BØA202 Ethics, CSR and sustainability

Contents and structure

Ethics provide us with principles that help us make sound decisions and knowledge about individuals and companies as moral actors. The world is complex, where various ethical challenges arise that cannot be met only by following rules. The basic competence in ethics implies the ability to recognize ethical challenges in concrete situations, identify alternatives and dilemmas, and propose possible solutions. This course therefore aims to improve student’s abilities to make choices and justification of those choices that are relevant for business and the public sector.

The perceptions of corporate social responsibility have been changing over the years. They range from those that companies must and should concentrate on profit, taking responsibility for costs they impose on third parties ('externalities') to very extensive demands for social responsibility, as expressed, among other things, in the UN's sustainability goals. The tools to stimulate ethically sound practices range accordingly from voluntary measures, via strategic guidance within the company, to regulations, laws and international agreements. Learning about development of corporate social responsibility, as well as understanding mechanisms that are used to safeguard social responsibility are central to this course.

Learning Outcome

Competence

The student learns

• central theories about making ethical choices and how to justify them
• ethical challenges in the daily operations and management of companies
• the development of public institutions and agreements that promote sound practices through legislation, public regulations, norms and standards
• major discussions about sustainability challenges and the UN's sustainability goals
• ethical challenges due to digital development, what ethical dilemmas they create for businesses, and what directives and rules have been introduced to deal with them (such as the GDPR directive),
• what solutions to ethical challenges have been proposed and attempted through initiatives from the companies themselves, such as voluntary initiatives to take social responsibility (CSR), agreements for good governance (Corporate Governance) and good business practices, as well as new organizational forms such as Benefit Corporations and social entrepreneurship and practices for responsible innovation
• professional ethical issues relevant to the economic-administrative area
• the distinction between ethical, political, and legal responsibility

Skills

The student can

• carry out a reflective assessment of concrete cases containing an ethical challenge, identify considerations that must be weighted in, relevant stakeholders, and describe dilemmas that must be dealt with.
• find, assess, and refer to information, regulations and subject matter and prepare it so it can be used when specific case needs to be explained
• know examples of how ethical guidelines can be developed and adhered to, and known pitfalls in this type of policy
• contribute to integrating consideration of the company's social responsibility in daily operations, strategy work and collaborative relationships
• identify ethical threats that an organization, a profession or a business moving into a new market, geographical area or encountering a new technology might face.
• discuss whether companies can be held responsible in the same way as individuals

General competence

The students have insight in

• how developments in the organization of modern working life raise ethical challenges
• how the activities in modern companies can be problematic for the climate and the environment
• how we are affected by ethical issues as consumers and as investors
• how the development of digital technology creates new challenges
• dilemmas these challenges raise and what solutions have been proposed and tried out
• are aware of their own values ​​and how they affect their own behavior and decisions
• show an ability to be responsible, critical thinking, and ethical reflection

Entry requirements

None

Recommended previous knowledge

None

Teaching methods

Lectures with discussions, self-study of reading materials, participation in obligatory learning activities

Compulsory learning activities

One written assignment. The main rule is that students should write the assignent in groups of up til four. However, some exceptions can occur

Assessment

Five-hour individual school exam.

The time and place for the exam will be announced on Studentweb.

Grade scale A-F where F corresponds to a fail.

Examination support material

None

More about examination support material

Course reductions

• OR6-1010 - Etikk og samfunnsansvar - Reduction: 7.5 studypoints
• ØAO015 - Organisasjon II og Etikk - Reduction: 2.5 studypoints
• ØAA116 - Etikk, samfunnsansvar og bærekraft for økonomifag - Reduction: 5 studypoints
• ØAA119 - Etikk, samfunnsansvar og berekraft - Reduction: 5 studypoints
• ØKB2120 - Etikk - Reduction: 7.5 studypoints