This course addresses key topics in corporate social responsibility (CSR) relevant for students in all profiles of the master programme. On what basis can decisions be made in situations where shareholder and stakeholder interests conflict? How can managers, citizens and governments reason about the role of corporations in society? What should managers know about how their decisions and activities affect the behaviour of consumers, employees, investors and other stakeholders? These questions will be studied from an ethical perspective and from an economic perspective.
The course focuses on possible tensions between what is profitable in business, and what is ethical. The aim is to teach the student how to analyze and understand the strategic side of CSR (how corporate social responsibility affects profitability), and the normative side of CSR (how ought managers/corporations to act, and what is the role of corporations in society). The lectures will draw on theory and evidence from several disciplines, including ethics, economics, management, and political science. Ethically challenging phenomena such as corruption will be discussed to illustrate main points and lessons from the course.
The course has three main parts. Part 1 looks at the implications of ethical theories and perspectives for corporate obligations. Part 2 discusses the strategic side of CSR. Part 3 critically discusses the impact and future of CSR in an increasingly globalized world.