Learning objectives
Students will have developed an awareness of the interests of wide ranges of stakeholder groups in the economic process and of how these may be incorporated into the strategic decision-making of a business. They will also thereby have a richer understanding of the meaning of social progress and will have grasped the significance of alterative macro level indices of social progress, in particular the Social Progress Index.
Prerequisites
None
Course unit content
Having understood the multidimensional character of the microeconomics of building competitiveness this course will proceed to take a critical look at strategic decision-making in business challenging in particular some of the narrower models of strategy based exclusively on shareholder wealth maximisation; instead a broader approach to firm strategy based on considerations of sustainability and ethical business and respecting the interests of all stakeholders will be introduced.
From there the discussion will widen out to the macro level to encompass the meaning of social progress and its measurement through such indices as the Social Progress Index.
Full programme
Creating Shared Value and its implications for business strategy; Corporate Citizenship
Macro indices to measure creation of shared value: the Social Progress Index; other alternative indices; Comparison of country performmance in ndetail on SPI and SPI score cards.
Bibliography
CRANE A and MATTEN D (2010) “Business Ethics”, 3rd edition Oxford University Press. [Chapter 1 is a good introduction to basic concepts]
O’SULLIVAN P, SMITH M and ESPOSITO M (2012) “Business Ethics: a critical approach integrating ethics across the business world” Routledge, London
O’SULLVAN P (2014) Conceptual Foundations of the Social Progress Index in Social Progress Index 2014 Methodological Report, ch 2, Social Progress Imperative, Washington DC.
www.socialprogressimperative.org [This website gives free access to a whole array of data and comment on the Social Progress Index].
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminars, class discussions and exercises.
Assessment methods and criteria
Final closed book Examination (100%)
Other information
It would be useful to have done the course Competitiveness, Business Strategy and Social Progress 1
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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