Business Ethics and Sustainability module

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Course content related to sustainable development

This module equips students with an appreciation and in-depth understanding of the implications of Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability within national and international organisations. 

The module explores a People, Planet, Profit perspective, doughnut economics concepts, net-zero carbon and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), combining issues of social justice, ethics and wellbeing, and how these relate to ecological and economic factors. Students are encouraged to recognise the consequences of actions of individuals, businesses and governmental and non-governmental organisations, and how systems and societies can be adapted to ensure sustainable futures. They explore how businesses can contribute to social foundations and planetary boundaries and the impact of decisions made by local businesses and how they have a ripple effect along the value chain. A key element is that students learn how to critique ethics and sustainability claims and also consider the ways in which businesses can create shared value.

Competencies for sustainability

A key element of ESD is supporting learners to develop competencies that will help them to tackle and cope with sustainability challenges. Within the Business Ethics and Sustainability module the key competencies developed are: 

• Critical thinking: Assessment one encourages students to critically analyse businesses ethical and sustainability claims and find evidence of greenwashing.
• Integrity: Particularly when looking at ethical leadership and instilling sustainability as a set of values.
• Futures thinking: Students are encouraged to reflect on where they want to be in 10 years and consider how they can make the best quality decisions now when the future is somewhat unknown.
• Authenticity
• Inner Compass

Pedagogical approaches

ESD uses action-orientated and transformative pedagogical approaches to facilitate taking sustainability knowledge and competencies into practice. Teaching methods and pedagogical practices used in the Business Ethics and Sustainability module include:

• Group based work
• Case studies
• Experiential project work

Questions to Sandra Donnelly

How do you link ESD to industry?

The University of Salford Sustainability Office deliver guest lectures during the module, showcasing the University’s sustainability strategy, achievements, challenges and ways that students can get involved with initiatives on campus. The Sunnywood Project also deliver a talk to the students about their motivations as a social enterprise and value beyond a business making a profit.

A highlight of the module is a panel discussion with representatives from Chester Zoo, Unify Energy and Swiscot textiles discussing topics such as realms of ethical leadership, organisational morality and ethics, value chain and governance, sustainability ambitions and dilemmas.

Is ESD is embedded in any assessments in the module?

ESD is embedded into both module assessments. The first involves student working in groups to investigate a FTSE 100 company and research what the company says they are doing to be more sustainable; against the evidence of the action, they are taking. The students then evaluate the contribution that the company is making towards the SDGs. This encourages students to look at things more critically than just taking what is written on company websites at face value. Students are very critical of the more established companies and are very good at finding evidence of green washing. They struggle to find evidence of impact against the SDGs, which reflects where businesses are at: most are setting targets, but they can be very vague, and the impact of contribution is not particularly well measured yet. 

For the second assessment, students individually investigate a small startup business. They choose a sector and a business that is seeking funding on a crowdfunding site and research sustainability opportunities and challenges in that industry. The students make recommendations for how their chosen business can operate and grow in a way that is sustainable. Students often find this assignment more challenging as they conclude that a lot of the industries are not sustainable, that being sustainable is complex and they discover that there is little useful guidance for start-ups to help them be sustainable. Again, this reflects the experience of businesses. 

What advice do you have for other academics looking to embed ESD into teaching?

Be proactive in reaching out to businesses in your network that ‘I'd love you to come and speak to students about your sustainability work’. I've had a 100% hit rate! Businesses want to share what they're doing, and they're happy to come and talk about it. The challenges of coordinating diaries sometimes means that you can't get in who you want on the day that you want, but there are very few businesses that are serious about sustainability that aren't open to sharing what they're trying to achieve. So be cheeky!