Sustainability Management Syllabus - MBA (PU)

Course Objective:

The general goal of this course is to provide a graduate level introduction to sustainability management and policy in an organizational level. This sustainability course is focused on corporate sustainability strategy.

Sustainability management matters because we only have one planet, and we must learn how to manage our organizations in a way that ensures that our planet is maintained. The course is designed to introduce students to the field of sustainability management. It is a conceptual and practical course organized around the core concepts of management and the core concepts of sustainability.

Unit I : Introduction to Sustainability Management : 3 hrs

Meaning, definition, dimensions of sustainability, value of sustainability, framework for business sustainability, CIMO Model, Transformation Process Model, Leadership and SM: Top Management Strategies for SM

Unit II : Sustainability Operating System in an Organization : 4.5 hrs

SOS basics, critical elements of an SOS, structural elements support SOS, SOS Standards, Sustainability-related Management system standards developing an SOS Standard, SOS Process Schedule

Unit III : Strategic Planning for a Sustainability operating system : 4.5 hrs

Purpose and benefits of Strategic Planning by Functional Groups, General Process for Sustainability Planning, Pre-Planning Information and Processes, Techniques for Reaching Consensus on Priorities, Strategic Planning Formats: The Balanced Scorecard and Alignment Tools, Tactical Plan, GEMI SD planner

Unit IV : Stakeholder engagement : 2 hrs

Identifying Stakeholders, purpose, The Engagement-Risk Dilemma, Principles, process, approaches

Unit V : Sustainability Metrics : 4 hrs

Sustainability indicators and metrics (setting metric goals), characteristics of sustainability indicators, theme-based indicator framework adopted by uncsd, gri, iso: brief concept.

Unit VI : Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management : 3 hrs

Framework for Understanding Environmental Policy- Values Dimension, Political Dimension, Science and Technology dimension, Policy Design Dimension, and Management Dimension.

Unit VII : Sustainable supply chain management and Manufacturing : 4 hrs

Green supply chain management, benchmarking and performance measurement across the supply chain-scormodel, Reverse logistics and the emergence of closed-loop, unep/setac life cycle initiative, technical challenge of industrial ecology in manufacturing.

Unit VIII : Management innovation and quality management : 2 hrs

Techniques of management innovation- strategic planning, reengineering, tqm, benchmarking, team management, integrating and using techniques.

Unit IX : Sustainability Reporting : 5 hrs

Sustainability reporting, Radical transparency, Reasons for Transparent Reporting, Internal Reporting, Public Report. Corporate Annual Sustainability Report, Sustainability Reporting Process Frameworks & Guidelines: GRIG4, AA1000 SES, Greenhouse Gas Accounting Reporting,  ISO related reporting

Reference Book

1. Handbook of Sustainability Management by Christian N Maduand Chu-Hua Kuei 
2. Sustainability Management bySteven Cohen
3. The Sustainability Handbook by William R. Blackburn