Overview
Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are complex as changes to regulatory requirements are influenced by corporate ethical and financial failures, globalization, and shifting societal norms. This elective course addresses the broad content areas of for-profit corporate governance and CSR. It is designed to provide students with a thorough grounding in a number of key introductory and advanced topics of corporate governance and its relevance for corporate social responsibility. Content includes relevant applied theories, current research, and practice. Students will become familiar with, and critique, the academic literature in these areas, as well as develop their ability to integrate and synthesize between topics.
Students will explore course concepts through readings, speakers, assignments, and peer discussions. By the end of the course, students should be able to relate knowledge gained from this elective to their own organizations.
Outline
The course is divided into eight parts, as follows:
- Week 1: Introduction to Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility
- Week 2: The Corporate Governance Codes
- Week 3: Corporate Governance Effectiveness
- Week 4: Evolving Corporate Governance Models
- Week 5: Building More Effective Boards
- Week 6: Corporate Social Responsibility
- Week 7: Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance
- Week 8: Sustainable Development and Corporate Sustainability
Objectives
On completion of this course, students will be equipped to:
- Define corporate governance, appreciate the historical development of corporate governance, and compare several theoretical frameworks applied to corporate governance.
- Define CSR, discuss its significance, and explore the financial performance impact arising from the linkages between corporate governance and CSR.
- Compare and contrast the Canadian, British, and American corporate governance regulatory systems.
- Evaluate the main corporate governance initiatives used to improve the effectiveness and function of Boards, by discussing the academic literature relating to corporate governance.
- Evaluate the evolving best practices for corporate governance models and for building more effective boards.
- Consider the evolution of CSR in a broad historical context, recognize the different dimensions of CSR, understand the institutional contexts that enable and/or inhibit the development of CSR, and explore the future of CSR and sustainable development.
Evaluation
Your grade will be based on the completion of two assignments and participation in weekly group discussions.