Sustainability and Compliance Across Value Chains 5 credits

In an era of uncertainty and shifting planetary boundaries, sustainability and compliance have become critical components of global value chains. Once considered secondary concerns, they are now fundamental strategic priorities that shape business resilience. This course addresses the need for a comprehensive understanding of sustainable value chain management. It will train you to act as a proactive agent of sustainability, enabling you to position organisations for long-term resilience and future competitiveness. You will explore the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement beyond the immediate operations of the enterprise, highlighting a foundational shift from operational issues to strategic value creation. Through the supply chain lens, you will study various topics, including sustainability strategy, risk and resilience, and reporting/compliance regimes (such as corporate sustainability due diligence and relevant standards). You will compare regulatory landscapes across different markets, evaluate how digital technologies facilitate traceability and responsible sourcing, and analyse the implications for both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and multinational corporations. By the end of the course, you will be equipped to critically evaluate sustainability and compliance decisions throughout value chains and to manage the tensions inherent in the multiplicity of stakeholder interests. You will demonstrate an informed awareness of key areas of social and environmental sustainability in relation to value chains, and confidently relate these to relevant compliance frameworks – so that sustainability is integrated into business operations in a strategic manner. Importantly, you will learn to tailor these approaches to various international and organisational contexts, including SMEs. With these skills, you will be equipped to play a vital role in embedding sustainability and compliance into the core strategy of international enterprises. **Connection to Research ** The course is research-based and draws on current literature in sustainable value chain management and resilience, compliance, and responsible sourcing. You will critically engage with contemporary research on sustainability strategy, due diligence, reporting standards, and digital traceability. You will relate these discussions to research areas at JIBS, such as renewal and entrepreneurship in changing business environments. **Connection to Practice ** The course connects to practice by discussing how contemporary organisations manage sustainability and compliance in global value chains. It addresses regulatory requirements, stakeholder pressures, traceability, and responsible sourcing in both SMEs and multinational corporations, so that you are equipped to apply theory to real-world decision-making. **Connection to Ethics, Responsibility, Sustainability (ERS) ** Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability perspectives are integrated throughout the course through its focus on sustainability, compliance, responsible sourcing, and stakeholder management in global value chains. You will analyse ethical and strategic tensions related to transparency, risk, due diligence, and resilience, and apply these perspectives in the examination of organisational decisions, regulatory requirements, and sustainability challenges in different business contexts.