Managing Responsibly: Practicing Sustainability, Responsibility and Ethics

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/responsible-management

Introduction

### Course Review and Recommendation: Managing Responsibly: Practicing Sustainability, Responsibility and Ethics In an era where business practices and managerial strategies are under increasing scrutiny, the Coursera course "Managing Responsibly: Practicing Sustainability, Responsibility and Ethics" stands out as an essential resource for current and aspiring leaders. This course not only equips participants with the necessary tools to manage sustainably but also emphasizes the importance of responsibility and ethics in modern management. #### Overview The course is structured to guide learners through the complexities of responsible management. Managers today face challenges that extend beyond profitability. They must also navigate the intricate interplay between sustainability, responsibility, and ethics. This course offers an integrative approach, ensuring that participants are prepared to tackle these pressing issues head-on. #### Syllabus Breakdown 1. **Managing Responsibly**: The course kicks off by contextualizing responsible management within the broader theme of sustainability, responsibility, and ethics. It emphasizes the need for managers to adopt a systemic perspective, providing foundational knowledge about the competencies necessary for responsible management practices. 2. **Sustainability**: Participants delve into the roots of sustainability by exploring its social, environmental, and economic dimensions. The course offers practical management tools such as impact assessment and life-cycle management, enabling learners to apply these concepts in real-world business contexts. 3. **Responsibility**: This section focuses on responsible business practices, from corporate social responsibility to social entrepreneurship. Participants learn about stakeholder management and corporate social performance, allowing them to understand and implement responsible strategies within their organizations. 4. **Ethics**: Students are introduced to behavioral ethics and moral philosophy, crucial for addressing moral dilemmas faced in business. The course teaches the application of ethics management tools, such as ethics hotlines and codes of ethics, preparing learners to foster an ethical workplace culture. 5. **Professions and Occupations**: Real-world applicability is emphasized as participants self-select groups based on similar management challenges and explore innovations in responsible management practices across different professional areas, including strategy and marketing. 6. **Integration 'Bringing It All Together'**: The final week synthesizes all prior learnings, preparing participants for practical challenges in managing responsibly. Students will learn how to critically reflect on and challenge existing practices, manage systemic complexities, and drive transformative actions within their organizations. #### Why You Should Enroll - **Relevance**: With businesses increasingly scrutinized for their impact on society and the environment, this course is invaluable for anyone looking to stay relevant in their field. - **Practical Application**: Each module is designed not only to impart knowledge but also to encourage practical application, ensuring that learners can take actionable steps within their organizations. - **Expert Guidance**: The course is taught by knowledgeable instructors who bring real-world insights into the learning experience, enhancing your understanding of the material. - **Community Learning**: Engaging with peers from diverse backgrounds creates a rich learning environment where participants can share experiences and develop collaborative solutions to common challenges. - **Flexible Learning**: Being an online course offered through Coursera, it allows for flexibility in scheduling, making it easier for busy professionals to partake in this vital learning journey. #### Conclusion "Managing Responsibly: Practicing Sustainability, Responsibility and Ethics" is not just an academic course; it is a critical investment in your career and ethical leadership in business. By equipping yourself with the knowledge and skills to manage responsibly, you position yourself as a forward-thinking leader capable of making a genuine difference in your organization and the world at large. I wholeheartedly recommend this course to anyone looking to enhance their managerial skills while embracing sustainability and ethical practices.

Syllabus

Managing Responsibly

We will explore the context and importance of managing responsibly and how it relates to sustainability, responsibility, and ethics. Adopting a systemic perspective, we will also look into what kinds of competences managers might need to develop responsible management practices.

After an introduction of the roots of (un)sustainability, we will have a look at concepts of sustainability, such as social, environmental and economic dimensions, and the importance of time. We will then focus on sustainability in a business context by looking at prominent management tools, such as impact assessment, footprinting, and life-cycle management.

We will explore the roots of responsible business practices and different approaches to responsibility in organizations, such as corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, or corporate citizenship. We will then look at typical management applications such as stakeholder management and corporate social performance.

We will look at behavioural ethics and moral philosophy as main approaches to business ethics. These will then be applied to address moral issues, and to develop practices for acting ethically in challenging situations. We will also learn how to apply common ethics management instruments, such as ethics hotlines, codes of ethics, or ethics training.

In this week you will self-select groups of people with similar responsible management issues and tasks to discuss coping approaches. You will also pick an area of professional interest (e.g. strategy, entrepreneurship, organization, operations, supply chain, human resources, marketing and communication, international management, accounting, finance) to further explore and to innovate responsible management practices in the professional context.

This last week of the course will be dedicated to the preparation for real-life challenges of managing responsibly and responsible innovation. We will learn how to critically reflect upon and challenge the status quo; to attend to systemic complexity, power struggles, paradoxes and inertia; and to translate these considerations into transformative action.