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SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT

Syllabus

EN IT

Learning Objectives

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The course is designed to introduce students to sustainability management as a field of practice, providing a foundation for understanding theoretical principles and applied techniques.
While sustainable development, namely a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, has now become an imperative from an ethic, social and environmental point of view, it is also an important growth opportunity for enterprises and, more in general, for the entire economic system. The course provides an integrated approach comprising a more efficient inter-institutional coordination among businesses and among public organizations, and stronger private-public partnerships, towards the creation of shared value (Porter & Kramer, 2011). The need to define the necessary practices to support businesses, national and sub-national governments has emerged, to orient choices and activities necessary for the implementation of strategic policies. In this context, the core aspect that will be analyzed in this course is the way in which supranational principles (such as Sustainable Development Goals) are translated and implemented within national and organizational realities, how they affect businesses, and the coordination mechanisms associated to this.


KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, students will be able to recognise sustainable performance in private, public and non profit organizations, either acting as managers or through consultancy, and understand the drivers and barriers towards to creation of shared value in coordination with national and supranational sustainability policies.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
Students will develop knowledge and skills to apply the sustainable management process in areas related to: strategic planning and managerial controls; leadership and organizational strategies; management of financial resources; stakeholder management, and the analytical techniques applied to pursuing a triple bottom line equilibrium.

MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
Case study discussions and real-life scenario laboratories will enable the students to identify critical aspects of sustainability management and propose viable solutions. They will be able to autonomously identify core elements of a sustainable strategy, to conduct a stakeholder mapping initiative, and to involve users/citizens in the decision making process.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Class participation and presentations are aimed at enhancing students’ communication and dialogue capabilities.

LEARNING SKILLS:
Students will become familiar with the main databases and international institutions’ sources of data and analyses on sustainability management and reporting. This will allow a continuity of autonomous learning after the completion of the course.

Prerequisites

A solid background in business management is strongly suggested, although not required.

Program

The course is organized around thematic clusters that normally span a week. Each of the 9 weeks of the course normally features one online synchronous class, one Q&A session, and one laboratory, forum or flipped classroom case study which will take place through the distance learning platform. The materials supporting the laboratories or case studies will be made available at least a week in advance through the online platform.

Week 1: Introduction to the course. Sustainability and the triple bottom line in performance management. Key institutions and public access databases on Sustainability
Week 2: The logic and partnership structures behind Sustainable Development Goals. The concept of Social Innovation
Week 3: Sustainability and Digitalization. The concept of Twin Transition
Week 4: Managing stakeholders and building sustainable strategies. Analyzing the environment and creating a sustainable value proposition. The concept of shared value
Week 5: Network management and collaborative governance
Week 6: Co-creation, co-production and user innovation for sustainability
Week 7: The role of programme/project management logics and the system of EU funding for sustainability
Week 8: Testimonies from business, third sector and institutions
Week 9: Course recap and Presentation and discussion of students’ project works

Books

Ansell C, Sørensen E, Torfing J – "Co-Creation for Sustainability. The UN SDGs and the Power of Local Partnership" Emerald Insight (2022), selected chapters (mandatory reading)

Porter, M. E. & Kramer, M. R. (2011). Creating Shared Value. Harvard Business Review (mandatory reading)

Bibliography

Provan, Veazie, Staten, Teufel-Shone (2005). The Use of Network Analysis to Strengthen Community Partnerships. Public Administration Review

Teaching methods

The course is based on a problem-based learning approach. About 50% of the course will be delivered through synchronous or asynchronous online lectures. The remainder of class hours will be devoted, through the Moodle course platform, to flipped classroom laboratories, online forums and case studies analyses, and peer interaction in which concepts presented during lectures are applied through real life scenario applications, in which the interaction among students and with the lecturer is essential. Testimonies by key sustainability actors from the business, government and third sector contexts will also be involved.

Exam Rules

The exam is in oral form. The oral exam is aimed at evaluating the level of understanding of the individual concepts and tools introduced in class, specifically testing the systemic comprehension (at both the micro and macro levels) of sustainability management dimensions and the ability to make connections.
Students are encouraged to develop a team project work (not mandatory) which is presented and discussed during the last class and accounts for 10% of the overall grade. The project work has to focus on the assessment of the level of shared value created by an organization of the team's choice (private or public) and the proposal of further strategies to implement or protect the shared value within that organization.

The oral exam evaluates the overall preparation of the student, the ability to integrate the knowledge of the different parts of the program, the consequentiality of the reasoning, the analytical ability and the autonomy of judgment.
Furthermore, language properties and clarity of presentation are evaluated, in compliance with the Dublin descriptors (1. Knowledge and understanding) 2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding; 3. Making judgments; 4. Learning skills; 5: Communication skills.
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The exam will be assessed according to the following criteria:
Not suitable: important deficiencies and / or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited capacity for analysis and synthesis, frequent generalizations and limited critical and judgment skills, the arguments are presented in an inconsistent way and with inappropriate language;
18-20: just sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible generalizations and imperfections; sufficient capacity for analysis, synthesis and autonomy of judgment, the topics are frequently exposed in an inconsistent way and with inappropriate / technical language;
21-23: Routine knowledge and understanding of topics; Ability to correct analysis and synthesis with sufficiently coherent logical argument and appropriate / technical language
24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; good analysis and synthesis skills with rigorously expressed arguments but with a language that is not always appropriate / technical.
27-29: Complete knowledge and understanding of the topics; remarkable abilities of analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgment. Topics exposed rigorously and with appropriate / technical language
30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and in-depth understanding of the topics. Excellent skills of analysis, synthesis and autonomy of judgment. Arguments expressed in an original way and with appropriate technical language.