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MN50528: Sustainable business practices

[Page last updated: 15 October 2020]

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2020/1
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: School of Management
Further information on credits Credits: 3      [equivalent to 6 CATS credits]
Further information on notional study hours Notional Study Hours: 60
Further information on unit levels Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Further information on teaching periods Period:
Modular (no specific semester)
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Coursework (CW 100%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Description: Aims:
Sustainability is a fascinating and often frustrating set of complex issues that integrate key environmental, social and economic challenges faced by organisations and the broader society. In this unit, we investigate some of the key tools necessary for better understanding and enacting sustainability within organisation to improve the competitive advantage and impact our organisations have on society. The aims of this course are:
* To discuss what we mean by sustainability and how the business case is constructed;
* To evaluate the impacts of our organisations and our relationships to other stakeholders;
* To examine key tools and systems that help us to create and maintain a robust sustainability strategy and governance structure;
* To identify how we can best think about and communicate these activities more broadly and;
* To examine how we might best work for change within organisations to achieve progress on sustainability.

Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module students will possess tools and resources so that they will be able to:
* Understand sustainability through a business lens;
* Recognize and apply several sustainability tools;
* Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of these tools for improving the sustainability of an organisation; and Be aware of new ways of thinking about organisational issues that help support more fundamental change to the megatrend of sustainability.

Skills:

* Effectively communicate and sustainability ideas and tools in writing (T, F,A)
* Critically evaluate theories and approaches from multiple disciplinary foundations to sustainability issues and challenges (T, F, A)
* Interpret data and evidence regarding sustainability issues (T, F, A)
* Improve application of sustainability skills through critical reading, data collection and the production of written work. (F, A)

Content:
Throughout the unit we will focus on a number of issues related to how and why sustainability is practiced in particular ways. These typically include such things as negotiating with stakeholders in the development of sustainability strategies and the opportunities and pitfalls associated with this, how responses to sustainability issues are communicated and the impacts of these, and examples of how sustainability gets done within organisations.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

MN50528 is Optional on the following programmes:

School of Management

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2020/21 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2021/22 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2020/21.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.