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Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Corporate Social Responsability

Corporate Social Responsability
6
12841
3
Second semester
op
Main language of instruction: English

Other languages of instruction: Catalan, Spanish,

Teaching staff


We can find a time together after class or upon request by email to malbareda@uic.es

Introduction

Course Description

CSR is a crucial strategy for organizations that impact the reputation and sales, but most importantly influence the sustainable development of society. Consumers identify meaningful brands among those that provide personal and collective wellbeing plus functional benefits. Factors such as reports of scandals from the media, citizens’ consciousness, empowerment and activism have contributed to the more and more commitment of organizations and the urgency of Governments’ policies. Real cases of companies have been reported in documentaries and movies to claim for better working conditions and good governance. Due to the relationship of bad practices with the periods of crisis, the main values for companies and non-profit organizations to grow in trust and loyalty are transparency and participation.

Pre-course requirements

There are no prerequirements to take this course

Objectives

Course objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to understand CSR as a business management model and the relevance of communicating CSR for the management of organizations. In order to integrating CSR into organizations, communication-centered approach is needed as a duty that organizations have with society in order to build up values and commitments. The stakeholder management perspective personalizes relationships and facilitates analyzing and implementing strategies in an ethical or moral fashion.

Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • 07 - The ability to work in a group
  • 10 - The ability to develop an ethical attitude
  • 11 - The ability to make judgments and well-argued critical assessments
  • 14 - Ability to analyse
  • 16 - The ability to detect newsworthy events
  • 17 - The ability to confront difficulties and resolve problems
  • 22 - The ability to generate debate and reflection
  • 53 - The ability to design and critique an audiovisual or media product
  • 64 - Knowledge and mastery of bibliographic repertories
  • 77 - The ability and capacity to take responsibility for the communication area of an organisation
  • 85 - The ability and skill to act as experts in the strategic management of corporate image
  • 86 - The ability and capacity to identify, value, manage and protect the intangible assets of a company
  • 87 - The ability and capacity to use technology and communicative techniques
  • 88 - The ability to relate to people and the environment without losing autonomy
  • 96 - The ability to objectively analysis reality and the extraction of valid considerations
  • 97 - To be able to read and understand literature in the field of communication in the English language
  • 99 - To be able to understand the principal ideas in a conference in the English language

Learning outcomes of the subject

Building on courses taken in their majors, students will learn that responsible companies are not only the ones that do social marketing, organize fundraising events and get better scores in reputation rankings. To the contrary, responsible organizations are mainly those whose core activity is responsible with human and natural resources. It is important to perform consistent with several responsibilities: maximizing earnings-operating in a competitive position and profitable (economic responsibilities), expectations of the government and law-federal, state and local regulations (legal responsibilities), societal and ethical norms- (ethical responsibilities) and expectations of society-voluntary and charitable activities, assistance to educational institutions and projects that enhance a community’s quality of life (philanthropic responsibilities). CSR implies action of a social role and higher performance of responsibilities. Philanthropy is expected and prized by society but less important than the other categories of CSR.

CSR is designed to make the student value the power of bidirectional communication. This course gives the student knowledge of typical forms of communication used by communication departments such as sustainable reports. Best practices have become business standards that sustainable leaders in the industry put into practice thorough tools and insights.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able:

  1. To understand the main ideas related to corporate social responsibility.
  2. To identify the essential stakeholders’ responsibilities and content of the values they are responsible for.
  3. To work effectively in teams on projects.
  4. To analyze a specific audience for organizations.
  5. To identify sources to communicate the CSR.
  6. To apply ethical principles to the main activity of an organization.
  7. To discuss, analyze sustainability reports.

To prepare a written report in APA style on a company’s CSR.

Syllabus

 

Lecture Topics and Schedule

 

Week

Date

Topics and Assessment Due Dates

Week 1

January 

23

The Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility:

Philanthropy to Sustainability

Week 1

January 

25

Case Study

IKEA: Becoming a Circular Business

By: Matthew Wilson, Kerstin Heilgenberg

Week 2

January 30

CSR Foundations and The Current Landscape:

An Introduction to CSR Modalities, Discourse, &

Strategies


  • Stakeholders and Shareholders

  • Business ethics

  • CSR Key concepts

  • Triple bottom line

Week 2

February 

1

Case Study

Purdue Pharma and the Opioid Addiction Crisis

By: Frank T. Rothaermel

Week 3

February 6

Effective Speaking Skills

The Art and Science of Persuasive Communications

Week 3

February 8

The Logos-Based Speech: Moving People to Action


A significant component of effective CSR involves effective communication. This session focuses on creating structured, logos-based speeches for non-financial reports.

Week 4

February 13

Storytelling and CSR: it is not enough to implement sustainable initiatives. 

Week 4

February 15

CSR and Social Media

Week 5

February 20 

Effective Speaking Skills: The Elevator Pitch

Week 5

February 22

CSR Operations in Practice: Functions, Metrics,

Evaluation and Quantification Efforts

Week 6

February 27 



The Future of CSR: ESG and Current Challenges

Week 6

February 29

Operational Realities and Evolving Expectations:

Challenges and Limitations to Corporate Social

Responsibility

Week 7

March 5

Presentations Assignment #1

Week 7

March 7

Presentations Assignment #1

Week 8

March 12

Case Study

Purdue Pharma and the Opioid Addiction Crisis

By: Frank T. Rothaermel

Week 8

March 14

CSR Operations in Practice: Functions, Metrics,

Evaluation and Quantification Efforts

Week 9

March 19 

The Future of CSR: ESG and Current Challenges

Week 9

March 21

An Introduction to Cross-sector Partnerships



Week 10

April 2

Guest Speaker Session

Week 10

April 4

Case Study

Week 11

April 9

The Financial Services Industry and CSR:

From Traditional Philanthropy to Social Finance

Week 11

April 11

Group Presentations Assignment #2

Week 12

April 16

Group Presentations Assignment #2

Week 12

April 18

Guest Speaker Session

Week 13

April 23

Case Study

Week 13

April  25

CSR and Social Media

Week 14

April 30

Case Study

Week 14

May 2

CSR and non financial reports

Week 15

May 7

Final Submissions/ Presentations

Week 15

May 9

Final Submissions/ Presentations



 

Teaching and learning activities

In person



  • Lectures- you will need to take notes to remember concepts, ask questions and prepare for in-class discussions-; mentoring; guest speakers. 
  • The participation is based on your participation class discussions, doing the class activities as well as listening and providing feedback to your peers and the teacher.

Evaluation systems and criteria

In person



Assessment/Course Requirements 

Assessment Type

Percentage or Points

Attendance, Participation, Case Study Assignments.

15% of final grade

Assignment #1: CSR Presentation

25% of final grade

Assignment #2: CSR Consultant 

25% of final grade

Assignment #3: Final Research Paper/Project

35% of final grade



Information on Course Assessments

  1. Attendance and Participation (15%): All course participants must attend class regularly since the content of the course is built up over time and each class is a continuation of the next. Students who miss classes will find it hard to follow the module. Students must actively participate in class and come prepared with questions and discussion points. There will be a participation bonus for those who stand out during class capped at 15%. 

 

  1. Assignment #1 (25%): CSR Leadership Speech

Students are required to deliver leadership speeches on various CSR topics. This could include presenting their research findings, discussing case studies, or proposing CSR strategies for a hypothetical or real company.

Type: in-class individual activity. Due week 5.

 

3. Assignment #2 (25%): CSR Consultant

Students need to select an existing company and do a CSR media audit. The group project involves researching and presenting on a CSR issue or developing a CSR plan for a specific organization.

Type: Groups of 3

Deliverable: 15min Presentation in class (15min + 5min Q&A) Due week 10.

 

4. Assignment #3 (35%): Final Research Paper/Project

Students are required to conduct in-depth research on a specific CSR-related topic and submit a research paper or project. This could involve analyzing case studies, evaluating CSR practices of a company, or proposing CSR strategies.

Type: Individual

Deliverable: 2000-word written report

Due week 15.

Bibliography and resources

Textbooks and Additional References

1.

Essays and journal articles as listed on syllabus.

2. 

International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility

3. 

Professional Ethics: A Multidisciplinary Journal