Università Roma Tre

The aim of the course is to present the main aspects of CSR and to promote among the students the awareness about ethical issues and the ability to recognize and adopt sustainable and ethical behaviour in carrying out the managerial practices. The course is organized in 3 modules that deliver 9 ECTS (60 hours lessons). The 3 modules will propose three different perspectives for studying and understanding the CSR and sustainability concepts:
1) Managerial module (Prof. Renzi);
2) Economics module (Prof. De Muro);
3) Juridical module (Dr. Sole).

Program
The course examines principles, models, and tools concerning business ethics, through a triple approach that integrates three different perspectives: economic, managerial and legal.

The Managerial module addresses the following topics:
* CSR Framework
* Strategic Management of Stakeholder Relationships
* Business Ethics and Ethical Decision-Making
* Strategic Approaches to Improving Ethical Behavior
* Consumer Relations
* Technology Issues
* Sustainability Issues
* Social Responsibility in a Global Environment
* Sharing Economy e gamification
The juridical module is intended to investigate CSR from a juridical perspective, the evolution of the sources of law and the relationship between social responsibility and legal responsibility.

Overview of the module: - Why CSR is on the Agenda today
- Legal Sources of CSR: International, European and National level
- From CSR to Sustainable development: functions and limitations
- The instruments of CSR: social rules and legal relevance
- Soft law and self-regulation
- The persistent skepticism about CSR: the role of Ethics
- The enforcement
- Environmental concerns as a driver of CSR
- Future perspectives
- Business case: an example of CSR application

The third module focuses on the relation between ethics, economics, and business, both in economic analysis and management. To do so, it makes three simple points. First, economics necessarily involves ethics, and economists and managers cannot engage in economic analysis and decision-making without making value judgments. Second, individuals have ethical values that shape their behaviour and affect what happens in the economy as a result of their interactions. Third, ethical values are involved in evaluating how an economy is doing and in making and appraising business decisions.

The lessons are interactive and will include classwork, case studies and project work.

Legal module: Business and Society, 6e, A Strategic Approach to Social Responsibility & Ethics by Ferrell, Thorne, Ferrell. Chapters: 4,11. Teaching material provided in class.
Managerial module: Business and Society, 6e, A Strategic Approach to Social Responsibility & Ethics by Ferrell, Thorne, Ferrell. Chapters: 1,2,5,6,8,10,11
Fassin, Y. (2009). The stakeholder model refined. Journal of business ethics.
Economic module: Amitava Krishna Dutt and Charles K. Wilber, Economics and Ethics: An Introduction, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013 (excluding chapters 8, 9, 10). [Additional readings: W. Michael Hoffman, Robert Frederick and Mark S Schwartz, Business ethics: readings and cases about corporate morality, Chichester, West Sussex : Wiley, 2014; Amartya Sen, On Ethics and Economics, Oxford: Blackwell, 1987.]

The course examines principles, models, and tools concerning business ethics, through a triple approach that integrates three different perspectives: economic, managerial and legal.

The Managerial module faces the following topics:

* CSR Framework

* The Agenda 2030 and the 17 goals

* Strategic Management of Stakeholder Relationships

* Business Ethics and Ethical Decision-Making

* Strategic Approaches to Improving Ethical Behavior

* Consumer Relations

* Technology Issues

* Sustainability Issues

* Social Responsibility in a Global Environment

* Sharing Economy e gamification

The juridical module is intended to investigate CSR from a juridical perspective, the evolution of the sources of law and the relationship between social responsibility and legal responsibility.

Overview of the module: - Why CSR is on the Agenda today

- Legal Sources of CSR: International, European and National level

- From CSR to Sustainable development: functions and limitations

- The instruments of CSR: social rules and legal relevance

- Soft law and self-regulation

- The persistent skepticism on CSR: the role of Ethics

- The enforcement

- Environmental concerns as a driver of CSR

- Future perspectives

- Business case: an example of CSR application

The third module focuses on the relation between ethics, economics, and business, both in economic analysis and management. To do so, it makes three simple points. First, economics necessarily involves ethics, and economists and managers cannot engage in economic analysis and decision-making without making value judgments. Second, individuals have ethical values that shape their behaviour and affect what happens in the economy as a result of their interactions. Third, ethical values are involved in evaluating how an economy is doing and in making and appraising business decisions.

The lessons are interactive and will include the theoretical perspective, case studies and project work.

Legal module: Business and Society, 6e, A Strategic Approach to Social Responsibility & Ethics by Ferrell, Thorne, Ferrell. Chapters: 4,11. Teaching material provided in class.
Managerial module: Business and Society, 6e, A Strategic Approach to Social Responsibility & Ethics by Ferrell, Thorne, Ferrell. Chapters: 1,2,5,6,8,10,11
Fassin, Y. (2009). The stakeholder model refined. Journal of business ethics.
Economic module: Amitava Krishna Dutt and Charles K. Wilber, Economics and Ethics: An Introduction, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Additional readings:
W. Michael Hoffman, Robert Frederick and Mark S Schwartz, Business ethics: readings and cases about corporate morality, Chichester, West Sussex : Wiley, 2014.
Amartya Sen, On Ethics and Economics, Oxford: Blackwell, 1987