21226 Sustainable Enterprise

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular semester, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

UTS: Business: Management
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Undergraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 21513 Business Ethics and Sustainability

Handbook description

This subject considers one of the most pressing issues for business in the 21st century: the increasing importance of civic governance and the rising awareness of the earth's limits. The subject critically analyses and examines the social and ecological assumptions that underpin commercial activities in contemporary society and reviews the current global performance of business in terms of human and ecological sustainability. The subject provides students with opportunities to expand their personal horizons and develop understanding of both aspects of sustainability. There is an introduction to how the sustainable enterprise might operate at three different levels: individual, organisational and societal. A number of different frameworks for considering sustainability are introduced and students are given a range of practical methods for improving corporate performance and measurement in the three key areas of economic, social and ecological reform.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1. understand the range of organisational stakeholders and their role in driving corporate change for sustainability
2. recognise that sustainability is a values-based concept, open to interpretation according to individual worldviews
3. use theories of organisational change and leadership to develop possible mechanisms, activities and strategies for organisations to move to a more sustainable position
4. think creatively and make critical and ethical choices concerning complex social and environmental issues
5. critically analyse contemporary understandings of social and environmental risks and their implications for stakeholder relations.
   

Contribution to course aims and graduate attributes

Sustainable Enterprise introduces students to a number of different theoretical and practical frameworks for understanding sustainability and the implications for business operations. It places emphasis on the development of critical and collaborative capacity so that students can make rigorous and strategic choices with reference to a wide range of stakeholders. A key area of emphasis is the furthering of communication skills required for the management of the long-lasting and high-performance organisation. The subject examines the organisational changes required for the enterprise to develop efficient, strategic and ethically-committed operations in terms of both human and ecological sustainability. Students develop an understanding of a wide range of practical methods for improving corporate performance and measurement in order to achieve these aims.

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject is delivered using a lecture-based format which is complemented and extended by the use of online tutorials, case studies, role plays and stakeholder dialogue sessions. Experiential exercises, comparative analysis of theoretical models and guest lectures given by sustainability change agents drawn from various business organisations enable students to link the theory of sustainability to the business case and practice of corporate sustainability. Team and negotiation skills are developed through group-based assessment activities. Stakeholder dialogue practices embedded in the subject challenge students to take a critical approach to business practices.

Content

• Communicating with a wide range of stakeholders in order to develop standards and build organisational capacity for ethical and sustainable business operations
• Managing the integration of environmental, human rights, stakeholder engagement and other responsible practices in a meaningful way throughout the entire organisation
• Managing the incremental and transformational changes required to develop a long-lasting, high-performance organisation capable of responding to dynamic business and social environments

Assessment

Assessment Item 1: Stakeholder dialogue assignment (individual)

Objective(s):	1, 2, 4, 5
Weighting:	50

Assessment Item 2: Final Exam

Objective(s):	1–5
Weighting:	50

Minimum requirements

To pass the subject, students need to achieve at least 50% of the total marks.

Required texts

Readings will be available on UTSOnline.

Recommended texts

Brueckner, Martin. The business with the environment: a different reader. Melbourne, Australia.

Additional readings are available on UTSOnline.

Faculty of Business, UTS, 1999, Guide to Writing Assignments (available on UTSOnline).

References

Beck, Ulrich (1999) World Risk Society, Polity Press, Cambridge.

Daly, Herman, and Cobb, John (1990) For the Common Good, Green Print.

Doherty, P., Forslin, J., Shani, A. (2002) Creating Sustainable Work Systems. London: Routledge.

Dunphy, D. and Griffiths, A. (1998) The Sustainable Corporation, Allen and Unwin, St Leondards.

Elkington, J. (1998) Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business New Society Publishers Ltd.

Elkington, J. (2001) The Chrysalis Economy, Capstone, Oxford.

Ehrenfeld, J. (2000) 'Industrial Ecology' American Behavioural Scientist, Vol 44 Issue 2, pp 229-245.

Fukuyama, F. (1995) Trust: the Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity New York: the Free Press.

Hawken, Paul, Lovins, A and Lovins,H (1999) Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution, Earthscan Publication, London.

Henderson, Hazel (1996) Building a Win-Win World: Life Beyond Global Economic Warfare, Berrett-Koehler.

Hoffman, Andrew (2000) Competitive Environmental Strategy, Island Press, Washington.

Korten, David (1995) When Corporations Rule the World, Earthscan Publications, London.

Lovelock, James (1979) Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, Oxford University Press.

McIntosh, M., Leipziger, D., Jones, K. and Coleman, G. (1998) Corporate Citizenship, Financial Times Management, London.

Mies, Maria and Shiva, Vandana (1993) EcoFeminism, Zed Books.

Mol, A. (2000) 'Ecological Modernisation: industrial transformations and environmental reform', in M. Redclift, and G. Woodgate (eds), The International Handbook of Environmental Sociology, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, pp138-149.

Murphy, F. and Bendell, J., (2001) 'Getting Engaged: Business-NGO Relations on Sustainable Development' The Earthscan Reader in Business and Sustainable Development, Earthscan Publications Ltd: London, pp 288-309.

Porter, M. and van der Linde, C. (1995) 'Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship', Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol 9: No 4, pp 97-118. Putnam, R., (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton University Press.

Roome N. R. (1998) Sustainability Strategies for Industry: The Future of Corporate Practice, Island Press, Washington.

Rossi, M., Brown Szenjwald H., and Baas, L. (2000) 'Editorial – Leaders in Sustainable Development: How Agents of Change Define the Agenda', Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol 9, No 5, 273-286.

Sadler, P. (2002) Building Tomorrow's Company: a guide to sustainable business success, Kogan Page Ltd, London.

Saul, John Ralston (1997) The Unconscious Civilization, Ringwood, VIC: Penguin. Welford,

Richard (1997) Hijacking Environmentalism: Corporate Responses to Sustainable Development, Earthscan Publications, London.

Wilkinson, A., Hill, M., Gollan, P. (2001), 'The Sustainability Debate: Themes and Issues', International Journal of Operations and Production Management: 21, No.12: 1492-1502.

Zadek, S., (2001) The Civil Corporation, Earthscan Publications, London.

Online resources:

Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change, 'The Business Case for Early Action', April 2006 (published by ACF) www.acfonline.org.au/ uploads/res/res_blrt_businesscase.pdf

ACF's 'False Profits: How Australia's financial sector undervalues the environment and what we can do about it' www.acfonline.org.au/uploads/ res/res_false_profits.pdf

Centre for Corporate Sustainability Resources www.csp.uts.edu.au/ resources/#resources

Green Innovations Ltd www.green-innovations.asn.au

GreenBiz.com www.greenbiz.com/ (In particular: Joel Makower and the editors of GreenBiz.com, 'State of Green Business 2008' www.stateofgreenbusiness.com/files/ StateOfGreenBusiness2008.pdf)

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) www.rmi.org

RMI's groundbreaking work on 'Tunnelling through the Cost Barrier'

Chapter 6, of Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution www.natcap.org

The Natural Edge Project www.naturaledgeproject.net

World Business Council for Sustainable Development www.wbcsd.org/templates/ TemplateWBCSD4/layout.asp?MenuID=1