Sustainability and social entrepreneurship
A.A. 2024/2025
Obiettivi formativi
Whether it is ample access to sustainable energy, equitable stewardship of Earth's ecosystems to counter climate change, food security or poverty eradication, entrepreneurship is taking a leading role in the search for sustainable solutions to the most pressing, wicked problems of society. At the intersection of business, government and nonprofits, social and sustainable entrepreneurs are increasingly visible and having an impact on local and global scales.
Building on the most recent advancements in entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainability, the course will provide students with the opportunity to learn how to apply business knowledge and skills to address complex social and environmental problems.
Students will first address the complexity of sustainability, as well as how related challenges are altering the social and competitive arena for companies and organizations, creating new threats and market opportunities. The focus will then move on knowledge and tools to sustain social and sustainable opportunity identification and exploitation. Social and sustainable business planning will be addressed along the stages of entrepreneurial discovery, with a focus on hybrid business models and supportive ecosystems. Moreover, recent advancements in the field of innovation for social change will be reviewed, with a focus on bottom of the pyramid strategies, scaling opportunities, and cross-sector social partnerships.
Building on the most recent advancements in entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainability, the course will provide students with the opportunity to learn how to apply business knowledge and skills to address complex social and environmental problems.
Students will first address the complexity of sustainability, as well as how related challenges are altering the social and competitive arena for companies and organizations, creating new threats and market opportunities. The focus will then move on knowledge and tools to sustain social and sustainable opportunity identification and exploitation. Social and sustainable business planning will be addressed along the stages of entrepreneurial discovery, with a focus on hybrid business models and supportive ecosystems. Moreover, recent advancements in the field of innovation for social change will be reviewed, with a focus on bottom of the pyramid strategies, scaling opportunities, and cross-sector social partnerships.
Risultati apprendimento attesi
Participants in this course will lean what role management students can play at the initiation of social and sustainable change. They will know how to set the boundaries of social and sustainable entrepreneurship and understand the steps through which a typical process for social change unfolds. In so doing, participants will learn a vocabulary for thinking and communication about social and sustainable values. Additionally, students will apply knowledge and understanding to the identification, exploitation and scalability of social and sustainable opportunities.
Periodo: Secondo trimestre
Modalità di valutazione: Esame
Giudizio di valutazione: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Corso singolo
Questo insegnamento può essere seguito come corso singolo.
Programma e organizzazione didattica
Edizione unica
Responsabile
Periodo
Secondo trimestre
Programma
The course consists in the following topics:
PART A
SETTING THE STAGE: SUSTAINABILITY FROM THE CORPORATE PERSPECTIVE: The first part of the course will provide an overview of environmental and social megatrends and their implications for the private sector. Key events and theories in the evolution of corporate sustainability will be presented together with the main drivers behind its emergence. Risks and opportunities for companies will be introduced, with a focus on the evolution of corporate posture towards sustainability, from compliance to strategic integration, and their performance implications.
PART B
PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: PROCESSES AND TOOLS: The second part of the course will delve into how to plan and implement a sustainability strategy. The key steps of a sustainability program implementation process will be overviewed. Moreover, the black box of corporate sustainability will be opened with specific regard to the implications for corporate functions. The accountability implications of sustainability integration will be also discussed with a focus on non-financial and sustainability reporting.
PART C
THE STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVE: ACTORS AND ISSUES: Given the complexity of addressing sustainability challenges, companies have to define priorities based on relevance. This topic will be addressed in the third part of the course with a specific focus on stakeholder management and materiality assessment. Students will also learn how companies can work together with different stakeholders, at the different stages of the value chain and on specific stakeholder-related topics.
PART D
SUSTAINABILITY AS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITY: sustainability is increasingly viewed as an entrepreneurial opportunity for new business creation. Social and green entrepreneurship is becoming one of the milestones of the corporate sustainability movement, leading to the emergence of new approaches and planning tools. A process-based view of social and sustainable entrepreneurship will be introduced, starting from opportunity identification and ending-up with opportunity exploitation into a running organizational form and scalability to maximize social and environmental change. New legal forms and hybrid business models will be presented to give an overview of current dynamics in the field of social and sustainable innovation.
PART A
SETTING THE STAGE: SUSTAINABILITY FROM THE CORPORATE PERSPECTIVE: The first part of the course will provide an overview of environmental and social megatrends and their implications for the private sector. Key events and theories in the evolution of corporate sustainability will be presented together with the main drivers behind its emergence. Risks and opportunities for companies will be introduced, with a focus on the evolution of corporate posture towards sustainability, from compliance to strategic integration, and their performance implications.
PART B
PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: PROCESSES AND TOOLS: The second part of the course will delve into how to plan and implement a sustainability strategy. The key steps of a sustainability program implementation process will be overviewed. Moreover, the black box of corporate sustainability will be opened with specific regard to the implications for corporate functions. The accountability implications of sustainability integration will be also discussed with a focus on non-financial and sustainability reporting.
PART C
THE STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVE: ACTORS AND ISSUES: Given the complexity of addressing sustainability challenges, companies have to define priorities based on relevance. This topic will be addressed in the third part of the course with a specific focus on stakeholder management and materiality assessment. Students will also learn how companies can work together with different stakeholders, at the different stages of the value chain and on specific stakeholder-related topics.
PART D
SUSTAINABILITY AS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITY: sustainability is increasingly viewed as an entrepreneurial opportunity for new business creation. Social and green entrepreneurship is becoming one of the milestones of the corporate sustainability movement, leading to the emergence of new approaches and planning tools. A process-based view of social and sustainable entrepreneurship will be introduced, starting from opportunity identification and ending-up with opportunity exploitation into a running organizational form and scalability to maximize social and environmental change. New legal forms and hybrid business models will be presented to give an overview of current dynamics in the field of social and sustainable innovation.
Prerequisiti
To feel comfortable in this course, students should have general background in management, management of innovation, performance management and control systems, organization and business planning.
Metodi didattici
The course is based on active teaching methodologies aimed at maximizing students' participation. In addition to face-to-face lectures, attending students will be involved in the discussion of case studies and incidents obtained using real-life examples. Guest speaker's talks will be organized, as well as group projects, role playing and simulations.
Materiale di riferimento
The course is based on a blend of materials, ranging from book chapters, case histories, articles, teaching notes, and presentations.
The handbook is mandatory for attending and non-attending students:
Rasche, Andreas, et al., eds. Corporate Sustainability: Managing Responsible Business in a Globalised World. Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Additional readings, case studies and class material will be detailed in the class syllabus and made available to registered students through Ariel.
The handbook is mandatory for attending and non-attending students:
Rasche, Andreas, et al., eds. Corporate Sustainability: Managing Responsible Business in a Globalised World. Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Additional readings, case studies and class material will be detailed in the class syllabus and made available to registered students through Ariel.
Modalità di verifica dell’apprendimento e criteri di valutazione
Attending students
The final grade will consist of the following components:
End-of-term exam: 50%
Group assignment: 50%
The end-of-term exam tests the knowledge obtained by attending the classes and studying the materials. It will consist of a mix of multiple-choice questions and short-essay questions (e.g. concept questions or cases analysis).
The group assignment will consist of the development of a sustainability plan for a company dealing with sustainability challenges. Details will be provided in class.
Non attending students
Written exam to test knowledge obtained studying provided material (handbook and additional readings). As for attending students, the exam will consist of open-ended and multiple-choice questions. But the non-attending and attending exams have different questions.
The final grade will consist of the following components:
End-of-term exam: 50%
Group assignment: 50%
The end-of-term exam tests the knowledge obtained by attending the classes and studying the materials. It will consist of a mix of multiple-choice questions and short-essay questions (e.g. concept questions or cases analysis).
The group assignment will consist of the development of a sustainability plan for a company dealing with sustainability challenges. Details will be provided in class.
Non attending students
Written exam to test knowledge obtained studying provided material (handbook and additional readings). As for attending students, the exam will consist of open-ended and multiple-choice questions. But the non-attending and attending exams have different questions.
SECS-P/08 - ECONOMIA E GESTIONE DELLE IMPRESE - CFU: 9
Lezioni: 60 ore
Docenti:
Pitzolu Davide, Vurro Clodia
Docente/i
Ricevimento:
Le date del ricevimento sono disponibili al link. E' richiesta l'iscrizione
Skype account: clodia.vurro