Corporate responsibility and sustainability

We live in a globalized society that is increasingly concerned with social and environmental sustainability. Businesses are increasingly required to understand such issues and integrate them into their everyday practice.

This module seeks to advance understanding of how businesses can benefit from taking a more holistic approach to the marketplace. It adopts a macro-marketing lens focusing on the interplay between marketing and society. This module encourages students to think critically about issues such as why markets change, contemporary consumer trends, as well as how businesses can benefit from embedding sustainability concepts into their everyday practice.

Topics covered

Main topics of the module include:

Twenty first century global challenges
Introduction to sustainability and related concepts
Markets, Marketing and society: what is driving change?
The changing role of business in society
Effective communication with stakeholders
Contemporary consumer trends
Consumer and buyer behaviour and sustainability
Sustainable marketing strategies
Developing and emerging markets
Doing harm while attempting good: a critical eye on sustainable business practices.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module, you will be expected to be able to:

understand the concept of sustainability and related concepts
understand what drives the increasing adoption of sustainability concepts by modern businesses
understand how businesses can benefit from adopting sustainability concepts
think critically and creatively in identifying, evaluating, and appraising alternative solutions to sustainability problems;
devise and proffer solutions to complex sustainability-related marketing problems
undertake research into a sustainability-related problem, including applying assembling and data analysis skills.

Assessment

Coursework (30% weighting) - An individual essay of up to 2,000 words.

Examination (70% weighting) - An unseen written examination of 2 hour-duration.