Global Business and Society

Course goals

Content

This course focuses on the role, conduct and strategies of (global) businesses vis-a-vis the urgent social and sustainability challenges that our society faces in the 21st century. In groups, students will develop a deep understanding of a specific business and strategize its potential response to a societal challenge. Students will engage with each other in dialogue sessions about different businesses, sectors and their potential strategies to reach sustainable outcomes. Conceptually, the course builds on a stakeholder (versus a shareholder) perspective, shifting from a trade-off to a win-win mentality. Furthermore, students learn to articulate their own opinion and a specific call to action regarding a business & sustainability issue that engages them personally, through personal reflection regarding their own (future) role and by writing an opinion blog. Guest lectures from business leaders contribute to student’s understanding of the societal role of businesses and expose them to ‘real world’ business leaders, preparing students for navigating this century’s challenges - as future leaders in the business world that they will soon enter.

Format
The course consists of

• Plenary (guest) lectures
• Daily group work and (intermediate) assignments
• Team presentations and dialogues (project groups)
• Individual exam/assignment (tbd)

Assessment method

• Evaluation of group work (this includes an assignment, presentation and contribution to dialogue sessions) (80%, group)
• Evaluation of individual assignment/exam (tbd) (20%, individual)

In case online access is required for this course and you are not in the position to buy the access code, you are advised to contact the course coordinator for an alternative solution. Please note that access codes are not re-usable meaning that codes from second hand books do not work, as well as access codes from books with a different ISBN. Separate or spare codes are usually not available.