Lecture Notes
These are the lecture notes for the course Sustainable Business at Oslo Business School/Oslo Metropolitan University. The course is an introduction course to sustainable business for 3rd year business administration students. The course has a Nordic perspective and most examples are from Norway. All the contents is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Contents
1 Introduction to sustainable business. What is sustainable business. The social, environmental and economic dimensions. CSR and ESG. The UN Sustainable development goals. Why is business not (more or less) sustainable?
Must the ice-cream van become silent? Discussion case
2 From shareholders to stakeholders. The shareholder perspective. Stakeholder theory. Stakeholder dialogue.
3 Business and global warming. Global warming. Consequences of climate change. Understanding and managing global warming. Business and global warming. Adaptation to climate change.
4 Environmental sustainability. Pollution. Resource use. Planetary boundaries. Theoretical perspectives on managing natural resources.
5 Social sustainability. Social sustainability. Relevant social sustainability issues.
6 Why should a company be sustainable? The business case for sustainability. Pressures from the outside. Regulation. Legitimacy. Because it is right.
7 Innovating for sustainability. Sustainable business models. Product-service systems. The sharing economy. Creating shared value.
8 Leading and organizing sustainability The role of the CEO and board. The sustainability manager. Supply chain collaboration. Industry self-regulation. Certifications.
9 Sustainability reporting. Sustainability reporting. External sustainability measurement and ratings.
10 Sustainable finance. Screening. Active ownership. Causes and consequences of sustainable finance.
11 Sustainable production and consumption. The circular economy. Industrial ecology.
12 Sustainable marketing. The sustainable 4 p’s. Marketing and greenwashing. Using marketing to influence consumer behaviour.
13 Alternative models for business. Different types of business organizations. Degrowth and green growth. The role of the business school.