the reasons behind these expectations, and evaluates the impact of these expectations on corporations operating in a dynamic competitive environment in a capitalist economy. The course takes the perspective of an individual corporation that wants to: examine both its internal and external environments to determine the range of sustainability issues that it faces; develop strategies for sustainable practices that enhance its competitive position; make a business case to a range of its stakeholders, including owners, for the adoption of those sustainable practices; and understand the principal barriers to the implementation of those practices.

This course aims to promote an understanding, within the context of a capitalist economy, of:

• the importance to each individual corporate entity of corporate sustainability;
• the inter-relationship between the natural environmental, social, and economic aspects of corporate sustainability;
• key drivers and inhibitors, both external and internal to the corporation, of the natural environmental and social aspects of corporate sustainability;
• the roles of social and natural environmental risk, and product and process innovation, in developing corporate sustainability; and
• theoretical and practical constraints on the development of a business case for corporate sustainability;

and provide an overview of:

• the principal ‘toolkits' currently used by practitioners to recognise and appropriately resolve natural environmental and social sustainability issues in business; and
• current best practice in corporate sustainability.

Upon successful completion of the requirements for this course, students will be able to:

1. identify, analyse and solve, within the context of economic sustainability, issues within a corporation that relate to its natural environmental and social sustainability;
2. make a case to a range of stakeholders, including managers, boards, and owners addressing specific corporate sustainability issues; and
3. develop appropriate policies and plans to address these issues.

Individual weekly assignments (30%)

Seminar contributions (10%)

EITHER group report and presentation OR individual report (30%)

Final examination (30%)

At least 24 units

Incompatible with MGMT3001 Corporate Sustainability

Please refer to Course Website