Welcome to Business and Society course. In this course we explore the inter-dependencies between the business and society and unfold some of the issues arising from them. 

 

'Business cannot succeed in societies that fail. Likewise, where and when business is stifled, societies fail to thrive' , said Björn Stigson, ex-President, of World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

According to a recent survey by the World Economic Forum (2015), social and environmental risks are amongst the top five issues that keep CEOs awake at night. KPMG (2013) suggests that nearly 80% of CEOs now consider social and environmental sustainability as a key strategic area. So, is sustainability still a feel-good philanthropy or has it taken the frontline position as a strategic imperative? There are leading management scholars like Anne Tsui who suggest that business schools around the world can make a meaningful contribution towards developing future global professionals who are well aware of the issues they will confront in their work lives.  So, are the business schools doing enough?

 

In our journey together over the next 10 weeks, we will discuss these issues through exploring Work, Ethics, Sustainability and Being Professional. We hope that at the end of this course you will have a broader understanding of work, ethics and sustainability challenges that confront businesses and societies, and you will feel more capable of making meaningful contributions to your chosen profession. We also hope that this course will ignite in you a passion, to engage further with these challenges as you continue your journey - upholding with integrity the values of your chosen profession.

Warm regards
Dr Manjit Monga
Course Coordinator

References

Stigson, B 2005, New report highlights private sector role in Millennium Development Goals, Accessed February 2 2016, http://oldwww.wbcsd.org/plugins/docsearch/details.asp?DocTypeId=-1&ObjectId=MTYzNDQ&URLBack=result.asp%3FDocTypeId%3D-1%26SortOrder%3D%26CurPage%3D393

 

Tsui, AS 2013, 'Presidential address - On compassion in scholarship: Why should we care?', Academy of Management Review, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 167 -180.

World Economic Forum 2015, 'Global Risks 2015', http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2015http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2015.

 

There are no prerequisite courses to be completed before this course can be undertaken.

There are no corequisite courses to be completed in conjunction with this course.

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

CO1. Describe the relationship between the elements which make up societies and how these relationships affect the nature of work

CO2. Analyse how the development of these relationships is affected by time and place, including the relationships between indigenous cultures and business

CO3. Identify ethical issues in business, government, not-for-profits and society

CO4. Identify the features of their intended profession and professional life in the community

CO5. Relate the importance and relevant features of UniSA graduate qualities in preparing them for professional life in the community

Upon completion of this course, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Course Objectives:

A graduate of UniSA:

GQ1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice

GQ2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice

GQ3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems

GQ4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional

GQ5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and citizen

GQ6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the community

GQ7. demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a citizen

Business and society provides an introduction to the relationship between society, business, government, and the not-for-profit sector. It considers the historical and cultural influences on that relationship and the responsibilities of professionals as managers, practitioners, employees and customers. It provides the foundation for future study in the Business School courses.

4.5 units

There are no additional assessment requirements identified for this course.

For further information please visit learnonline site, https://lo.unisa.edu.au/course/view.php?id=7752

You will need continual access to the following text(s) to complete this course. Where possible the Library will make the book available for student use. Please check the Library catalogue before purchasing the book(s). The Library will always seek to purchase resources that allow an unlimited number of concurrent users, however availability is dependent on license arrangements with book publishers and platforms. http://www.library.unisa.edu.au

Svendsen, L (2016). Work (2nd edn). Routledge.

Benn, S, Dunphy, D & Griffiths, A 2014,Organizational change for corporate sustainability, Routledge, New York.

Botton, AD 2010, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, Penguin, London.

Carroll, AB & Buchholtz, AK 2015, Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management, Cengage, Stamford.

Crane, A., Matten, D., & Spence, L. J. (Eds.) 2008, Corporate social responsibility: Readings and cases in a global context, Routledge, Abdingdon .

 

Ehrenfeld, JR & Hoffman, AJ 2013, Flourishing: A Frank Conversation About Sustainability, Stanford Business Books, CA

Hartman, LP & DesJardins, J 2008, Business Ethics: Decision-Making for Personal Integrity & Social Responsibility, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Boston.

Pritchard, M 2006, Professional integrity: Thinking ethically, Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence KA.

Sandhu, S, McKenzie, S & Harris, H (eds) 2014, Linking Local and Global Sustainability, Springer, New York.

Steiner, JF & Steiner, GA 2009, Business, Government and Society: A managerial perspective, text and cases, 12th ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston.

Unerman, J, Bebbington, J & O'Dwyer, B (eds) 2007, Sustainability accounting and accountability, Routledge, Abdingdon UK.

Vernis, A, Iglesias, M, Sanz, B & Saz-Carranza, À 2006, Non-profit organizations: Challenges and Collaboration, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke UK.

All materials are accessible via learnonline course site.

All other course related materials can be accessed through your learnonline course site which you will be able to access from the my Courses section in myUniSA.

All study related materials can be accessed through: https://my.unisa.edu.au

Details of assessment submission and return are listed under each assessment task. Assessment tasks will be returned to you within two to three weeks of submission.

If the Course Coordinator allows submissions in hard copy format, you will be required to attach an Assignment Cover Sheet which is available on the learnonline student help and in myUniSA.

This course will involve the production of audio and/or video recordings of UniSA students. To protect student privacy, you must not at any time disclose, reproduce or publish these recordings, or related material, in the public domain including online, unless the videoed students give consent for reproduction, disclosure or publication. This requirement is consistent with University statutes, by-laws, policies, rules and guidelines which you agreed to abide by when you signed the Student Enrolment Declaration.

The feedback proforma is available on your course site.

Purpose
The capacity to reflect is an important element of professional life. It enhances the capacity to evaluate current knowledge and to understand and accept personal weaknesses and strengths. This assignment will enable you to develop critical reflection skills and recognise its value in professional life.

 

This is an ongoing assignment and is assessed in 2 parts - Reflective Journal 1 and Reflective Journal 2. 

Task Description
The assignment requires you to write three short reflective journal entries. Each entry will reflect on a specific content within the course. The three entries in total should not exceed 2500 words. You may choose to allocate approximately equal words to each of the three pieces.

 

Each entry requires you to bring together:

1. Information from relevant readings
2. Concepts from the relevant part of the course
3. Personal experience

 

Turn these over in your mind and reflect on the topic, and write in the first person about your considered view.

Specific information about the reflective journal entries -

Reflective Journal 1-

 

The first entry is due on 2 April 2017, by 11 pm Adelaide time. The specific information about this is as below-

 

1. The first reflective entry requires you to reflect on, 'If we were to experience work as truly meaningful, there must also be something to be found in the job itself, some intrinsic meaning, not merely getting paid' (Svendson, 2016, p 51).

Information: Suggested anchor reading is- Textbook Chapter 2, Work and Meaning. 
Way of making sense: Useful conceptual background is provided in the first segment of the course, work and meaning of work, Introduction, chapter 1, 4 and 7 of the textbook .
Personal experience: This may be experience you have had, or experience of someone you know. 

 

Reflective Journal 2- 

 

Reflective Journal 2 is due on the 21 May, 2017 by 11 pm Adelaide time.

Reflective Journal 2 requires you to write 2 reflective entries on the topics given below. It is expected that you incorporate the feedback provided by your tutor for Reflective Journal 1. 

 

1.The second reflective entry requires you to reflect on 'The social responsibility of a business is to increase its profits' (Friedman, 1970). 

Information: Suggested anchor reading- eReading 10 by Friedman, M 1970, The social responsibility of a business is to increase its profits, in Corporate ethics and corporate governance, Springer, New York pp.173-178. Another relevant reading may be eReading 08- 'What kind of capitalist you want to be', by John Mackey (2013) in Harvard Business Review, 91(1), p 34.  
Way of making sense: Useful conceptual background might come from the segments of the course about ethics and sustainability.
Personal experience: This might be examples of people and businesses who have acted responsibly or irresponsibly and the consequences of their actions.

 

2. The third reflective entry requires you to reflect on 'The role of your personal values in your future profession'. 

Information: The careers workbook might help you identify the profession that you seek to join. If you are already a member of a profession, the careers workbook might help you identify the values that are important for that profession. A suggested reading is eReading 01 - Challenges of cultural relativism from Rachels, J (1993). Elements of moral philosophy. New York: McGraw Hill.
Another relevant reading may be eReading 14 by Molinsky, A (2012) Code switching between cultures, Harvard Business Review, 90 (1), p 139-143.
You may find eReading 03 by Platts, J (2003) Developing competence and trust: maintaining the heart of a profession, Professional Ethics 11(1) p3-18 useful. You may, however, also choose to anchor your reflection in any of the other readings from the course.
Way of making sense: Useful conceptual background might come from the segment of the course which discusses being professional.
Personal experience: This may be an example a time when your personal values were challenged, or any other relevant experience. 

 

Reflective writing records the writer’s thoughts about individual learning and experience. Whenever you use ideas from a source, reference them using the UniSA version of the Harvard Guide.

Resources

A number of resources are available to assist you with this assignment:
1. There is a comprehensive Help resource for Reflective Journal in the Assessments block on the course learnonline site.
2. Relevant elements of the textbook.
3. There will be exercises in class to assist students in understanding the concept of reflection and to provide an opportunity to practice reflective writing. This will occur before the first piece needs to be written.
4. The Learning and Teaching Unit has a number of resources specifically addressing the practice of reflection, as well as an item on reflective journals in its Assessment study guide series.
5. The online resource ‘An introduction to reflective practice’ includes a section on reflective writing and is available on the course learnonline site.

 

Submission instructions
The assignment must then be submitted through the course learnonline site. Complete the rubrics at the bottom of the feedback form to indicate your self evaluation of the assignment against the criteria. The feedback forms are available from the learnonline site.

Feedback
Feedback will be given within two-three weeks of the submission date. Feedback on this assessment will be provided on the Feedback form which is found on the learnonline site. For assessment criteria refer to the feedback sheet.

Due date
The completed Reflective Journal 2 is due at 11.00 pm Adelaide time on Sunday 21 May 2017.

Extensions
Extensions will normally not be granted. Exceptions will be made for personal illness supported by medical certificates and for significant, unexpected and unforeseeable personal and family events. Apply for extensions to the course-coordinator, through the learnonline site. Late penalties will not apply to assignments for which an extension has been granted provided that the assignment is submitted by the extended submission date.

Late submissions (where no prior arrangement for an extension has been made)
Assignments submitted after the due date, without an authorised extension, will receive a penalty of 10% a day deducted from the total available mark for the assignment for up to 7 calendar days. After 7 calendar days the assignment will no longer be accepted. There is no commitment to return late assignments within two weeks of submission.

 

 

Media presentation: Sustainability

This assignment requires you to explore environmental sustainability challenges in business and society. It will enable you to:
1. Use contemporary audiovisual technology to prepare and deliver an effective online presentation
2. Present a convincing, clear and concise argument

 

Task Description
Prepare a video clip or voice-over PowerPoint presentation of an example of a profit making manufacturing organisation that has implemented environmentally sustainable practice/s, and its contribution to global environmental sustainability.

Start by defining what is environmental sustainability. Why is it important? What are some of the current environmental concerns? Give examples of some of the business practices you consider to be environmentally sustainable and why. Introduce the chosen organisation, present your findings on the environmentally sustainable practices adopted by the organisation and conclude with how it contributes to the global environmental sustainability. 

Some examples of sustainable practices are: environmentally responsible sourcing of raw materials/use of renewable energy and other resources/packaging/reuse of materials/recycling/waste reduction/zero waste approach/product stewardship etc.

Not-for-profits, government and NGO organisations cannot be considered for this assignment.

Maximum length is 3 minutes +/- 10%

Simple presentations such as speaking to the webcam and a succession of stills with commentary are acceptable, as are more complex submissions. Students who do not have access to facilities which would allow them to prepare such an audio-visual presentation should approach their tutor before the end of Week 3 to make alternative arrangements. The alternative arrangement will most likely be the production of a full-page newspaper advertisement or poster, A3 size.

You will need to acknowledge where the conceptual and audio-visual material you use in the presentation comes from through referencing according to the UniSA version of the Harvard Guide.

Technical requirements for audio-visual presentations:
Your audio-visual presentation can be a videoclip or an autorunning PowerPoint with a voice over presentation. The assignment should be prepared in a widely accepted format which can be uploaded through learnonline. Acceptable video file formats include Quicktime .mov, Windows Media .wmv. PowerPoint presentations should be in Microsoft PowerPoint Slideshow format in either the .ppt or.pptx versions. If you are doing a voice over PowerPoint make sure that the voice files are properly embedded. For more information on this and other aspects of preparing an audio-visual presentation see the ‘Resources’ section below.

Resources
A number of resources are available to assist you with this assignment:
1. There is a comprehensive Help resource for Assignment 2 in the Assessments block on the course website.
2. Relevant elements of the course include all the material in the segment about sustainability.
3. The library conducts special sessions to help you with how to make voice-over PowerPoint presentations.

Submission instructions

Complete the ‘rubrics’ at the bottom of the Feedback form, indicating your self-evaluation of the assignment against the criteria. Include the Feedback form in Word format at the end of the assignment. Feedback forms are provided on the learnonline site. The assignment must then be submitted through the course learnonline site.

Feedback
Feedback will be given within two-three weeks of the submission date. Feedback on this assessment will be provided on the Feedback form which is found on the learnonline site. For assessment criteria refer to the feedback sheet.

Due date
The completed assignment is due at 11.00 pm Adelaide time on Sunday 7 May 2017.

Extensions
Extensions will not normally be granted. Exceptions will be made for personal illness supported by medical certificates and for significant, unexpected and unforeseeable personal and family events. Apply for extensions to the course-coordinator, through the learnonline site. Late penalties will not apply to assignments for which an extension has been granted provided that the assignment is submitted by the extended submission date.

Late submissions (where no prior arrangement for an extension has been made)
Assignments submitted after the due date, without an authorised extension, will receive a penalty of 10% a day deducted from the total available mark for the assignment for up to 7 calendar days. After 7 calendar days the assignment will no longer be accepted. There is no commitment to return late assignments within two weeks of submission.

The exam will assess the content described in the course statement.

The exam has three parts:

• Part A: Case study - worth 15 marks.
• Part B: Short answer questions - worth 10 marks
• Part C: 10 multiple choice questions - worth 5 marks

The duration of the exam will be two hours plus 10 minutes reading time, plus 20 minutes for NESB students.

Information about exams, including what to bring, can be found on the exams website.

If you have an Entext entitlement or an Access Plan you may be allowed to take additional approved items into the exam or be allowed extra time. These adjustments to the standard requirements of examinations are outlined in Section 3.3 ‘Variations to Examinations’ of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual.

The standards by which the exam will be assessed are consistent with the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual.

Resources and activities
A number of resources are available to assist you with preparation for the exam:

1. There is a comprehensive help resource for the examination in the assessments block on the course website. This includes a past paper and the relevant mark scheme.
2. The case which is the basis for the case study part of the examination will be the subject of a presentation in the lectures and will be discussed in tutorials and online. You will be provided with a copy of this case at least one week before the end of classes. You are not permitted to take your personal copy of the case into the examination. A complete copy will be provided as part of the examination paper.

If this course includes an exam as part of the assessment you will be allocated to an approved UniSA external exam centre.

The examination centre allocation will be made according to your postal address recorded on the student record system six weeks before the scheduled examination period.

If a student cannot be allocated to an approved external examination centre, the student will be required to make external invigilation arrangements in accordance with policy.

 

Students will receive advance notice of scheduled examination. All students are required to sit their examination at the scheduled date, time and location irrespective of any conflict with a planned holiday or special event. (APPM 6.1.1)

 

More information about examination arrangements for students studying externally may be found by consulting the relevant policy http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (Clause 6.5).

Supplementary assessment or examination offers students an opportunity to gain a supplementary pass (SP) and is available to all students under the following conditions unless supplementary assessment or examination has not been approved for the course:

1. if the student has achieved a final grade between 45-49 per cent (F1) in a course
2. if a student who has successfully completed all of the courses within their program, with the exception of two courses in their final study period, a supplementary assessment or examination may be granted where the final grade in either or both of these courses, is less than 45 percent (F1 or F2)

More information about supplementary assessment is available in section 7.5 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual.
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp

 

All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's policies about assessment:
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp.

Student with disabilities or medical conditions or students who are carers may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements.  See Section 7 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual (APPM) at:  http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp

Students can register for an Access Plan with UniSA Disability Service. It is important to make contact early to ensure that appropriate support can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner. See the Disability Hub for more information:  http://www.unisa.edu.au/Disability/Current-students

Students are advised there is a deadline to finalise Access Plan arrangements for examinations. Further information is available at:  http://i.unisa.edu.au/campus-central/Exams_R/Before-the-Exam/Alternative-exam-arrangements/

Deferred assessment or examination is available for the course

 

 

Special consideration is available for this course. Note: Special consideration cannot be granted for a deferred assessment or examination, or a supplementary assessment or examination. APPM 7.7.6

 

Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines may be provided in:

Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation may be considered are discussed in clauses 7.8 - 7.10 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.

Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.11 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).

 

  

Extra time in exams (ENTEXT) and the use of a dictionary may be available to some students (for example, Indigenous Australian students and those of non-English speaking background) as follows:

• extra time for reading or writing. This will be an extra ten minutes per hour for every hour of standard examination time, and
• the use of an English language or bilingual print dictionary (without annotations). (APPM 7.2.2)

More information about variation to assessment is available in section 7.2 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual. http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (section 7)

The marking of each assignment is subject to moderation by the Course Coordinator to ensure consistency between markers. Each tutor submits a sample of assignments to the teaching team once they have marked their first batch of assignments. The teaching team provides feedback before tutors complete the marking of the rest of the assignments and returning these to students.

Academic integrity is the foundation of university life and is fundamental to the reputation of UniSA and its staff and students. Academic integrity means a commitment by all staff and students to act with honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect and responsibility in all academic work.

An important part of practising integrity in academic work is showing respect for other people's ideas, and being honest about how they have contributed to your work. This means taking care not to represent the work of others as your own. Using another person's work without proper acknowledgement is considered Academic Misconduct, and the University takes this very seriously.

The University of South Australia expects students to demonstrate the highest standards of academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. For example, work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be examined for copied and un-referenced text using the text comparison software Turnitin http://www.turnitin.com.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM): http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp. The Academic Integrity Module explains in more detail how students can work with integrity at the University: https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=252142

See above under Assessment details.

Students will have the opportunity to participate in the evaluation of the course. This will include in-class discussion and formal questionnaires.

Recent changes to the course as a result of student feedback include:

• Extra assistance with the voice-over element of Assignment 2
• Continuance of the Facebook page for the course after the initial trial
• Activities in tutorials updated
• Readings changed and updated
• Reflection exercises developed