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Korea University International Summer Campus 2017
ISC392: Sustainability Strategies - Syllabus
ISC392: SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES
PROFESSOR:
Mark Davison BSc (Hons) FCA
[email protected]
COURSE:
Mankind has been warned for decades that global biodiversity is declining at an alarming
rate, putting the survival of other species and its very own future at risk. The 2016 edition of The World
Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Report Living Planet describes the enormity of the situation - and proposes how
we can start to put it right. The Living Planet Index reveals that global populations of fish, birds, mammals,
amphibians and reptiles have declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012 and that we could witness
a two-thirds decline in the half-century from 1970 to 2020 – unless Mankind acts now (and develops and
implements credible Sustainable Strategies) to properly reform its food and energy systems and meet
global commitments on addressing climate change, together protecting biodiversity and supporting
Sustainable Development.
Earth’s ecosystems have evolved over millions of years. This process has resulted in diverse and complex
biological communities living in balance with their environment (including mankind’s interconnection with
Nature). In addition to their inherent values, diverse ecosystems also provide the foundation for human
livelihoods and well-being. However, the size and scale of the human enterprise have grown exponentially
since the mid-20th century and thus, Nature and the exclusive services it provides to humanity are subject
to increasing risk. To draw attention to our potentially perilous environmental situation, Nobel Prize
winner Paul Crutzen and others have suggested that we have transitioned from the Holocene (the current
geological epoch which started some 11,500 years ago, when the glaciers began to retreat) into a new
geological epoch, calling it the ‘Anthropocene’. During the Anthropocene, the climate is changing rapidly,
oceans are acidifying and entire biomes (a distinct ecological community of plants and animals living
together in a particular climate) are disappearing – all at a rate measurable within a single human lifetime!
The future of many living organisms is now in question (for example: Cheetahs today number only 7,000
in the wild and recent, continued declines have led to the Cheetah being classified as an endangered
species). And not only are wild plants, animals and all species that make up biodiversity at risk: people are
increasingly becoming victims of the deteriorating state of nature. Climate and other predictive models
suggest that without action during this ‘so called’ Anthropocene period, the Earth will become much less
hospitable to our modern globalised society.
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Korea University International Summer Campus 2017
ISC392: Sustainability Strategies - Syllabus
Clearly, the world of work and life is changing and increasingly focussed on firstly repairing and then
protecting our fragile earth. Students who understand and grasp the enormity and urgency of these
challenges will be well-placed to work for an increasing number of global organisations and governments
who are promptly changing their approach to economic development and are developing SustainabilitySmart Strategies that consider their responsibilities both as capitalists and as responsible custodians of
our planet’s future. The Sustainability job market for graduates is developing and Sustainability-based
opportunities exist with global corporations like oil and gas majors BP and Shell, accounting firms such as
PwC (its Sustainability practice provides guidance to client in such areas as certified emissions reductions,
biodiversity, footprint and transfer pricing), government departments and their regulatory bodies and
agencies such as The World Bank and The United Nations. An interest in and understanding of
Sustainability concepts, impacts and the development of appropriate Sustainability Strategies are
becoming increasingly important in a managers’ corporate career.
This course is a fascinating journey across several inter-connected academic disciplines including
economic history, ecology, climate science, politics, business strategy and finance. You will receive a broad
introduction to the concept of Sustainability and consider what contribution you can make as an individual
to the Sustainability debate and agenda. You will develop the knowhow and awareness required for
pursuing a modern, Sustainability-influenced career focused on the understanding of specialist fields like
Renewable Energy (wind, solar, hydro, tidal, wave), Sustainability Assurance, Sustainability Strategy
development, Sustainability Reporting, Sustainability Advisory and Environmental Impact Assessment of
products and services to name a few. By taking this course, you will have significantly more Sustainability
awareness than the typical university graduate and you will be able to use your knowhow to stand out at
interviews with prospective future employers and at their Assessment Centres.
The principal goals of this course are to explore the principal Sustainability-related concepts and themes,
identifying the economic actors (Governments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and commercial
organisations (corporations and companies) that are best-placed to influence and drive change, reviewing
and critiquing their current strategies for doing so. You will develop tools and techniques for developing
Sustainable Strategies for governments, global corporations, Non-Governmental Organisations and
others.
The range of themes and topics presented in this course is comprehensive and includes examination of
key ethical questions including globalisation, people’s individual lifestyles, Sustainable growth and
development of human societies, whilst at the same time addressing threats such as overconsumption
and climate change. Important concepts for study are different societal models, varying forms of human
and natural ecology, green energy, scarce resource management vs. waste and long-term economic
development and maintenance of well-being in its economic, political and cultural dimensions. In
addition, the course will address the concept of Sustainability in the context of the demand for social
equity and democracy across the tensions between the developed and the under-developed world.
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Korea University International Summer Campus 2017
ISC392: Sustainability Strategies - Syllabus
COURSE MATERIALS:
Due to the breadth of the issues that this course covers, there is no single recommended text.
A comprehensive Course Reader, prepared specifically for this course, will be available for students to
purchase at the (nominal) cost of printing. The Course Reader will be supplemented by additional e-based
materials available on Korea University Summer Campus Intranet/Blackboard systems throughout the
course.
The Course Reader will comprise key extracts from selected reports, papers and texts prepared by Global
Corporations that have embraced Sustainability, Non-Governmental Organisations, leading academics
and inspirational writers including, but not limited to, the following:
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Borowy, Iris (2014), Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future: A History of the
World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission), Oxford and New
York: Earthscan from Routledge.
BP plc (2016), 2016 Annual Report.
BP plc (2016), 2016 Strategic Report.
BP plc (2016), 2016 Sustainability Report.
Brundtland, Dr. Gro Harlem (1987) Our Common Future - Report of the World Commission on
Environment and Development, New York: United Nations World Commission on Environment and
Development.
Chouinard, Y., Ellison, J. and Ridgeway, R. (2011), ‘The Sustainable Economy’, Harvard Business
Review 89(10).
Crutzen, Paul (Nobel Laureate) and Stoermer Eugene F. (2000), (http://www.igbp.net/): ‘The
Anthropocene’, The Global Change Newsletter 41 of the International Geosphere-Biosphere
Programme.
Ehrenfeld, J. R. (2005), ‘The Roots of Sustainability’, MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(2).
Frieden, Jeffry A. (2006), Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century, New York: W.W.
Norton & Company.
Hoffman, A.J. and Woody, J.G. (2008), ‘Create Your Climate Change Strategy’, in Climate Change:
What’s Your Business Strategy? Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press.
Hopkins, M. S. (2009), ‘What executives don't get about Sustainability (and further notes on the profit
motive)’ in MIT Sloan Management Review, 51(1).
Hopwood, A., Unerman, J. and Fries, J. (2010), Accounting for Sustainability: Practical Insights,
London: Earthscan.
Lash, J. and Wellington, F. (2007), ‘Competitive Advantage on a Warming Planet’, Harvard Business
Review, 85(3).
Lovelock, J. (2006), The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back and How We Can Still Save
Humanity, London: Penguin.
Lovelock, J. (2009), In a final warning: The vanishing face of Gaia. London: Penguin.
Markevich, A. (2009), The Evolution of Sustainability, MIT Sloan Management Review, 51(1).
Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. K., and Rangaswami, M. R. (2009), Why Sustainability is now the Key Driver
of Innovation, Harvard Business Review, 87(9).
Osterhammel, J. (2014), The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century,
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
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Korea University International Summer Campus 2017
ISC392: Sustainability Strategies - Syllabus
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Pacala, S. and Socolow, R. (2004), ‘Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the next 50
Years with Current Technologies’, Science: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 305
(5686).
Porter, M. E. and Reinhardt, F. L. (2007), ‘A Strategic Approach to Climate’, Harvard Business Review,
85(10).
Rau, A., Toker, R., and Howard, J. (2010), ‘Can Technology Really Save Us from Climate
Change?’, Harvard Business Review, 88(1/2).
The United Nations (2009), Millennium Development Goals Report.
The United Nations (2014), The United Nations Global Compact Guide to Corporate Sustainability:
Shaping a Sustainable Future.
Unruh, G. C. (2008), ‘The Biosphere Rules’, Harvard Business Review, 86(2).
OUTCOMES:
On successful completion of the course, students will be significantly better informed and knowledgeable
about this contemporary topic. In particular, you will:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
Have a better understanding of the inter-connected planet that we live on and share with Nature;
Have chronicled the recent respective and convergent strands of development (political, social,
technological and economic), identifying and appreciating the inequalities and tensions that exist
between North and South, East and West and the huge development tensions and challenges that
co-exist;
Understand and properly articulate the contemporary concept of Sustainability from several
perspectives (personal, corporate, geographical, planetary);
Appreciate the limits of the Earth’s finite natural resources and the key Sustainability challenges
facing the natural world and mankind;
Have identified and chronicled, from a world-stage perspective, the political mechanisms,
agreements and protocols that have been driving politically-enabled Sustainability agendas since
an international environmental protection treaty called the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was negotiated and formally adopted by almost 200 country members
at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, as enhanced at annual meetings since (Conferences
of Parties), and further enabled by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the 2010 Cancun Agreements, the 2012
Doha Agreements and the 2015 Paris Agreements;
Understand the importance, calculation and interpretation of personal and organisational ‘Carbon
Footprints’ and understand the development of Carbon Strategies and Carbon Pricing Mechanisms
and Policies developed by Governments and Regulatory Bodies and subsequently implemented by
corporations;
Develop the necessary analytical and presentational skills to compare, critique and articulate the
strengths and weaknesses of political Strategies that will enable Sustainable Global Economic
Development amid the changing face of Capitalism;
Understand the foundations and drivers of the Corporate Sustainability agenda, both from the
perspective of the Corporation itself and then from the perspective of the Corporation’s impact on
its external environment (society, biodiversity and the natural world, resource constraints,
emissions, waste etc.);
Develop skills to examine and assess the effectiveness of Corporate Sustainability reporting,
comparing and contrasting the effectiveness of Corporate Sustainability reporting within sectors
and between sectors;
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Korea University International Summer Campus 2017
ISC392: Sustainability Strategies - Syllabus
(j)
(k)
(l)
(m)
(n)
Understand contemporary corporate product development from the perspective of limiting
resource use and reducing waste alongside the development of valuable end-of-product-life waste
disposal strategies;
Develop case-based insights into Corporations who are positioning Sustainability as a core strategic
objective within the organisation alongside key financial and commercial objectives;
Develop analytical and presentational skills to analyse, critique and articulate the strengths and
weaknesses of the Sustainability Strategies developed by key Corporations;
Appreciate how key market-based actors such as investors and other providers of finance are
influencing the Sustainability agendas and Sustainability Strategies of corporations and
governments; and
Be introduced to the contemporary thinking of individual developer/contributors to the field of
Sustainability.
Successful students will also:
(a)
(b)
Develop effective listening, writing, oral and presentation skills; and
Have made use of time management and relevant IT skills.
ASSESSMENT:
Students will be assessed and graded according to the following criteria:
(a) Regular attendance and participation in class;
(b) Group Presentations to be held at the end of Week 3; and
(c) FinaI Exam to be held in Week 6.
GRADE AWARDS:
Students’ final grades will be based on the following:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Attendance
Class Participation
Group Presentation
Final Examination
Total
50 points
50 points
100 points
200 points
400 points
The award of final overall grades will be based on the standard academic curve, i.e.: 95% or more (score of 380+) =
90 - 95% (score of 360 - 379) =
85 - 89% (score of 340 – 359) =
80 - 84% (score of 320 - 339) =
A+
A
B+
B Etc.
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Korea University International Summer Campus 2017
ISC392: Sustainability Strategies - Syllabus
INDICATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE:
ISC
Key Content
Week
1
Our inter-connected planet, its resources and the impacts of mankind
1
Capitalist development themes. Capital as a commodity. The Global Capital
Markets, Corporate Globalisation and the rise of the Global Corporation
1
The concept of Sustainability and the need for Sustainable Development
2
Political mechanisms that drive Sustainability Strategies including the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and associated
protocols and agreements (Kyoto, Cancun, Doha, Paris)
2
The Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental,
Society and Governance (ESG) agendas and associated reporting mechanisms
2
The foundations and effectiveness of Corporate Sustainability Reporting
3
Sustainable Individuals, Countries and Corporations; Carbon Footprints, Carbon
Pricing and energy policies
3
The finite limits of natural resources, related corporate strategies and product
development
4
Examining, critiquing and developing the Sustainability Strategies of
governments and global corporations
4
Assessment - Group Presentations
5
The Global Reporting Initiative and Reporting Sustainability
5
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Global
Compact and other UN-driven, Sustainability-based initiatives
6
The impact of market-based actors on Sustainability, such as that of investors
and other providers of finance
6
Assessment - Final Examination
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