Description
The three pillars of sustainable business are social fairness, environmental protection and economic viability. While the last of these has always been a concern for organisations the first two are rising in their prominence and regardless of where your organisation is they are ignored at your peril. This module will help you to understand aspects of all 3 pillars and to consider the strategies taken to improve key performance indicators in each area.
Aims
The aim of this Module is to provide the student with: knowledge of key topics relating to the three pillars of sustainability (social, environmental and economic) and the tools to evaluate organisations current sustainability performance in relation to these three pillars. Students will also develop the ability to create a new sustainability focussed strategy for an organisation.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module the student should be able to:
- Critically evaluate key global business sectors in terms of environmental impact.
- Critically analyse an organisation's current performance in relation to the three pillars of sustainability.
- Develop a new sustainability focussed strategy for an organisation.
Indicative Content
1 Social justice within the workplace
Developing an understanding of the five principles of social justice (Access, Equity, Diversity, Participation, and Human Rights) within the context of an internal organisational environment.
2 Community focussed CSR
The principles of Corporate Social Responsibility are reframed in a manner that places community of the organisation. Systems, products and services are designed planned with the interests of community as a principal consideration.
3 Key challenges towards achieving net zero
Key sectors are evaluated in terms of environmental impact with particular emphasis on contribution to UK and global GHG emissions.
4 Evaluating environmental impact
Methods of measuring the environmental sustainability of an organisation including: life cycle assessment, environmental impact assessment and environmental auditing.
5 Conventional economic models and sustainability
The limitations of existing economic models to address sustainability challenges are investigated.
6 Sustainable finance
The theory and practice of sustainable finance and how markets can be leveraged to accelerate the transition towards net zero.
7 Sustainable strategy development
Existing sustainable strategy models (e.g. Sustainable Value Innovation) are introduced as methods of developing new sustainable strategies.
| Teaching and Learning Method | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 0 |
| Tutorial/Seminar | 0 |
| Supervised Practical Activity | 0 |
| Unsupervised Practical Activity | 40 |
| Assessment | 48 |
| Independent | 62 |
Guidance Notes
SCQF Level - The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.
Credit Value – The total value of SCQF credits for the module. 20 credits are the equivalent of 10 ECTS credits. A full-time student should normally register for 60 SCQF credits per semester.
Disclaimer
We make every effort to ensure that the information on our website is accurate but it is possible that some changes may occur prior to the academic year of entry. The modules listed in this catalogue are offered subject to availability during academic year 2024/5, and may be subject to change for future years.