Postgraduate Course: Business Strategy for Environmentally-Suitable Futures (MBA) (CMSE11416)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course challenges students to think about climate change in the context of businesses' current and future
decision-making |
| Course description |
Currently, businesses are largely treated as organisations that are impacted by climate
change and the associated environmental challenges, rather than being important participants, and possibly leaders, in attaining a low carbon society. The students will learn to challenge this interpretation of businesses by gaining an in-depth understanding of the ways in which businesses can react to, and are impacted by,
climate change. More specifically, the students will gain expertise on why and how businesses make decisions on climate change and in which way such decisions are linked to the socio-economic surroundings of businesses. The course will prepare the students to be future business leaders that engage with climate change in sustainable, profitable and meaningful ways. At the heart of the course are a number of case studies from private and/or public sector organisations. The students are asked to review these private and/or public sector organisations and to address and solve one of
their low carbon related concerns. This allows the students to apply their academic knowledge and industry experience to a business situation.
The course will cover issues around:
Overview of Business and Environmental Challenge
Regulatory, Resource and Market Drivers
Strategy and The Organization
Environmental Business Strategy
The Special Case of Entrepreneurs
Re-Examining Capitalism
The Circular Economy
Student Experience:
Lectures will introduce each case study and slides for the following week will be available on Learn 24 hours before the next lecture.
At the heart of the course are a number of case studies from private and/or public sector organisations. The students are asked to review these private and/or public sector organisations and to address and solve one of their low carbon related concerns. This allows the students to apply their academic knowledge and industry experience to a business situation. Working through practical exercises is an essential part of this course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | For Business School PG students only, or by special permission of the School. Please contact the course secretary. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 15,
Summative Assessment Hours 26,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
57 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Individual assignment 100% (all LOs) |
| Feedback |
Feedback on formative assessed work will be provided within 15 working days of submission, or in time to
be of use in subsequent assessments within the course, whichever is sooner. Summative marks will be
returned on a published timetable, which has been made clear to students at the start of the academic year.
Students may also ask questions in lectures to assess their knowledge.
Students are expected to be self-motivated to make the most effective use of these informal assessment tools. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of past, current and future developments related to climate change and businesses
- Know the different aspects that businesses need to consider when confronted with a specific climate change-related challenge
- Chose adequate mitigation and/or adaptation activities for individual businesses
- Critically examine the opportunities and pitfalls of climate change for businesses
- Be able to act as a business consultant and advice a business on low carbon decisions
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Reading List
Block 1: Businesses and The Natural Environment and Case Study 1
Theme 1
Hoffman, A.J. (2016). Communicating about Climate Change with Corporate Leaders and Stakeholders. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science; available at: http://climatescience.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.001.0001/acrefore- 9780190228620-e-410?print=pdf
Hoffman, A. (2000) Competitive Environmental Strategy (CES in the syllabus). Washington DC: Island Press. Chapter 1. (page 1-26).
Theme 2:
Carroll AB 1991. The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons 34: 4, 39¿48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813 91 90005-g; available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/000768139190005G
Friedman M 1970. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times, September 13, 122-126; available at: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwjB_9rcn YHWAhXELsAKHUl8Cv8QFggxMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered.mheducation.com%2Fsites
%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F0073524697%2F910345%2FAppendices.pdf&usg=AFQjCNF9gi4YUpFOWtn Di6E9aNpUPL2ATQ (page 211-214)
Theme 3:
Carter, N. (2007). The politics of the environment: ideas, activism, policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 12, page 321-345; available at: http://137.224.11.174/wp- content/uploads/2014/12/ENR20306Milieueconomie-boek-2-Politics-Of-Environment.pdf
Hoffman, A. (2000) Competitive Environmental Strategy (CES in the syllabus). Washington DC: Island Press. Chapter 2 (pages 27-51)
Case Study 1: Volkswagen¿s Clean Diesel Dilemma, 2016, E. Institute Case 1-430-484; available at: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved= 0ahUKEwiPqcr4ooHWAhXnI8AKHRiBCzgQFgg1MAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwdi- publishing.com%2Fproduct%2Fvolkswagens-clean-diesel- dilemma%2Fdownload%2Fpreview_copy%2F&usg=AFQjCNFRVdLObIKf_4MbbuC3z6tuohIjrQ
Essay Topics will be allocated during/at the end of Block 1!
Block 2: Business Strategy and Climate/Environmental Change Case Study 2
Theme 1:
Hoffman, A. (2000) Competitive Environmental Strategy (CES in the syllabus). Washington DC: Island Press. Chapter 4 & 5 (pages 70-84), (pages 85-104)
Hardin, Garrett (1968) ¿The Tragedy of the Commons¿ Science, 192, pp.1243-1248. Available at: https://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/misc/webfeat/sotp/pdfs/162-3859-1243.pdf
Theme 2:
Jeffs, C. (2008). Strategic Management. London: SAGE; 2008 (Chapters 2.1, 2.3, 2.4); available at: https://discovered.ed.ac.uk/primo- explore/fulldisplay?docid=44UOE_ALMA51149863670002466&context=L&vid=44UOE_VU2&la ng=en_US&search_scope=default_scope&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab& query=any,contains,strategic%20management&sortby=rank&facet=tlevel,include,online_resources &offset=0
Hoffman, A. (2000) Competitive Environmental Strategy (CES in the syllabus). Washington DC: Island Press. Chapter 8 (pages 160-182)
Case Study 2: Sustainability at IKEA Group. CASE STUDY by Jerome Lenhardt, Michael W. Toffel, V. Kasturi Rangan, Vincent Dessain
Theme 3:
Porter ME & Kramer MR 2006. Strategy and society. The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review 84: 12, 78¿92; available at: http://csrresources.org/documents/events/ccc2008/Mark-Kramer-Keynote/Strategy-Society.PDF
Hoffman, A. 2007. Getting Ahead of the Curve: Corporate Strategies that Address Climate Change, Executive Summary (pg. v-vii) and Synthesis Report (pg. 1-7), available at http://courseresources.mit.usf.edu/sgs/geb6930/module_3/read/competative_advantage.pdf
Carbon Disclosure Project & PwC (2013) CDP Global 500 Report 2013- Sector insights: what is driving climate change action in the world¿s largest companies?; available at: https://www.pwc.es/es/publicaciones/gestion-empresarial/assets/global-500-climate-change-report- 2013.pdf (Skim Read/Have a brief look at pages 1-20)
Battisti M & Perry M 2011. Walking the talk? Environmental responsibility from the perspective of small-business owners. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 18: 3, 172¿85; available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/csr.266.
Kaesehage, K., Leyshon, M., Ferns, G., Leyshon, C. (2017). Seriously Personal: The Reasons that Motivate Entrepreneurs to Address Climate Change. Journal of Business Ethics. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10551-017-3624-1.pdf
Group Work Case Studies/Companies will be allocated during/at the end of Block 2!
Block 3: Contemporary Opportunities for Business and Climate/Environmental Change an Case Study 3
Theme 1:
Seyfang G & Longhurst N 2013. Desperately seeking niches: grassroots innovations and niche development in the community currency field. Global Environmental Change 23: 5. 881-891. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.02.007.
Hoffman A 2012. Climate science as culture war. Stanford Social Innovation Review 10: 4, 30¿37; available at: https://ssir.org/book_reviews/entry/climate_science_as_culture_war
Theme 2:
Teece, D. J. (2010). Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation. Long Range Planning 43 (2010) 172e194; available at: http://www.businessmodelcommunity.com/fs/root/8jig8- businessmodelsbusinessstrategy.pdf
Case Study 3: Patagonia. CASE STUDY by Forest Reinhardt, Lauren Barley, Ramon Casadesus- Masanell A&B
Theme 3:
Beinhocker, E. and N. Hanauer (2014) ¿Redefining capitalism,¿ McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey & Co; available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/long-term-capitalism/redefining- capitalism
Have a brief look through this report: Towards a Circular Economy (2014) from the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Available at: http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/business/reports/ce2014
Block 4: Acting as consultants for selected Business Case Studies Challenging and Improving their Ideas of Climate change and Environmental Change
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding
After completing this course, students should have:
A critical understanding of the main methods, concepts and terminology related to business and climate change/environmental change.
Detailed critical knowledge and understanding of developments at the forefront of business and climate change/environmental change.
Understand past, current and future developments in climate change related policies and its relevance to businesses
Differentiate between different business strategies that are commonly associated and at times confused with activities that relate to climate change mitigation and/or adaptation
Know the impact that climate change has on the business community and the impact that businesses have on climate change
Understand the impact of climate change to the economy and different businesses industries
Practice: Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding:
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Apply adequate mitigation and/or adaptation activities to individual businesses
Critically examine the opportunities and pitfalls of climate change for businesses, and the difference of this impact to small and medium-sized enterprises and bigger corporation
Apprehend the concept of the circular economy and evaluate as well as develop ideas on how to create prosperity without growth
Cognitive Skills
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Critically evaluate and synthesize new and complex ideas.
Make informed judgements in the absence of complete or consistent data.
Offer creative solutions and insights on complex issues.
Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Communicate technical, conceptual and critical information clearly and concisely.
Autonomy, Accountability and Working with Others
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sarah Ivory
Tel: (0131 6)51 5323
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Angela Muir
Tel: (0131 6)51 3854
Email: |
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