Prof Sarah Ashwin, MAR 5.18

This course is available on the MRes/PhD in Management (Employment Relations and Human Resources), MSc in Accounting, Organisations and Institutions, MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Human Resource Management/CIPD), MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (International Employment Relations/CIPD), MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Organisational Behaviour), MSc in Human Rights and Politics, MSc in Political Science (Global Politics) and MSc in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Any social science background.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming an expected element of corporate strategy. This course critically evaluates CSR, focusing on firms’ attempts to prevent labour standards violations in their supply chains. We begin by analysing the rise of CSR, setting it in the context of global value chains, international labour standards, and emerging private forms of regulation. We then analyse topics such as: the impact of CSR on corporate financial performance; whether CSR is an effective means of raising labour standards; theories of CSR; how to embed CSR within the firm and comparative CSR. The course includes plenty of examples of how large firms are dealing with the ethical challenges posed by global supply chains. The course is interdisciplinary, and students are encouraged to bring insights from their “home” discipline so that seminars become a mutual learning experience. The course will include one lecture from a CSR professional.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the WT. 1 hour and 30 minutes of seminars in the ST.

One 2,000 word essay in LT.

Crane, A. et al. (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, Oxford: OUP.

Kaplan, S. (2019) The 360° Corporation: From Stakeholder Trade-offs to Transformation. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Kuruvilla, S. (2021) Private Regulation of Labor Practices in Global Supply Chains: Problems, Progress and Prospects, Ithaca and London: ILR Press

Vogel, D. (2005) The Market For Virtue: The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility, Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Exam (40%, duration: 1 hour and 15 minutes) in the spring exam period.
Essay (55%, 2000 words) in the ST.
Class participation (5%).