This course addresses key topics in corporate social responsibility (CSR) relevant for students in all profiles of the master programme. What should managers know about how their decisions and activities affect the behaviour of consumers, employees, investors and other stakeholders? On what basis can decisions be made in situations where all shareholder and stakeholder interests cannot be met? How can managers, citizens and governments reason about the role of corporations in society? These questions will be studied from an economic perspective and from an ethical perspective.
The course has three main parts. Part 1 provides an introduction to the meaning and origin of CSR and discusses the strategic side of CSR. Part 2 looks the implications of ethical theories and perspectives for corporate social responsibility. Part 3 critically discusses the impact and future of CSR in an increasingly globalized world.