Course Syllabus for students Autumn 2024

On completion of the course the students will be able to.

1. explain theories, concepts, and models of sustainable development and socially and ecologically sustainable enterprises,
2. explain the major challenges and opportunities for building a sustainable enterprise in international and diverse environments,

3. analyse strategies for building socially and ecologically sustainable enterprises,
4. identify business opportunities for different markets for sustainable products and services,

5. analyze the feasibility of socially and ecologically sustainable products, services and/or enterprises, and
6. reflect on the role of responsibility for enterprises in society regarding social and ecological sustainability.

This course introduces students to theories, perspectives, and concepts in the fields of sustainability including social and ecological sustainability. The course provides frameworks to create, scale, and replicate sustainable enterprises as a means of eliminating poverty and/or ecological degradation. The course pays particular attention to the regulatory and voluntary frameworks that sustainable enterprises are expected to relate to, in connection with these themes – at the local, regional, and international level. The content reflects the various aspects relevant to developing a sustainable enterprise including:

• sustainable development and sustainability – including earth system science, planetary boundaries, challenges of poverty, exclusion, environmental degradation, and climate change,
• perspectives on economic growth and implications for sustainability regulatory and voluntary frameworks for enterprise development– including the triple bottom line and the embedded view of sustainability,
• concepts and models describing sustainable organizations – including social enterprises and ecological enterprises,
• creation and development for different markets – including the bottom of the pyramid, circular economy, and the lifestyle of health and sustainability.

Connection to Research and Practice
In “The Sustainable Enterprise - Social and Ecological Perspectives” we will be exploring and applying the latest scientific literature on some of the greatest challenges facing business, both large and small. The course activities build students’ abilities to understand and make use of insights from applying and contrasting perspectives, according to the Inner Development Goals.
Students will become aware of the connection between scientific research and business management practices by studying that linear economic activities, that is, those which are based on “take-make-consume-waste”, are now an unsustainable way to
pursue economic growth. Instead, the course presents cases to examine how enterprises build and/or apply alternative perspectives to reimagine the future of enterprises. Sustainability is becoming a major topic of research at JIBS, being a key research domain for both MMTC and CeFEO research centers.

The teaching is conducted in English.

General entry requirements and English 6, Mathematics 3b or 3c and Civics 1b or 1a1+1a2 (or the equivalent).

The course is graded A, B, C, D, E, FX or F.

Individual written examination (ILOS 1, 2, 3 ), representing 4,5 credits
Group assignment and presentation (ILOS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 ), representing 3 credits

Name of the Test	Value	Grading
Individual written examination1	4.5 credits	A/B/C/D/E/FX/F
Group assignment and presentation1	3 credits	A/B/C/D/E/FX/F

¹ All parts of the compulsory examination in the course must be passed with a passing grade (A-E) before a final grade can be set. The final grade of the course is determined by the sum total of points for all parts of the examination in the course (0-100 points). Grade is set in accordance to JIBS grading policy.

It is the responsibility of the examiner to ensure that each course is evaluated. At the outset of the course, the programme evaluators in the course must be contacted. In the middle of the course, the examiner should meet the programme evaluators to identify strengths/weaknesses in the first half of the course.
At the end of the course, the examiner should remind students to fill in the survey. The examiner should also call a meeting with the programme evaluators to debrief the course, based on course evaluation data and comments. The next time the course runs, students should be informed of any measures taken to improve the course based on the previous course evaluations.
At the end of each study period, JIBS’ Director of Quality and Accreditation crafts a “Course Evaluation Quarter Report”, presenting the quantitative results from course evaluation surveys. The Associate Dean of Education, The Associate Deans of Faculty, Programme Directors, and JSA President and Quality receive the report.

Academic integrity
JIBS students are expected to maintain a strong academic integrity. This implies to behave within the boundaries of academic rules and expectations relating to all types of teaching and examination.

Copying someone else’s work is a particularly serious offence and can lead to disciplinary action. When you copy someone else’s work, you are plagiarising. You must not copy sections of work (such as paragraphs, diagrams, tables and words) from any other person, including another student or any other author. Cutting and pasting is a clear example of plagiarism. There is a workshop and online resources to assist you in not plagiarising called the Interactive Anti-Plagiarism Guide.

Other forms of breaking academic integrity include (but are not limited to) adding your name to a project you did not work on (or allowing someone to add their name), cheating on an examination, helping other students to cheat and submitting other students work as your own, and using non-allowed electronic equipment during an examination. All of these make you liable to disciplinary action.

Robért, Karl-Henrik, et al. (2012) Sustainability Handbook: Planning strategically towards sustainability, Lund: Studentliteratur (latest edition).

A list of articles will be supplied at the course introduction.