Vision

Teaching Corporate Social Responsibility

Selected ideas and examples

Jakub Kronenberg
Department of International Economics
University of Lodz
Baltic University Conference, Lodz 21.05.2007

If we are to truly change the global management paradigm

to one of sustainability and integrated strategic CSR, one
critical and rudimentary step in this process is to build this
management mentality into our core management training:
we must educate future management leaders in the critical
theory, frameworks, and practice of integrated strategic
CSR, just as we educate them in traditional areas of
finance, marketing, and accounting.
Kellie A. McElhaney
Center for Responsible Business, Haas School of Business, University of California

Where are we now?

CSR TEACHING METER
Some programmes integrate CSR into all subjects taught,
often in cooperation with business
Some offer separate courses on CSR
Some offer optional courses on CSR
Some neglect CSR at all
At others, may some faculty members have not even heard
of CSR so far?

Teaching CSR international ranking

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Stanford
ESADE
York (Schulich)
ITESM (EGADE)
Notre Dame (Mendoza)
George Washington
Michigan (Ross)
North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)
Cornell (Johnson)
Wake Forest (Babcock)

26 University of Jyvskyl

USA
Spain
Canada
Mexico
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA

Finland
Source: Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2005.

Teaching CSR core ideas

1. Teach students to adopt a broader perspective
companies do not operate in a vacuum!

Broader perspective
Natural
(N)

Social
(S)

2. Search for linkages with other areas

demonstrate applicability of CSR to all issues we teach
3. Demonstrate that CSR pays
4. Involve!
case studies; what would you do?; evaluate reports
5. Start at your own backyard
behave in a socially responsible way; provide an example

(E)
Economic

Broader perspective

Investing in a sustainable way

Negative selection process
what activities do we exclude from our portfolio?
Positive screening, or best-in-class, approach
e.g. Dow Jones Sustainability Index
difficult to know what's happening in those businesses
Integrating sustainability into fundamental equity analysis
Generation Investment Management approach
sustainability issues are integral to business strategy

Linkages
CSR

Examples of linkages
Foreign direct investment

Marketing

Role of corporations in economic transformation

Strategic management

Prahalad C.K., Hammond A.,

Serving the Worlds Poor, Profitably,
Harvard Business Review, 1.09.2002, pp. 48-57

International economics
Processes of globalisation
Economy-environment interactions

Prahalad C.K. (2004), Fortune at the Bottom of the

Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits,
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing.

Difficult to find an area not related to CSR nowadays

Examples of linkages
International economics stakeholders
Global corporations their advantages and
disadvantages CSR as an opportunity!
International finance
Transfer pricing
Speculative investment hot money
International aid
(RED) initiative sharing profits with the poor

Examples of linkages
Economy-environment interactions

CSR pays
Serving the Worlds Poor, Profitably

Pollution Prevention Pays

Pollution Prevention Pays as an analogue

Environmental Management Systems

To what extent can CSR be voluntary?

Cleaner Production
Sustainable product chain management
/ Product stewardship
Eco-design / Life-Cycle Assessment

CSR pays does it?

To what extent should it be covered with standards or

government policy?
To require companies to behave in responsible way or
not to require?

Involve!

How many companies will behave in a responsible way

without being forced to it?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be

a responsible company?

Can we trust the corporate responsible image?

Warn about abuses greenwash, fake commitments
Be vigilant!

How would you act as

a responsible manager?

Long-term approach
Broad perspective

Behave! Both yourself and university

In a given situation (crisis, emergency) how would you

behave in a responsible way?
Organise seminars with business representatives
Encourage students to undertake internships

Teaching CSR core ideas

Do not let students cheat, be honest yourself

1. Teach students to adopt a broader perspective

Same standards for everybody; be demanding

2. Search for linkages with other areas

Show that profit is not the only motive in life

3. Demonstrate that CSR pays

Cooperate with NGOs; share your knowledge

Sometimes, there is a need to explain and motivate these
why not refer to CSR then?
Contribute to building socially responsible elites

4. Involve
5. Start at your own backyard behave
Vision: build this management mentality
into our core management training