nbsp;
Interdisciplinary Elective (IEL-B-3+5-WPM-IEL)
Department
- Bachelor's program Management & Law
Course unit code
- IEL-B-3+5-WPM-IEL
Level of course unit
- Bachelor
Year of study
- Spring 2024
Semester when the course unit is delivered
- 5
Number of ECTS credits allocated
- 5.0
Name of lecturer(s)
- Huter Lucas, BA MSc MA
Learning outcomes of the course unit
- With the course “Interdisciplinary Elective”, we aim to develop your general management knowledge and your problem-solving skills in the field of responsible and sustainable management. The course comprises an interactive mix of lectures, discussions, and individual and group exercises which will allow you to investigate and experience the interrelationships of business and its societal and ecologi-cal environment and the role of responsible management therin. Furthermore, you will have a chance to reflect on your approaches and perspectives. Having completed this course, you will have acquired sound theoretical knowledge and developed practical skills so that you are able to:
• define basic concepts such as corporate social responsibility, sustainability, triple bottom line, and stakeholder approach.
• understand the role of businesses in society as well as the interrelationships between business and society.
• analyze the impact of business decisions and behaviors from a multi-stakeholder perspective.
• appraise the role of social entrepreneurship in overcoming societal and environmental challenges.
• form, articulate, and evaluate arguments related to responsible and sustainable management.
• reflect on your approach, perspectives, and behaviors as part of society and as (future) managers and leaders.
Mode of delivery
- face-to-face
Recommended optional program components
- none
Course contents
- In a world characterized by “polycrisis” (e.g., global pandemic, climate crisis, and environmental disasters, social inequalities), entrepreneurs need to navigate VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environments as the new normal.
Prioritizing the needs of all life forms and of the planet by ensuring that human activity does not exceed planetary boundaries is an integral aspect of the new normal. Entrepreneurial thinking therefore increasingly requires developing future-oriented skills in order to deal with the rapidly changing environment.
This is where we come in – you will have the chance to apply futures thinking tools in the context of innovation processes and lay the foundation for sustainable entrepreneurial decisions.
Our focus in this elective is to promote future-oriented entrepreneurial thinking for everyone, whether you are an employee or want to implement your own entrepreneurial idea in the future. We will work together to develop the skills and competencies to enable you to create a sustainable future addressing global changes.
According to UNESCO, this skill set, called “futures literacy”, is essential for the 21st century as it empowers the imagination, and enhances our ability to prepare, recover and invent as changes occur" (UNESCO, 2021).
Following a structured hands-on approach, you will experience and apply innovative and creative approaches such as design sprints, futures literacy labs, and gamification approaches relevant to practice.
Insights from anticipation to strategic foresight can enhance futures thinking capabilities and increase resilience by relying on tools such as trend analyses, scenario methods, etc. In this way, you can not only critically reflect on the status quo of different industries but also explore different visions/futures of these industries and work on the implementation of their respective futures.
Recommended or required reading
- Ferrel, O.C., Thorne, D., & Ferrel, L. (2021). Business and Society. A Strategic Approach to Social Re-sponsibility & Ethics. Chicago Business Press.Carrol, A.B., Brown, J.A., & Buchholtz, A.K. (2017). Business & Society: Ethics, Sustainability & Stake-holder Management (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Clark, C.E., Chang, K.K., & Melvin, S.P. (2021). Business and Society. Ethical, Legal, and Digital Envi-ronments. Sage.
Laasch, O. & Conaway, R. (2017). Responsible Business. The Textbook for Management Learning, Competence and Innovation. Routledge.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
- The course comprises an interactive mix of lectures, discussions, and individual and group exercises which will allow you to investigate and experience the interrelationships of business and its societal and ecological environment and the role of responsible management therin.
Language of instruction
- English
Work placement(s)
- none