Courses and Teaching

PRME Nordic PhD Course

Developments in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability:

Innovation, Organization and Governance (equivalent to 7.5 ECTS) Level: PhD.

General Overview

The aim of the course is to give an in-depth understanding and overview of the current state and contribution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability research and practice. By Sustainability, we refer to the broad challenge of social, environmental and economic sustainability for inter-generational justice facing all sectors. By CSR we refer to the business-oriented contributions to the sustainability agendas, but noting that this may well also involve cross sectoral partnerships, interactions with public policy, and multi-stakeholder initiatives as well as the corporations themselves. The course focuses particularly on the key themes of innovation (e.g. new networks and new industrial fields related to such issues as digitalization and energy), organization (e.g. new forms of organization, new business models, finance and corporate governance) and governance (e.g. historical and contemporary perspectives on private authority and public policy; corporate, social and political power).

The course also focuses on career development, and this is reflected in sessions on such topics as: writing articles and grant proposals; positioning for employment markets; networking; publishing strategies; acting as a reviewer; crafting research proposals. Moreover, the assignment will be based on a post-doctoral or doctoral research grant proposal in which students receive peer-review from one another as well as from the course teachers.

Although the course is emphatically international it also enables certain Nordic perspectives on the issues of sustainability and CSR. The course brings together Nordic faculty from different business fields and wider disciplines to emphasize the cross-disciplinary nature of the subject. The course is split into three- day modules given at three different Nordic business schools. The initiative for the course is grounded in the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), with the aim to inspire and champion responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally.

Learning Goals

After completing the course, you will be able to:

• Understand the current state of CSR / Sustainability research, with particular reference to the themes of Innovation, Organization and Governance.
• Evaluate Sustainability/CSR research by taking into account its underlying theory and epistemology
• Understand and evaluate Sustainability/CSR policies and practices
• Position and develop your own research in relation to different Sustainability/CSR theories

You will have experience of:

• Developing and writing research grant proposals
• Providing peer review of research proposals

Prerequisites

The course is aimed at students writing their PhD thesis on topics related to CSR/sustainability.

The course is limited to 20 students, selected on the basis of applications (for instructions how to apply see Application Requirements).

The course is open to doctoral students from different institutions and disciplines, however, priority will be given to applications from member institutions of the PRME Nordic Regional Chapter: AarhusUniversity; Aalto University; BI Norwegian Business School; Bifröst University (Háskólinn á Bifröst) – Borgarnes; Copenhagen Business School; Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet) – Uppsala, Alnarp, Umea and Skara; Hanken School ofEconomics; Jönköping International Business School; Lappeenranta University; Karlstad Business School (Karlstad universitet; Kristianstad University; Lund University School of Economics and Management; Malardalen University; Reykjavik University School of Business; Stockholm School of Economics; Stockholm University; Turku School of Economics; Umeå School of Business; University of Gothenburg; Örebro University School of Business.

Workload & Assessment

Total Student Workload: 190 hours divided into

• 48 hrs. of contact hours (16 per module)
• 142 hrs. of non-scheduled work

Assessment (pass/fail)

• Submission of the (Post-) Doctoral Research Grant sub-proposals and peer reviews at the end of each module as well as the final proposal at the end of the course.
• Participation in the three modules is mandatory for the award of the certificate which will correspond with the workload of 7,5 ECTs.

Examiners

• Aalto: Leena Lankoski
• Stockholm University: Anselm Schneider
• CBS: Jeremy Moon

Application Requirements

Interested students should apply by submitting the following documents to prme@cbs.dk by 1st June 2018:

• the applicant's curriculum vitae demonstrating his/her capabilities of doing research within the topic, CV should clearly indicate current institutional affiliation
• two-page description of doctoral research proposal
• one page letter of application, including reference to motivation and experience

Costs and funding

Participants are to cover their own accommodation and travel. However, we are investigating possible funding to cover some of these costs. Tuition and meals during the workshops will be covered by the host institutions.

Contact Information

All questions regarding course administration should be directed to prme@cbs.dk

Timetable

Deadline for registration:                                                                     1 June 2018

Acceptance notifications:                                                                    30 June 2018

Module 1 (Aalto, Helsinki, Finland)                                                     14-16 November 2018

Module 2 (Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden)                      11-12 April 2019

Module 3 (Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark)       11-12 June 2019

Course outline

The course will be oriented around three key sustainability and CSR themes: innovation, organization and governance. In each module the respective theme will be investigated using a common framework: Issues/ Agendas; Theories; Practices. In addition, each module will devote time to our fourth common theme: Skills for Academic Careers.

Table 1: Indicative course outline

Assignment

Prepare a 4,000 words post-doctoral research grant proposal to investigate:

1. your chosen sustainability / CSR Trend, Issue or Event (to be approved by course examiners)
2. from the perspectives of innovation, organization and governance

You will develop this proposal from Module 1, through Module 2, to Module 3.

After Modules 1 and 2 each student will also be required to provide some peer-review for other another student’s draft proposals. The teaching team will provide feedback both on the stages of the proposal and on the respective peer reviews.

Assignment indicative stages

Module 1         

Briefing on:

1. preparation of grant proposals (general)
2. preparation of grant proposals (innovation)
3. peer review   

Post Module 1              

Submit draft of first part of grant proposal (1,000 words) 

Conduct peer review (500 words)

Receive feedback on:

• draft of first part of grant proposal
• peer review

Module 2                                                                                                                                         

Briefing on:

1. key points on feedback and use of feedback
2. preparation of grant proposals (organization)      

Post Module 2              

Submit draft of second part of grant proposal 

Conduct peer review 

Receive feedback on:

• draft of second part of grant proposal (1,000 words)
• peer review (500 words)

Module 3        

Briefing on:

1. use of feedback
2. overall lessons on submitting grant proposals
3. post-doctoral careers