Corporate Sustainability Strategies Quiz

CSR Beyond the Mainstream - Seminar 2

• Seminar focuses on responsibility, ethics, and sustainability in management.
• A quiz based on session 1 readings is planned.
• Definitions of corporate sustainability, corporate responsibility, and business ethics will be provided.
• The role and responsibilities of CSR professionals are discussed.
• Integrating responsibility, ethics, and sustainability into management processes and corporate strategy is a key focus.
• Key concepts will include corporate sustainability and strategy, corporate social responsibility, business ethics, tensions in corporate sustainability, sustainability professional competencies, and ethical decision-making.
• A case study activity (Ethics Fishbowl), is scheduled for participants.
• Relevant chapters (3, 5, and 10) are recommended for further study.
• Seminar aims to develop competence in ethical and responsible leadership and acting with integrity and accountability for societal impact.

Defining Corporate Sustainability

• Corporate sustainability aims to manage and balance an enterprise's embeddedness in interconnected ecological, social, and economic systems.
• This creates long-term ecological balance, societal welfare, and stakeholder value.
• Economic, social, and environmental issues are complex systems impacting each other.
• Businesses, for instance, impact and are impacted by natural systems, including the Earth's climate.
• Corporate sustainability seeks to balance social, environmental, and economic interests while operating.
• Avoiding actions that benefit one sphere at the expense of another is critical.

Defining Strategy in Relation to Corporate Sustainability

• Strategy is defined as the long-term direction and scope of an organization.
• It aims to achieve advantage through resource configuration within a changing environment to meet market needs and fulfill stakeholder expectations.
• Strategic decisions are concerned with the entire firm, such as entering a product market.
• These decisions are forward-looking and risky.
• Strategic decisions aim to achieve competitive advantage for the corporation and meet stakeholder expectations.

Motivation for Corporate Engagement in Sustainability

• Corporate sustainability is motivated by various factors, including creating firm value.
• Firms face a responsibility to contribute to public goods.
• Corporate sustainability can be viewed as the right thing to do.
• Other actors in society expect certain actions from the firm.
• These motives can be instrumental, ethical, political or stakeholder-related.
• They are discussed in a circular representation in the notes.

Key Tensions Around Corporate Sustainability

• A tension exists between shareholder (economic) interests and stakeholder (social/environmental) interests.
• This tension is further complicated by internalization versus externalization and global versus local concerns.
• It represents trade-offs between different elements of sustainability.

Characteristics of Sustainability Professionals

• There is a tension between commercial goals (profit) and sustainability goals.
• Sustainability professionals face difficult tasks due to the complex nature of goals, often with limited resources.
• They often perceive their tasks as difficult.

Hard and Soft Skills of Sustainability Professionals

• Sustainability professionals need certain hard and soft skills to execute their job.
• Professionals have a tendency to possess various skill sets like process management, supply chain management, green building systems, risk assessments, scientific expertise, auditing, financial analysis, systems, thinking, sustainability reporting, project management, strategic planning.

Sustainability Professional Competencies

• Sustainability professionals require a wide range of competencies to effectively balance complex tasks.
• These competencies encompass cognition, functionality, social interactions, and conceptual approaches.

Necessity of Ethical Reflection for Corporate Sustainability

• Ethical reflection is needed to navigate the complex world of corporate sustainability.
• It's relevant to consider ethical frameworks alongside strategic planning.
• Ethical decision making is impacted by multiple biases.
• Considering compliance, integrity and ethics when making decisions can help to guide ethical conduct in corporations.

Three Main Normative Ethical Theories

• Key theories are Utilitarian, Duty-based, Virtue, and Posthuman.
• Each theory has unique aspects regarding morality, man, and focus.

Descriptive Ethics

• Descriptive ethical theories examine how ethical decision-making takes place.
• Factors considered are individual and situational.

Corporate Culture and Ethical Decision Making

• Corporate culture, reward systems, and national culture influence ethical decision-making.

Managing for Ethical Reflection in Corporations

• A compliance orientation focuses on following predefined rules, while an integrity orientation fosters ethical reflection.
• Compliance is a reactive process, while integrity is a proactive process.

Possibility of Ethical Reflection in the Context of Corporate Sustainability

• Corporations are viewed as collective actors with established norms and values that extend beyond individual members.
• They can be considered as independent actors.

Bringing About Sustainable Changes in Organizations

• Sustainability professionals may have difficulties integrating sustainability into mainstream management strategies.

Difficulties in Implementing Sustainability Strategies

• Measuring sustainability is difficult.
• Resistance to change in organizational structures can hinder improvements.
• Sustainability is a complex issue involving several stakeholder concerns requiring complex decision-making.

Corporate Sustainability Overview

• Corporate sustainability is about balancing economic, social, and environmental objectives.
• Ethical considerations are essential for sustainability initiatives.
• Sustainability professionals require diverse skills to navigate organizational challenges.

Ethics Fishbowl Activity

• This activity is designed to develop practical strategies to integrate ethics, responsibility, and sustainability in management.
• It involves discussions, observations, and evaluation in small groups.
• This is a small-group activity that involves two groups discussing given statements and presenting a balanced view of their perspectives.

Practical Tips for Instructors

• Guidelines for leading and facilitating the ethics fishbowl session are described.
• It emphasizes the need to remind participants of their role and give clear instructions for the inner and outer circles.
• Discussion topics are provided to guide the fishbowl activity.

Observer Guide for Ethics Fishbowl

• Instructions for participants observing the fishbowl discussion are provided.

Plenary Debrief

• Suggestions and guidelines for the subsequent plenary discussion about the ethics fishbowl are given.