In the 21st century, corporations cannot ignore the impact of increasing formal (regulatory) and informal (community) expectations relating to economic, social, and environmental sustainability. 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 environmental, social, and economic aspects of corporate sustainability;
- key drivers and inhibitors, both external and internal to the corporation, of the environmental and social aspects of corporate sustainability;
- the roles of social and 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 environmental and social sustainability issues in business; and
- current best practice in corporate sustainability.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Identify within the context of economic sustainability, decision-making within a corporation, that relates to evolving natural environmental and social sustainability, and drives pursuit of corporate sustainability;
- Evaluate the link between theory, policy and practice for corporate sustainability;
- Apply knowledge of ethics, ethical standards and values embedded in business decision-making;
- Process information from a wide range of resources and critically analyze for evidence-based decisions;
- Mount the business case for sustainability and communicate to a range of stakeholders, including managers, boards and owners for pursuing corporate sustainability;
Indicative Assessment
- Individual assignments (30) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Seminar participation (10) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Individual report and presentation (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Final examination (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
In response to COVID-19: Please note that Semester 2 Class Summary information (available under the classes tab) is as up to date as possible. Changes to Class Summaries not captured by this publication will be available to enrolled students via Wattle.
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Workload
Students taking this course in First or Second Semester are expected to commit at least 10 hours per week to completing the work. This will include 3 hours per week in class and at least 7 hours a week on average on course reading, research, writing and assessment work.
Where this course is offered in intensive delivery mode as a continuous block over a shorter period of time, the expected total time commitment for this course will be 130 hours.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Prescribed Texts
All readings and other resources required for this course will be provided via the course Wattle website.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $3900 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $6000 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus | ||||||
| 3350 | 24 Feb 2020 | 02 Mar 2020 | 08 May 2020 | 05 Jun 2020 | In Person | View |
| 4848 | 24 Feb 2020 | 02 Mar 2020 | 08 May 2020 | 05 Jun 2020 | Online | N/A |