Corporate Sustainability Management, 6 credits

Main field of study

Course level

Advancement level

Course offered for

• Industrial Engineering and Management, M Sc in Engineering
• Industrial Engineering and Management - International, M Sc in Engineering

Specific information

May not be included in the same degree as TKMJ15, TKMJ24 or TKMJ28.

Prerequisites

General technical/engineering knowledge from the first year at an institute of technology, and chemistry at high school level.

Intended learning outcomes

Students shall develop knowledge of corporate sustainability management, focusing on companies but also including public organizations. The course deals with important societal conditions that affect sustainability issues and how they should be managed. A main aim is to gain knowledge about strategies and tools that are important concerning sustainability management. After having completed this course, the student shall be able to:

• Describe essential sustainability challenges that have been presented during the course; their causes, effects, and on an overall level how they have developed over time and plausible/possible future scenarios,
• Apply the above mentioned knowledge by solving reality based case studies, focusing on environmental problems, technical systems and organizations,
• Describe important strategies, concepts, methods and other ‘components’ of organizations’ sustainability management, clarify how they are related to one another, and motivate why they are important from a company and societal perspective,
• Describe sustainability management as mentioned above, but also how the design and appliance of the components affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the sustainability work - especially for common components of corporate sustainability management systems,
• Describe important requirements, drivers and barriers for companies’, and partially other organizations’, sustainability management, and how these can be handled,
• Apply the knowledge above in making a critical analysis, on an overall level, of companies’/organizations’ chosen strategies and measures to manage sustainability issues, for example, considering their impact, internal and market conditions,
• To motivate and propose relevant measures for companies/organizations concerning their sustainability management, and
• Write about corporate sustainability management (focusing on the course content and the studied organization) in English of good quality, within the frames of a technical report applying a scientific approach. 

Course content

There are three main parts in the course:

1. Introduction to sustainable development
2. Corporate sustainability intelligence
3. Corporate sustainability management

The following key words represent essential parts of the content: sustainable development; environmental problems/challenges; environmental history; technical systems and environmental challenges; sustainability and policy/legislation; environmental economics; ethics, business ethics; corporate sustainability management, corporate social responsibility (CSR); tools for sustainability management; sustainability management systems; commercial sustainability management; sustainable business models; organization, learning and development.

Teaching and working methods

A central part is focused on an overview of corporate sustainability management, introducing central concepts and terms. For this purpose, lectures and literature are essential. There are two mandatory assignments, as a complement, to foster student activity and application. These assignments are carried out in groups. One is an environmentally oriented case study (UPG1) and the other a project where a company’s sustainability management is studied (UPG2). Both assignments involve written and oral presentation, the second also in English. To facilitate and be able to assess the efforts, compulsory scheduled activities and tasks are included (such as seminars, supervision, presentation) and self-assessment.

Examination

Grades

Other information

Supplementary courses:
Industrial Ecology, Resource efficient products, Biofuels for transportation, and others.

Department

Director of Studies or equivalent

Examiner

Education components

Course literature