Sustainable Business in Latin America

ABSTRACT

Sustainability has become a key global issue in the twenty-first century and it is changing the way we do business in Latin America. Globalization, and societies? increasing awareness of social and environmental problems, have changed the rules of the game for business in a way which it cannot ignore, and it is of paramount importance that managers learn to navigate this new landscape.
The aim of this course is to provide students with a theoretical understanding of the concepts of Sustainable Development, Corporate Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and mainly, to provide them with practical knowledge on how to apply them in strategic decision making. This course focuses on a series of models and tools for analysis through which social and environmental perspectives can be incorporated into the competitive strategy of firms with the purpose of generating a new value proposition that satisfies its owners? interests, as well as the interests of those groups that are relevant for the organization.

Students will be expected to read the assigned material for each class in order to apply them to practical, real business cases. In this sense, the diversity of nationalities in the classroom will be particularly interesting because the student?s knowledge of their own countries experience on the topic will certainly enrich the debate.

AIMS

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

Analyze the organization?s environment from a perspective that goes beyond financial concerns and which incorporates social and environmental concerns.

Understand the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development, and identify their implications, shortcomings, and mainly, their differences.

Apply models of CSR and Sustainable Development to analyze the firm?s socio-environmental surroundings.

Apply methods for stakeholder analysis.

TOPICS

1. Understanding social and environmental responsibility for business in the twenty-first century.

2. Stakeholder Theory: the search for social legitimacy by the firm, from a strategic perspective (Case: Cementos Lima, set in Peru).

3. Social and environmental responsibility and finance: creating economic value (Case: Hocol, set in Colombia).

4. Social and environmental responsibility and operations management: towards environmental efficiency and low social impact.

5. Social and environmental responsibility and marketing: upholding corporate reputation (Case: Coca-Cola Foundation, set in Chile).

6. Social and environmental responsibility and human resources: its role in attracting talent and managing employees (Case: CSU-CCA Group, set in Costa Rica).

7. Corporate Sustainability as a source of long-term competitive advantage.

8. The firm as a leader in multi-sector alliances for sustainable development (Case: Fundación Comunitaria Oaxaca, set in Mexico).

9. New proposals for sustainable value I and II: social and environmental perspectives.

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