International Master in Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility
Course descriptionDo you want to contribute to human development seeking to relieve poverty, satisfying the basic needs of all peoples and promoting sustainable economic growth? The purpose of the IMSD programme is to prepare a new generation of responsible business and community leaders that will take organisations and policy makers to meeting the global challenges of the 21st century.
Common subjects (100 hours)
*Business management fundamentals
Managerial skills
This module addresses students´ personal and professional development. The emphasis is 100% practical in acquiring the different managerial skills required to address the challenges facing executive management. Content includes professional skills such as personal communications, time management, effective presentations, negotiation, leadership and motivation of work teams.
Economic Framework
Students will get familiar with the main concepts, procedures and tools of analysis of the economic environment. The general teaching objectives of this subject are on the one hand to establish basic knowledge on business and environment to allow further progress in the master; on the other hand, to homogenize the basis of technical and quantitative aspects of the programme participants.
Corporate Strategy
Strategy is about thinking about the future of the organization and making decisions about the policies and initiatives to be launched in order to perform successfully both in the short and long terms.
The strategist analyzes the industry environment and the internal generic conditions of its competitors in order to get clear conclusions about the situation of his company. He also analyses all the possible ways to compete within its sector. At the end of this process, he will set the goals to drive the company into the selected direction.
Accounting and Finance
The aim of this introductory course is to provide the student with the view of the basic concepts and language of business. It completes the finance precourse that the students follow on an interactive mode. After following this course, the students must be able to:
* Understand the basis of accounting and financial terms.
* Understand the basis of the process of accounting.
* Understand some basic concepts of financial calculations.
Marketing
The course shares a global vision of the marketing function, as a leveraging element of the company strategy towards a business model focused on customer knowledge, satisfaction and loyalty, while using imagination and innovative metrics and tools. The conquer of trust and complicity of (enthusiastic and participant) customers, the use of transparency, contextual marketing and personalization will be the main topics in reported market strategies and tactics, escaping from competition and looking for "blue oceans".
Project management
Project management is critical for a more efficient use of resources, effective cost control and compliance with project deadlines and terms. Various aspects and techniques are addressed, relating to planning, developing, management and control of projects learning to understand and analyse the various stages of the life of a project and its various activities and tasks. The lessons learned apply to all types of project, irrespective of their nature or complexity.
Introduction to sustainability
XXIst century organisations need managers that fully understand the main social, environmental and economic challenges today.
This subject covers the new role of business in society. Sustainable management of the private sector is not only key for business survival but it is also a fundamental element for the future of our society and its resources.
Innovation management
This subject prepares students to develop a managerial way of thinking which is familiar with innovation in a business environment as a key element for improving business competitiveness.
An innovative outlook is encouraged in order to train professionals to develop and identify new opportunities and to respond in a rapid manner to the changing needs of clients and society.
Entrepreneurial initiative
This module explains the process of creating ideas, their analysis and specification and how they are put into practice through projects which will create value for their organisations and for society. In this way an entrepreneurial attitude is fostered. Students gain an in-depth knowledge of the management techniques and skills required in the process of implementing new business ideas and how to put these into action. Students are also taught to draw up a Business Plan, itemising and examining each of its components and parts.
Core subjects (470 hours)
Theory and Practice for Development
Development perspectives
The aim of the course is to provide students with a solid grounding in the key theories and debates relating to development. The first part of the course will offer an introduction to ‘development' from a historical perspective and an examination of new and alternative development paradigms. The second part of the course will focus on development strategies with an overview of the key issues and actors involved in development promotion. This will include classes on: the structural factors and policies that affect levels of development; the different contexts in which development takes place; and some of the key actors in development. The course will conclude with an assessment of various frameworks and tools that are currently being used in development management.
Cross-sector Partnerships
Students will explore the emergence of a partnership paradigm in which pressing economic, social and environmental challenges are addressed through crosssector collaboration. They will be encouraged to critically explore the concept of 'partnership' through an analysis of arguments for and against partnering and consideration of the process issues encountered when building partnerships between the private and public sectors and civil society.
Management and measurement of sustainable development projects
To ensure projects meet their development goals they need to be well managed taking into account environmental and social criteria. This module introduces the students to the Benefit-Cost analysis approach and its implementation to measure projects´ sustainability impact.
Sustainability policies and programmes in International Organisations and the EU
This course analyses the role and responsibilities of the different institutions commissioned with the development, articulation and implementation of the new guidelines for policy making and change. The review of these bodies will include the role of the UN, multilateral institutions and international NGOs. The course also presents the structure of EU institutions, with particular emphasis on the latest Sustainable.
Development and the environment
Environmental and Energy challenges
This course is divided into two main subjects:
> Environmental Pollution: we will focus on providing a general understanding of major environmental issues such as water, air and soil pollution as well as the loss of biodiversity and its global implications for the planet.
> Conventional and Renewable Energies: different energy technologies will be reviewed from conventional forms such as coal combustion, to clean sources such as biomass, solar, wind and water. Students completing this course will gain a critical understanding in assessing the pros and cons of each of these energy options. The nuclear debate will also be addressed.
Environmental Economics and Accounting
Environmental economics is an emerging discipline but also a controversial approach proposed to deal with current environmental challenges. It grows, evolves and changes day after day within a very dynamic framework. Environmental economics designs new instruments for the environmental policy such as the monetary valuation of ecological resources, the carbon markets or the ecological taxes. Thousands of articles are being developed every day trying to come up with new ways to protect the earth using economic instruments. But at the same time we may find that, after all, environmental economics is a very old way of thinking economics…
Environmental Liability and Lobbies
Through this subject students will better understand the political and legal context of environmental liability. They will review some of the most famous cases of environmental liabilities from the past years in terms of their economic, social and environmental consequences. Additionally students will get to know what lobbying is, how this activity is being carried out in the world, particularly in Washington and Brussels, and they will gain skills to carry out lobbying activities by themselves.
Sustainability policies and programmes in International Organisations and the EU
This course analyses the role and responsibilities of the different institutions commissioned with the development, articulation and implementation of the new guidelines for policy making and change. The review of these bodies will include the role of the UN, multilateral institutions and international NGOs. The course also presents the structure of EU institutions, with particular emphasis on the latest Sustainable.
Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Impact Assessment
We will be studying the methodology with which positive and/ or negative environmental (and social) impacts of a project can be assessed. This evaluation must be carried out prior to making major decisions and investments.
Part of this subject is also related to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), where students will learn to incorporate environmental considerations into policies, plans and programmes either at national or international levels.
# openClimate change and Low Carbon Economies
Corporate responsibility and reputation management
Introduction to Corporate Responsibility or What is a responsible business
The course will study the intricate relations between successful sustainability strategies in the current business environments, paying specific attention to governance issues and business ethics. The importance of developing a strategic corporate approach to intangible management will be discussed, with emphasis placed on practical assignments, debates and role-playing.
Moreover, this module will show how Stakeholder Management (SE) represents both a result of continuous improvement in public relations and corporate communication and an essential tool for CSR, since it is through SE that we know the content of material (relevant) issues for the organization.
Integrating CR into business strategy and operations
Students will study how Corporate Responsibility can be integrated into the company's strategy as a way to maximize the benefits for the company, and the use of the Balanced Scorecard as a tool to implement the strategy in operational levels.
Risk and Reputation Management
Risk and Reputation will also be addressed in this module. The increasing pace of change, customer demands and market globalization put risk management (RM) high on the agenda of companies and executives. All projects and every decision made involve a certain degree of risk, and RM offers the conceptual framework and tools to identify it and respond to it, at different levels: strategic, business and project levels. "It takes years to consolidate a good corporate reputation and only five minutes to destroy it".
Mainstreaming CR into the funcional areas
Furthermore, students will learn how an organization can take advantage of corporate responsibility for its day-today business, and how to integrate CR into the different areas of the company, such as Human Resources, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, Communications, Quality and Environmental Management, or Corporate Philanthropy.
# openCR in Small and Medium Enterprises
The module will also analyze how Small and Medium Enterprises adopt CR approaches. This part of the subject is definitively an "on hands" workshop that shows the way through which any SME can integrate CR and Sustainability in its strategy and be able to report it to its stakeholders.
Sustainability Indicators
In "Sustainability Indicators", students will work on the tools and techniques that CR professionals use when identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess and manage businesses from a sustainable development perspective. More that 50% of the aspects that should be monitored by KPIs are company-specific, as opposed to general aspects of sustainability. Once students are familiar with the analytic framework, they will move on to the next phase: to assess sustainability performance.
International Standards and CR
In "International Standards and CR", the different international Regulations, Norms & Standards related to Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability aspects will be explored: environmental management, human rights, social audits, accounting, international rankings and ratings, etc.
Sustainability Reporting
Finally, students will learn how to create clear and dataprecise sustainability reports (e.g. using the Global Reporting Initiative- GRI). Clear CR reports help feed information to the markets, develop strategies, engage with special investor relations firms, inform internal stakeholders and bring many other benefits for the organization.
Business and Sustainability
This last module tries to combine the different topics studied in the previous subjects: once students are aware of the social, economic and environmental challenges of our current society, once the contribution of the private sector for a more sustainable development has been discussed, they are in the position to analyse several real initiatives to solve these great challenges. In this sense, topics such as Social Entrepreneurship, Socially Responsible Investment, Inclusive Businesses, Technology and Development or Fair Trade, among others, will be covered.
Elective subjects or study abroad (30 hours)
Elective modules
Students should select from the range of available modules/subjects a maximum of 3 credits (30 contact hours) which will enable them to increase and adapt their learning capacity based on their conceptual interests, area of specialisation and future professional sector.
Each elective module/ subject shall require a minimum of 8 students for the course to be implemented.
* Sustainable Cities, Agenda 21
* Rural Development
* Water and Development
* Energy and Development
* GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
International experience
Students have the possibility to participate in a 1-2 week international experience where the group will attend classes at one of our prestigious partner institutions. The fees of this study abroad programme are not included in the IMSD global cost.
Final project
During the last months of the Master, a Final Project must be undertaken in teams of aprox. 3-4 students (this depends on the total number of students in class). A tutor will be assigned to work closely with the students in selecting a challenging case study, drawing a constructive analysis, designing successful strategies in an innovative and creative way.
The Final Project should present an in-depth study of a specific problem or case in sustainable development (energy, rural development, private-public partnerships, corporate responsibility, eco-efficiency and eco-design…) using research methodology and data; it should also propose innovative solutions and sustainable change.
This Final Project will be presented at EOI´s Auditorium and will be assessed by an academic committee. Passing the Final Project is a necessary condition to obtain the IMSD Diploma.