BUS504 Sustainability in Management Practice (8)

Sustainability is moving from the margins to the centre of business thinking and practice. In this subject we investigate what businesses are doing to adopt a more sustainable approach and evaluate how businesses utilise sustainability as a source of competitive advantage. Looking at a number of Australian and international case studies, the subject will attempt to analyse how individual businesses are attempting to align their activities to address global sustainability challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity and ethical conduct.

After an initial introduction to sustainability and sustainable development, the subject presents a number of theories, models and strategic options for sustainable business. Subsequently this concept of corporate sustainability is analysed from the perspective of a variety of stakeholders - customers, suppliers, investors, employees, investors, employees, the natural environment, the broader community and civil society.

No offerings have been identified for this subject in 2020.

Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Management and Marketing

Enrolment Restrictions

Available only for Australian Graduate Management Consortium (AGMC) students.

Assumed Knowledge

Assumed knowledge for this subject is equivalent to that covered in MGT501, MBA501, MGT571 or MGT561.

Subject Relationships

MGT583 Paired Subject

Incompatible Subjects

MGT583

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
  • be able to research and evaluate the social and environmental risks and opportunities which impact on a particular business, use these to build a sustainability strategy for this business, and create a plan for improvement over the next two to three years.
  • be able to identify, analyse and describe how sustainability can provide a source of innovation and competitive advantage to businesses;
  • be able to evaluate how the concepts of ethical behaviour and corporate social responsibility can be integrated into a business's sustainability strategy;
  • be able to identify a range of frameworks for sustainability and assess a business's sustainability performance against these various frameworks;
  • be able to describe stakeholder theory and construct stakeholder maps for particular businesses; and
  • be able to define and explain the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development;

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:
  • Core concepts of sustainability and sustainable development
  • A review of the nature of the firm
  • Business from the perspective of Stakeholder Theory
  • Business ethics and corporate social responsibility
  • The many dimensions of sustainable business models
  • Sustainability as a source of competitive advantage
  • Sustainability and the 'triple bottom line' of economic, social and environmental accounting
  • A framework for sustainability - marketplace, workplace, environment and community
  • Sustainable finance and the ethical investor

The information contained in the CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: October 2020. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.

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