Corporate Social Responsibility

Issues related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) have become prominent over the past few years across economic, social, and political arenas at local, national, and international levels. At the same time, the research field on CSR has diversified, consolidated, and opened up, yet the concepts associated with CSR often remain ambiguous. This course first aims to familiarize students with the key concepts and issues of CSR as well as the historical context in which they emerged. We will explore the debates and challenges concerning the role of the corporation in society and its relationships with stakeholders. From this perspective, students will become acquainted with actors that companies interact with regularly but are generally little covered in traditional courses: NGOs, consumer groups, municipalities, governments, standard?setting bodies, professional associations, pressure groups, etc.