Study Guide

Objective

The course provides the student with understanding of the key building elements in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility strategy planning and implementation.

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- Critically relate to the notion of sustainable development (SD) through its human, social, economic and environmental aspects
- Understand and recognize the complexity of SD in the societal and entrepreneurial context
- Define the main elements of a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Critically relate to a CSR Strategy and its impact towards direct and indirect stakeholders

Content

Understanding the environment: the planet, the society, the community, the business
The pillars of sustainable development (SD): the 17 SDG’s and models for SD
Planning a SD strategy for a business
Implementing the SD strategy for a business
The Meaning and Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
The Role of Stakeholders in CSR
The Strategic Importance of CSR Implementation

Materials

- During the lectures, it is important to take your own notes, as they are essential for the completion of the course.
- Lecture material will be distributed at the end of the course
- The course evaluation includes an exam, individual assignments and group assignments, which are based on the material discussed in the lectures.

Teaching methods

The course is based on independent work and group work. The assignments are related to writing a research essay and implementing a business plan as a group project, as well as project management. In addition, work-life connection is promoted through external expert visits.

Working is both independent remote working and face-to-face teaching, in which case we delve into a certain theme of the subject area by discussing and presenting the results of group work.

At the first lecture, students are asked for permission on the attendance list of the course's lectures.

Exam schedules

There is an exam in the course. Assessment is based on learning tasks. The dates for the returns of individual learning tasks (individual and group work) are mentioned in Itslearning.

Passing the course requires completion of the group task section, at least 50% attendance in classes and passing the exam.

International connections

The study course is implemented in accordance with innovation pedagogy, where studying is based on work-life-oriented learning and the development of innovation abilities. During the course, the student must play an active role and must independently take responsibility for his own learning and the implementation of learning tasks. The course is based on individual and group work, where the role of instructors is to support and guide the work.

Completion alternatives

No.

Student workload

The course consists of learning tasks to be done on adjacent floors, an extensive individual essay and a business plan to be done as group work, as well as a responsibility analysis. The business plan of one's own company is presented to other small groups.
More detailed descriptions of learning tasks and instructions on the course's own Itslearning platform.

1 ECTS corresponds to 27 hours of student work, i.e. 5 ECTS = 135 hours.

Attendance is mandatory for the course.

As a result of the implementation method, attendance at lectures is necessary. Passing the course requires at least 50% participation in the hikes.

Content scheduling

- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Sustainable Development
- Circular Economy
- Cleantech

Timing: Duration of the course, 2/09/2024 - 14/12/2024 (a total of 13 short sessions) A more detailed schedule of the course and the themes/topics of the next lessons are described on the course's Itslearning platform.

The course may also be implemented with the help of a working life project.

Further information

Communication to the teacher through the message of the itslearning platform.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

The course uses numerical evaluation.
Grades are used for successfully completed studies (5-step numerical scale):
5 = commendable
4 and 3 = good
2 and 1 = satisfactory
0 = rejected
The grade consists of:

- Exam (individual performance) 40% of the course grade (Min 40 % of points)
- extensive group work 1 and 2 (includes a written section and a presentation) 40% of the course grade
- Participation in lectures and the student's activity in lectures 20% (At least 50% of lectures must be attended in order to pass the course.

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

No performance.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

The student satisfactorily masters the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and business operations and understands the principle of business planning. The student is satisfactorily able to identify the opportunities and challenges of sustainable business and can name only a few actors and sources of information related to the topic. The student can satisfactorily identify how sustainable business and entrepreneurship are related to their own field of study. The student can satisfactorily manage his own work, allocate resources to the tasks to be performed, work in a group and satisfactorily take into account the goals set by the teacher/assignment. The student is satisfactorily able to construct a concise and informative presentation and express himself in writing.

Attendance at lectures at least 50-60 % in accordance. Activity in lectures at a satisfactory level.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The student has a good command of the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and business operations and understands the principle of business planning. The student is well able to identify the opportunities and challenges of sustainable business and is well able to describe and utilize a few actors and information sources related to the topic. The student knows how to recognize how sustainable business and entrepreneurship are related to their own field of study. The student knows how to manage his own work well, allocates resources to the tasks to be performed and works in a group, and takes good account of the goals set by the teacher/assignment. The student is well able to construct a concise and informative presentation and express himself clearly in writing.

Attendance at lectures at least 70-80 % in accordance. Activity at lectures at a good level.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student has an excellent command of the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and business operations and understands the principle of business planning. The student is able to identify the opportunities and challenges of sustainable business in an excellent and broader way and is able to name and utilize several actors and information sources related to the topic. The student is excellent at describing how sustainable business and entrepreneurship are related to their own field of study. The student is excellent at managing his own work, divides the resource between the tasks to be performed and works actively in the group, and takes excellent account of the goals set by the teacher/assignment. The student is excellently able to construct a concise and informative presentation and express himself clearly in writing.

Attendance at lectures at least 90% in accordance. Activity at lectures at an excellent level.

Objective

The course provides the student with understanding of the key building elements in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility strategy planning and implementation.

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- Critically relate to the notion of sustainable development (SD) through its human, social, economic and environmental aspects
- Understand and recognize the complexity of SD in the societal and entrepreneurial context
- Define the main elements of a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Critically relate to a CSR Strategy and its impact towards direct and indirect stakeholders

Content

Understanding the environment: the planet, the society, the community, the business
The pillars of sustainable development (SD): the 17 SDG’s and models for SD
Planning a SD strategy for a business
Implementing the SD strategy for a business
The Meaning and Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
The Role of Stakeholders in CSR
The Strategic Importance of CSR Implementation

Materials

Developing Corporate Social Responsibility: The Essential Guide For Expanding Your CSR Efforts Paperback – November 12, 2021 by Elmer Elter

Teaching methods

The course provides the student with understanding of the key building elements in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility strategy planning and implementation.

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- Critically relate to the notion of sustainable development (SD) through its human, social, economic and environmental aspects
- Understand and recognize the complexity of SD in the societal and entrepreneurial context
- Define the main elements of a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Critically relate to a CSR Strategy and its impact towards direct and indirect stakeholders.

The student learns to work in a goal-oriented manner, acquire knowledge independently from different sources and reflect on previous experiences.
The student also learns to work in groups participating in the solution-making process in different roles. Group work improves social interaction skills and problem-solving skills.

International connections

In this course we are utilizing PBL (problem based learning) method. PBL is a student-centered approach in which students learn about a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. Students must identify the needed information. They learn the information and apply it to solve the problem.

Student workload

This course equals to 5 ECTS.
A weekly session is organised to provide knowledge and guidance for the completion of assignments.

Content scheduling

Contents:
- Understanding the environment: the planet, the society, the community, the business
- The pillars of sustainable development (SD): the 17 SDG’s and models for SD
- Planning a SD strategy for a business
- Implementing the SD strategy for a business
- The Meaning and Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- The Role of Stakeholders in CSR
- The Strategic Importance of CSR Implementation

Contact lessons plan will be found in Peppi (Tuudo, Outlook calendar. See detailed schedule from lukkari.turkuamk.fi)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Course assessment (final grade; scale 1-5) is based on the performance in the course assignments and tasks.
Course assignments and tasks relates to sections of the course.
Course assignments and tasks are each valued with a number of points relatively to the difficulty of the assignment/task.

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

The student fails to show capability in understanding the principles of Sustainable Development (SD). The student fails to show capability in understanding the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

The student has understood the theoretical and practical aspects of Sustainable Development (SD). The student is able to share his/her perspective on a SD issue, to articulate the trade-offs in making SD related decisions within context.
The student has understood the theoretical and practical aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), he/she is able to define a CSR strategy.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The student demonstrates capability to a use a holistic approach, which seeks integrative thinking and practice related to SD issues. The student demonstrates capability to develop a sound CSR strategy in line with company vision, mission and values.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student demonstrates capability to envision change, explore alternative futures, learn from the past and inspire engagement in the present. Through reflecting in SD and CSR solutions, the student is able to aim at achieving societal transformation, which serves to change in the way people engage towards SD, as well as contributing to company CSR policy.