Study Guide

Learning outcomes

The student is able to
- analyze environmental, social and economic responsibilities in service business
- develop sustainable practises in organisations

Teaching methods

Online study unit in Canvas

The learning outcomes of the 5 ECTS study unit, Corporate Social Responsibility, are given below. After completing the study unit you are able to:

analyze environmental, social and economic responsibilities in service business
develop sustainable practices in an organization
5 ECTS is equivalent to approximately 135 hours of student work.

Structure
The (Corporate Social Responsibility) study unit consists of the following modules

Orientation
Environmental responsibility
Social responsibility
Economic responsibility
CSR report (team work)
You are able to study the first three modules (Environmental, Social and Economic responsibility) independently and at your own pace. These modules must be done in numerical order and they are assessed automatically. In these modules you will learn the basic principles of environmental, social and economic responsibility in business operations.

In the last module of the course you will collaborate in teams to analyse and come up with recommendations for improving sustainability in a case organization's operations. Please study also the group work assignment already in the beginning so that you can start to form a team and to find a suitable company to analyse.

In addition to the assignments given in the modules, you will also keep a learning diary throughout the study unit. Please follow carefully the guidance for the learning diary.

Feedback and evaluation
The study unit will be evaluated based on your individual assignments, team report and learning diary in the following way.

Environmental responsibility, individual work
Social Responsibility, individual work
Economic Responsibility, individual work
Each above mentioned individual modules are evaluated automatically as described below
You need to mark instructions completed, score at least 5 points from the Quizz, contribute to discussion area and return Learning Diary based on that module
CSR report, team work (40%), maximum 50 points.
Learning diary, individual work (60%), maximum 50 points.

Your individual input to discussions will be taken into consideration when calculating your final grade. Both Learning Diary and CSR Report must be done to pass the course. For the final evaluation following Laurea Grading Scheme is used.

Interaction and communication
There are no contact lessons during this study unit. You will work online, both individually and in teams, and actively participate in online discussions and carry out assignments.

Location and time

Online 3.1. - 29.4.2022

Learning materials and recommended literature

Given by the lecturer in Canvas

Co-operation with working life and/or RDI

In teams you will write a report where you will describe the environmental, social and economic responsibilities including circular economy of an organization of your choice.
Please, find or choose a small- or medium-sized company (SME*), interview a company representative and describe the company’s best practices in the above areas (environmental, social and economic).

Students workload

5 credits on students' own time. CSR report will be carried out in teams.

Content and scheduling

There are no contact lessons during this study unit. You will work online, both individually and in a team, and actively participate in the online discussions and carry out the assignments.

1. Our Earth, individual work

What is biodiversity? How is it influenced by my footprint? What choices do I have?

All our actions have an effect on the environment but what are the main threats the world is facing?

In the first part of our study unit you will explore the environmental challenges the world is facing.


2. Social Responsibility, individual work

Organizations around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the need for socially responsible behavior. A socially responsible organization has a good reputation, is able to attract and retain workers and customers, and is able to maintain its employees' morale and commitment.

ISO 26000 provides guidance for all types of organizations on concepts, terms, definitions, principles, and the core issues of social responsibility. GRI reporting system helps the companies to communicate the impact of business on critical sustainability issues.

3. Economic Responsibility, individual work

Organizations have economic responsibilities to their stakeholders: investors, employees and customers. Profitability is important as well as transparency in giving information about how the organization is run.

GDP is a widely-used indicator of a nations' economic success. What are the shortcomings of this measure? Is it actually a good indicator of well-being?

What is HDI? What are externalities? You will learn to define these in this third part of the study unit.

4. CSR Report, team work

You will now summarize everything you have learned so far.

In teams you will write a report where you describe the environmental, social and economic responsibilities including circular economy of an organization of your choice. Find / choose a small- or medium-sized company (SME*), interview a company representative and describe the company’s best practices in the above areas (environmental, social and economic).

Feel free to include photographs showing examples of innovative practices. Your final report, excluding pictures, should be 5-10 pages.

5. Learning diary, individual work

You are required to compile all your contributions to any discussions in the individual learning diary.

Further information for students

There are no contact lessons during this study unit. You will work online, both individually and in teams, and actively participate in online discussions and carry out assignments.

You are supposed to work with the diary during the whole study unit i.e. starting from the very first week.

You will be required to write reports individually and in teams. Please note that all reports are submitted automatically to Urkund for plagiarism detection.

You are required to compile all your contributions to any discussions in the individual learning diary.

See the schedule for more detailed information.
Evaluation

The study unit will be evaluated based on your individual assignments, active discussion on each topic, team report and learning diary.

1. Our Earth, individual work, Pass/Fail

2. Social Responsibility, individual work, Pass/Fail

3. Economic Responsibility, individual work, Pass/Fail

4. CSR Report, team work (40%), grade 1-5

5. Learning diary, individual work (60%), grade 1-5

Your individual assignments will be taken into consideration when calculating your final grade.

All these parts must be completed before the final grade is given. The final grade is lowered by at least 0.5 if any work is submitted late. Please note that active discussion is required during the discussion weeks. If you fail to take part in any discussions, you are required to write a summary of that week's discussion.

Grading scale

H-5