This document contains a summary of ALL LECTURES of the 2020/2021 edition of the course Corporate Social Responsibility offered at Universiteit van Amsterdam (course code: 6013B0525Y), which is part of the minor “Business Administration: Managing Strategy and Marketing” and the exchange program...
This document contains a summary of ALL LECTURES of the 2020/2021 edition of the
course Corporate Social Responsibility offered at Universiteit van Amsterdam (course code:
6013B0525Y), which is part of the minor “Business Administration: Managing Strategy and
Marketing” and the exchange programme of the Faculty of Economics and Business. Each
lecture has been summarized in depth and provides a solid overview of all discussed
content. All relevant tables and figures are included and explained.
Don’t forget to check out the summaries I made for both books used throughout the course,
“Winning Sustainability Strategies” and “7 Roles to Create Sustainable Success”, on my
Stuvia profile: https://www.stuvia.nl/user/davidschouten
If you’re doing the minor “Business Administration: Managing Strategy and Marketing”, you
may be pleased to know I also offer summaries for the course Strategic Management.
Week 5: Future Metrics for Governments and Companies 10
Week 6: Leadership & Sustainability 12
Week 7: Circular Economy and Climate Change 15
Corporate Social Responsibility lecture summaries by David Schouten (david@schouten.io)
1
, Week 1: Introduction to the course
27/10/2020 - Bernd Hendriksen
This is the only lecture related to the book “Winning Sustainability Strategies”, which is
content for the exam. The book “7 Roles to Create Sustainable Success”, which is also part
of the exam, will be discussed only in lecture 2. All other lectures are guest lectures.
Lecture 1 and 2 should be used as guides for discovering the most important topics
you should study from the books. Page 27 and 68 of this week’s book are the most
important, also for the exam.
Trends in sustainability
- Sustainability has moved from just the company to its entire supply chain: What are
your suppliers doing? Are they sustainable enough? If suppliers are not sustainable
enough that will have an impact on a company.
- Sustainability started out as just environmentally oriented, but is moving towards
human resources as well (child labour, low wages, etc.)
- Sustainability has moved from being a nice-to-have to a need-to-have. Companies
have adopted a bottom-up approach of becoming sustainable (being proactive
instead of just following regulations).
Companies are becoming sustainable because they want to increase revenue and
reputation. This will also attract more talent. They may also save costs, for example by
lowering the energy bill.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Hierarchy divides a firm’s responsibilities and
priorities into Economic, Legal, Ethical, and Discretionary responsibilities.
Page 27 of the book mentions four archetypes of sustainability programs:
1. Traditional: inherent risks (tobacco, weapons), compliance driven and focused on
reporting to regulators
2. Communicative: Sustainability measures are costly (automotive, insurance).
Focuses on risk reduction and compliance.
3. Opportunistic: Opportunities offered by sustainability (energy/renewables)
4. Transformational: Companies embracing sustainability in a holistic fashion.
Sustainability programs closely tied to business operations.
It’s key for companies to decide on what sustainability topics are relevant. E.g. UvA should
focus on the social part while Shell focuses on environmental.
A materiality matrix can be generated using a six-step approach (page 68 of the book):
1. Select and Assess relevant Stakeholders
2. Define a long list of Sustainability topics
(risks)
3. Rank the topics and create short list
4. Rate the business impact in terms of
risks and opportunities
5. Construct a concept of Materiality matrix
6. Get sign-off by senior management and
document the process
Corporate Social Responsibility lecture summaries by David Schouten (david@schouten.io)
2
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