GD600 – Green Business Management & Leadership
Master of Science in Green and Digital Management
Core Course
GD600 – Green Business Management & Leadership
Course Unit Code: GD600
Type Of Unit: Core
Level of Course Unit: Second cycle
Year of Study: First/second year
Semester: On demand
Number of ECTS Credits: 6
Class Contact Hours: 28
Mode of Delivery
Course Objectives
Business history is marked by periods of relative stability punctuated by fundamental shifts in the competitive landscape that create inescapable threats and game-changing opportunities. Sustainability is an emerging business ‘megatrend’ that will profoundly affect companies’ competitiveness and even their survival. It is imperative to create a vision to move systematically through four stages of value creation, and then establish and integrate execution capabilities in five key areas: leadership, assessment, strategy development, management integration, and reporting and communication. Sustainable business is developing faster than ever before, with new concerns and concepts emerging, and the expectations from the business world are that change comes from the top. The objectives of this course are to introduce students to the key principles behind green business management and to develop students’ leadership skills by shifting to a long-term, broad-visioned, collaborative mindset. Learning in this course will be reinforced by practical application opportunities via case studies and simulation role plays.
Learning Outcomes
- Critically evaluate ‘sustainability’ as a new ‘megatrend’ and explain the importance of developing early capabilities in leadership, tools and assessment methods, strategy development, management integration, and reporting and communication.
- Apply the framework for capturing the eco-premium: how to move from tactical, ad hoc, and siloed approaches to strategic, systematic, and integrated approaches.
- Develop techniques and strategies to convince people to support your transformational ideas.
- Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the principles and concepts behind green business management, in particular of the Business Charter for Sustainable Development.
- Critically assess your leadership skills and employ techniques to shift to a long-term, broad-visioned, collaborative mindset.
Course Content
Course Features
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Lectures; in-class discussion and debates; in-class exercises; problem sets; team work; case studies, team presentations, interactive online learning via Moodle (quizzes, assignments, forums)
Assessment methods and criteria
10% Class Participation
30% Group Work in class(case workshop)
60% Final Assignment
Language of Instruction
English
Work Placement(s)
Not applicable
Readings
Lectures, articles, case studies, reports, and other course materials are available via CIIM Moodle.
Case examples for the workshop:
Unilever’s New Global Strategy: Competing through Sustainability – by HBS (2018) https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/916414-PDF- ENG?Ntt=sustainability%20business%20management%20and%20leadershi p
(Learning Objective: To analyze the appropriateness of a radically different transformational global corporate strategy; To review the requirements for effective organization transformational change; To explore the nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR), including the power, challenges and feasibility of integrating it at the core of corporate strategy; To evaluate the effectiveness of a CEO and a corporate leadership team; To evaluate future options, decide on action, and translate broad strategic proposals and a specific action steps.)
Echoing Green – by HBS (2012) https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/410013- PDF-ENG?Ntt=green%20business%20management%20and%20leadership (This case presents the leadership challenges that Cheryl Dorsey, the president of Echoing Green, faces in early 2009. Echoing Green is a fellowship program that seeks to improve society by identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs who launch organizations to attack some of the world’s most difficult problems.)
Recommended reading:
1. Lubin, D. & Esty, D. (2010, May 1). The Sustainability Imperative. Harvard Business Review https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/R1005A-PDF- ENG?Ntt=R1005A
2. ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development (2015). https://iccwbo.org/publication/icc-business-charter-for-sustainable- development-business-contributions-to-the-un-sustainable-development- goals/
3. Green Innovation Games: Value-Creation Strategies for Corporate Sustainability (2014). California Management Review https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/CMR583-PDF- ENG?Ntt=green%20innovation
4. Laurens, R. (2019). Get Fit for Digital Business: A Six-Step Workout Plan to Get Your Organisation in Great Shape to Thrive in a Connected Commercial World. Routledge.
5. Kane, G. (2011). The Green executive: Corporate Leadership in a Low Carbon Economy. Routledge.
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