CSR Beyond the Mainstream - Session 1

CSR Beyond the Mainstream - Session 1 Notes

• The course is titled CSR Beyond the Mainstream, Session 1: Managing responsibly: The basics, taught by Dr Berill Blair.

• The course structure is outlined as "Know, think, act, interact"

• Know: expand knowledge bank

• Think: put learned material into context

• Act: engage with knowledge purposefully

• Interact: connect, collaborate, and co-design with others

• Visual cues for the course information are explained

• The icons on slides represent concepts covered in lectures only; lecture slides and bonus resources are best sources for exam preparation

• The 11 sustainable development goals (UN) are highlighted to help connect course content to the SDGs.

• The "Think" icons indicate learning pathways that focus on competency mastery. The "Know" label is not used to avoid confusion.

• Session 1 is about defining managerial success and competencies in a systemic context through activity: World Cafe & CSR management in practice: introduction.

• Key terms for the session include: managerial competencies, responsible leadership, social-ecological systems, sphere of influence, stakeholders, planetary Boundaries and corporate sustainability.

• The operations input-process-output model (Walley, 2017) is introduced. Management input resources, managing processes (flow, design, planning, scheduling, etc.), and managing outputs (products, customer satisfaction, costs, environmental impact, etc.) are shown.

• Responsible management is the link between input, process, and outputs. Efficiency and effectiveness are key managerial elements in responsible management.

• Efficiency and effectiveness as responsibility include evaluating the creation of value and the avoidance of harm in achieving goals, with a focus on stakeholders.

• Responsible management requires competencies in various areas.

• The learning pathways include spatial-temporal links, futures literacy, social-ecological thinking, stakeholder innovation, ethical and responsible leadership, and people, process, and participation.

• Social-ecological systems involve the intertwined relationships between human and natural elements. A system is defined as a whole and its related and connected parts.  

• Social-ecological systems involve the interwoven relationship between people, societies, culture, and the environment. Ice cellars in Alaska are a key example of this social-ecological system.

• The course is designed using the 'know, think, act, interact' learning pathways.

• Corporate sustainability rests on the changing nature of the relationship between business, nature, and society.

• Sustainability is presented as the heart of responsible management. Sustainability is future-oriented but actions and policies are present-oriented.

•  Foresight is important for responsible decision-making related to sustainability.

• Corporate Sustainability Models, stakeholders (primary and secondary) & their categorization, stakeholder management steps including who are your stakeholders and what do they want, and various sources to locate stakeholders are presented.

• The slides explain different types of systems, including social, economic, and environmental, and how they relate.

• A World Cafe activity is presented as a way to explore the meaning of responsible management.

• The session aims to give participants an understanding of the elements of CSR, how to think about responsible management in practice, and to explore, experiment, and improvise as part of managing responsibly.

• Key takeaways from Chapter 1-2 of the textbook include that corporate sustainability is affected by the relationships between business, society, nature, and government, that these relationships have been changing historically, and that issues are outlined through the ESG and SDG frames.

• The slides present factors that are changing the context of businesses, nature, and society (e.g. increasing relevance of ESG challenges; digitalization and datafication; rising scope and scale of corporate activities; globalization and the lack of global governance).

• The Planetary Boundaries Framework is described with a focus on the safe operating limitations for the Earth system. This presents the five major environmental transgressions (deforestation, climate, biodiversity, biogeochemical flows, and novel entities) as key issues in corporate sustainability.

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also prominent topics presented with specific targets regarding poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, water, etc.

• Key concepts of the CSR include the definition of strategic foresight, the importance of responsible management in relation to sustainability, and the role of various stakeholders.

• Activity flow for the World Café is given to help participants define their understanding of responsible management. Included are group formations, roles, and discussion rounds.