Introductory description

The module aims to enable students to understand the importance of values-driven leadership in business activity, in a broader political and institutional context, while also accounting for the opportunities and challenges that shifts toward digital environments pose.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Lectures

PART I: FRAMING THE DEBATE

Business in Global Society: Examines the evolving role of business in the global society. Based on a review of the increased reliance on digital forms of governance (AI, fragmented information, and post-truth), we examine how corporations can exploit theses and the pre-existing gaps in global governance, thereby creating a "race to the bottom" in terms of social and environmental standards. We also consider how these misuses have led to growing inequalities and backlash against existing institutions and globalisation.

Understanding Corporate Responsibility: We discuss the concept of "corporate (social) responsibility" (CSR) from the perspective of economic governance. We define the term and provide a brief overview of its history. Next, ask why corporations are interested in this concept and how it changes in the digital environment, which largely unregulated. Last but not least, we debate whether firms have a responsibility to voluntarily address social and environmental issues that are not regulated by law. We examine the challenges of a post-CSR world in the 21st century, including new forms of international cooperation, in the context of post-truth, growing populism, isolationism and trade-wars .

Achieving Values-Driven Corporate Responsibility: In this lecture, we discuss the old and new challenges for institutional infrastructure and ways of addressing these for ensuring that companies discharge their corporate responsibility, with a particular focus on the role of ethical values that underpin it. We examine and discuss the various standards, principles, and initiatives that have emerged and proliferated in recent years, to consider the 'implementation gap'. We also discuss the limits of these initiatives and debate whether firms' commitment to them is just "window-dressing" particularly in the context of a 'reversed' globalisation, and what is the ethically right things to do.

Firms as Political Actors: We discuss why firms have become political actors and reflect on the power and limitations of their influence. We put special emphasis on the role of corporations as "citizens" and critically debate this from a governance perspective. We discuss the growing role of cloud capital and the dangers emerging from its integration with the government's machinery. We consider the ethicality of using AI in processes like recruitment, productivity, monitoring, and the social media moderation vs profit.

PART II: MANAGING ISSUES

Business and Human Rights: We examine whether firms face direct human rights obligations, with a particular focus on developing economies and conflict zones, resource scarcity, and emerging trade wars. We discuss the role of multinational firms in respecting human rights and consider the issue of digital surveillance.

Labour Rights in Global Supply Chains: We turn towards a governance problem that many firms, including multinational corporations such as Nestle, and ethical players like Tony Chocolonely have faced: how to monitor labour conditions at their supply factories in emerging and developing economies. We discuss the limits of monitoring of corporate codes of conduct.

Environmental Sustainability: We discuss why firms are often required to take action in areas such as climate change and water scarcity. We outline (a) why these problems are relevant for businesses and how they influence business decisions and (b) what firms can do to genuinely integrate environmental concerns into their value and supply chain management, and what is the role of regulation in making this happen.

Anti-Corruption Strategies: This lecture examines the issue of weak governance and the underlying values framework in the context of corruption. We discuss why corruption exists and identify the main drivers of corruption. We also discuss how firms can establish effective and efficient anti-corruption policies, including the role of whistleblowing and whistleblowers as a safeguard against institutional corruption and organizational wrongdoing.

PART III: UNDERSTANDING ACTORS

The UN System and Business: We examine how the UN manages its relations with business. We emphasize the business's role in the UN Global Compact, a UN-driven corporate responsibility initiative. We discuss the Global Compact and debate its limits and opportunities of such an approach in the ontext of a reversed globalisation. We also consider the case for ethical investment in various sectors, including universities and pension funds.

Civil Society: We examine how civil society organizations, particularly NGOs and social movements, interact with businesses and the counterinsurgency strategies deployed by some multinational corporations (MNCs) in the oil and food industries. The discussion highlights the need to consider that firms are often significantly influenced by civil society action (such as the Extinction Rebellion, for instance) .

Investors and Financial Markets: We discuss whether investors can pressure corporations to adopt social and environmental principles. We look into the opportunities and constraints of so-called "ethical investment" and discuss the role of financial markets in holding firms accountable.

PART IV: FINAL REFLECTIONS

Scenarios for the Future: We reflect on the key deliverables of this module and its links to other modules. This lecture also addresses recent challenges and political developments in the area of corporate responsibility, including departures from CSR and sustainability reflected in companies' policies, as well as emerging trends from national legislation and the role of civil society in counteracting these.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the responsibilities of companies in the local and global context
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the significance of the non-market environment for business decisions
• Critically analyse the quality of evidence, linking themes and multi-disciplinary approaches together, to gain perspective on their normal disciplinary approaches.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Research element

Critically analyse the quality of evidence, linking themes and multi-disciplinary approaches together, to gain perspective on the societal context and appraise critically mainstream disciplinary approaches.

Interdisciplinary

The module draws from moral theory, business ethics, political economy, and social movements.

International

The module considers various issues of global relevance and uses examples, and case studies from around the world (India, Africa, China, USA, and Europe). These cover topics such as:

Development legacies from the 20th century
The opportunties and challenges of doing business in a digital environment
The legacies of the global financial crisis and raising inequalities
Environmental challenges and threats
Child labour and extractivist industries
Surveillance capitalism and trade wars

Subject specific skills

Assess evidence and succinctly summarise conclusions
Locate business activity within its social and political contexts
Interpret and evaluate statistical data presented in graphical form.

Transferable skills

Written communciation