The achievement of a balanced economic, social and environmental development – as expressed in the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development – is recognized as one of the major challenges humanity is facing today. What is less clear is whether and how organizations can generate business opportunities and value for their stakeholders while tackling such challenges.
Key Features
Students will learn
- (a) how to leverage corporate structures and nonprofits’ experience to undertake CSR activities that have real public benefit,
- (b) the relationship between philanthropy and corporate self-interest, and
- (c) how ventures can assess whether they are doing good CSR, exploring topics including measurement, attribution, and cost benefit analysis.
Key Points
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be described as embracing responsibility and encouraging a positive impact through the company’s activities related to the environment, consumers, employees, communities, and other stakeholders.
Corporate social responsibility may include philanthropic efforts, employee volunteering, and core strategies. Companies may benchmark their CSR performance relative to peers and may also report on CSR policies or undergo social audits.
Proponents of CSR argue that socially responsible practices can have a positive impact on the bottom line and may also argue for the recognition of a “triple bottom line” that rewards social, environmental, and financial returns.
Critics argue that CSR competes with shareholder value maximization and may be prone to “greenwashing”.
Key Terms
benchmark: A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.
shareholder: One who owns shares of stock in a business.
stakeholder: A person or organization with a legitimate interest in a given situation, action, or enterprise.
Benefits
- 1. You’ll Understand the Business Case for Sustainability
- 2. You’ll Learn Effective Business Strategies for Driving Change
- 3. You’ll Be Able to Create a Personal Action Plan
THE VALUE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TRAINING
Completing corporate social responsibility training brings a variety of benefits. Not only will such training help you understand the business case for embracing sustainability, but it will also arm you with specific strategies you can leverage in your business. The best training options will guide you through the process of creating a personal action plan so that you walk away fully prepared to put your education into action.
The online course Sustainable Business Strategy, for example, exemplifies each of the benefits discussed above. The course takes a case-based approach, exposing you to real challenges faced by large and well-known companies as they pursued various corporate social responsibility initiatives. These case studies perfectly illustrate the business case to be made for embracing CSR. Likewise, creating a personal action plan is built into the curriculum, and is a requirement for completing the course.
Whether you’re a business leader or manager, an aspiring entrepreneur, a CSR or consulting professional, or simply a purpose-driven individual looking to make a difference in the world, Sustainable Business Strategy can help you reach your goals.
Who should attend
Professionals in private companies, NGOs, international organizations and governments who are currently involved in CSR, or would like to be involved in CSR, and wish to apply and embed the concept of CSR in their institution.
