MGMT E-5625: Sustainability and International Business: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies

Sustainability in international business is more than simply adopting sustainable practices—it has the potential to help companies gain competitive advantage. This course examines the global business environment in the context of sustainability and explores the challenges and opportunities that the new movement toward sustainability offers multinational enterprises and the countries in which they do business. It focuses on the meaning of sustainable development for profit-making global corporations, the effect of sustainability on global corporate development strategies, and how corporations and industries interact with nations to develop relationships and partnerships that support sustainable economic development. We investigate regions of the world such as Africa, Europe—particularly Scandinavia—Asia, and Latin America to learn about how multinationals are approaching sustainability in these regions. We also look at companies such as Unilever, Goodyear, SAB, Hitachi, Chevron, Coca Cola, and GlaxoSmithKline and study their specific approaches to sustainability. Topics covered in this course include corporate social and environmental responsibility; risk management; governments, investors, and stakeholder expectations; the social and environmental footprint throughout the business value chain; and impacts and opportunities for multinationals in the age of climate change.