MGMT230-20S1 (C) Semester One 2020

Business, Society and the Environment

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2020
End Date: Sunday, 21 June 2020
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 28 February 2020
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 29 May 2020

Description

This course is a general introduction to the changing responsibilities of business to society and the environment. This course is designed to 1) help you to understand current perspectives on the impact of business on climate change globalisation, and consumerism, and, 2) to help you analyse and develop ways in which business organisations respond ethically to the needs of society and the environment. Each of the topics is addressed at a global, national and organisational level.

This is a blended learning course and as such has some face-to-face lectures, with some online only classes to give you more flexibility. This course taps into various disciplines with the aim of creating not only a holistic overview that more accurately reflects the kaleidoscopic nature of sustainability within the context of business, but also combines insights from different disciplines in order to suggest concrete practical and viable solutions to environmental and social problems we are facing. This course allows you to get a taste of these disciplines and to learn what you can do in your own career to address the challenges of reconciling business with environmental sustainability. The course is designed in a way that it provides a brief overview of the roles that business, globalization, consumerism and environmentalism play in today’s world, with particular focus on sustainability.  

Relationship to Other Courses
This course is a required course for students majoring in Human Resource Management (HRM) or the Science Sustainability Endorsement. It builds a foundation for MGMT333, Managing Corporate Responsibility.

Workload
Work load for this course, in terms of class preparation, review, assignments, and readings is about 10 hours per week.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of the course you should be able to:
  • Identify and discuss forces that shape business activities and vice-versa. In particular, the environment, consumerism and globalisation.
  • Identify and discuss conflicting ideologies of the social and environmental responsibilities of business and how these affect business practices.
  • Identify useful and successful practices for responding to the needs of society and the environment.
  • Evaluate such practices in relation to a sample of New Zealand companies.

    B.Com. Learning Goals
    1) Graduates can demonstrate advanced knowledge of their selected subject major, informed by the broader context of commerce.
  • Students will understand the broader context of commerce through a global, environmental and consumption lens.
    2) Graduates are able to use analytical thinking and problem-solving skills to address specific problems.
  • Students will be able to analyse a specific environmental issue, such as climate change, and convincingly present the facts on such an issue in a way that is relevant to business.
    3) Graduates can understand issues from a range of ethical, global and multicultural perspectives.
  • Students can identify the implications of key personal and business decisions for a range of stakeholders, including the environment.
    4) Graduates are able to communicate effectively both orally and in written form.
  • Written and oral communication is assessed in this course.
    • University Graduate Attributes

      This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

      Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

      Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

      Employable, innovative and enterprising

      Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

      Biculturally competent and confident

      Students will be aware of and understand the nature of biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, and its relevance to their area of study and/or their degree.

      Globally aware

      Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.

Prerequisites

60 points

Restrictions

Equivalent Courses

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Michaela Balzarova

Tutor

Afshin Tanouri

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Analysis and Letter 10 Mar 2020 30% Analysis and Letter
Volunteering 28 Apr 2020 30% Volunteering
Online Classes 10% Online Classes
In-class Test 27 May 2020 30% In-class Test


Assessment in this course is designed to measure the extent to which a student is able to recognise and apply marketing concepts. It is also intended to reward those who:
• Consistently do the readings and other assessment on schedule,
• Regularly attend lectures

Weightings and descriptions of the various pieces of assessment are as follows:

Analysis and Letter – 30%: 2500 words (+/- 10%) not including your reference list
For this assessment you will write an analysis on an important aspect of business that negatively impacts society. You will analyse the issue and its impact as well as potential solutions to the issue. Along with this analysis you will also be assessed on a draft letter directed at a company/the Government/a local body that tries to convince them to adopt your solution. You will not be sending these letters unless the lecturer identifies particularly exemplary ones.

Volunteering Reflection – 30%: 2500 words (+/- 10%) not including your reference list
For this assessment you will sign up to and then participate in one volunteering event during the semester. Some options for volunteering (though you may come up with your own ideas too) are: Student Volunteer Army http://www.sva.org.nz/ Volunteering Canterbury http://volcan.org.nz and Christchurch City Council https://www.ccc.govt.nz/parks-and-gardens/volunteer  After your experience, you will write a reflective paper relating theory and concepts from the course to your experience.

Online Lessons – 10%
As this is a blended learning class, some of your classes take place online instead of face-to-face. This gives you more flexibility with when you would like to undertake the classes. Online classes are scheduled as per the lecture outline. You will need to undertake these interactive lessons on Learn by the due date. However, all of these classes will be available from week 1. I encourage you to look forward in your schedule and undertake them before the due date to lighten your stress levels. Each of the online classes is worth 5% of your final grade.

In-Class Test – 30%

Grading
The marks for each piece of assessment may be standardized before a final grade is determined.

Holding of Student Work
For quality assurance purposes the School is required to hold on record a number of assessment pieces as examples of differing standards of work.  If you have any objections to the School holding your assessment for this purpose then email the Course Coordinator to ensure your assignment is not used for this purpose.

Late Assignments
Assignments submitted after the due date without an extension being granted by the Lecturer will have 10% of the mark deducted for every day or part day the assignment is late.  Assignments will not be accepted for marking if the assignment is submitted any later than 5 days after the due date.

The Learning Process
It is YOUR responsibility to learn the material for this course to the standard you set for yourself.  The resources outlined below will aid you in this process, but ultimately you will get out of this course what you put into it.
 
The measures used to determine how successfully you have learnt the material will be outlined in an objective sheet given out at the start of each section of the course.

Learning Resources
This course is heavily based on the following textbook. You are strongly encouraged to purchase one and make the most of it during this course. This textbook will be prescribed again next year which gives you an opportunity to re-sell to one lucky student the following year.

Kopnina, H. and Blewitt, J. (2015) Sustainable Business, Key Issues in Environment and Sustainability, Routledge, London.

Lecture notes will be uploaded on Learn and lectures delivered in class will be recorded. Please note that online lectures will not be recorded!

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Kopnina, Helen. , Blewitt, John; Sustainable business : key issues ; Routledge, 2015.

Notes

Class Representative
A class representative may be asked to volunteer in the first few weeks of class. Any problems with the course can be raised with the class rep. Their email can be found at UCSA. The class representative will take up any issues raised by class members with the lecturer concerned as they occur.

Departmental Academic Policies
The Department assumes that you have read this document.

You should also read the General Course and Examination Regulations

Dishonest Practice
The University of Canterbury considers cheating and plagiarism to be serious acts of dishonesty.  All assessed work must be your own individual work unless specifically stated otherwise in the assessment guidelines. Material quoted from any other source must be clearly acknowledged. You must not copy the work of another person (student or published work) in any assessment including examinations, tests and assignments. Any person, who is found to have copied someone else's work, or to have allowed their work to be copied, will receive a fail grade for that piece of assessment and may face disciplinary action which may lead to a fine, community service or exclusion from the university.

IMPORTANT: Where there are concerns regarding the authorship of written course work, a student can be required to provide a formal, oral explanation of the content of their work.


Citations and referencing

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $822.00

International fee $3,688.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Management, Marketing and Tourism .

All MGMT230 Occurrences