Corporate Social Responsibility (MA)

Overview

Over the last 100 years, the relationship between corporations and society has been subject to much debate; often of a critical nature. During the last two decades the level of criticism seems to have increased, as reflected in challenges from a variety of directions: the many protests about corporate influence on international trade policy; demands that corporations take greater responsibility for the actions within their supply chain; evidence of irresponsible lending, greed and associated scandals; and much blame for environmental damange and climate change.

Corporations are also a source of innovation (technological, financial, organisational) and seen as a force for both economic development and social change. Deeply implicated in corporate behaviour and associated impacts is the role of stakeholders, including consumers in pursuit of a better living, national and international policy initiatives (MDG, UNGC, IBLF), the media, NGOs, and regulators.

Corporate Responsibility is a concept whereby companies and other corporate bodies integrate social and environmental concerns into their business operations, including developing transparent governance processes and voluntarily engaging with stakeholders.

The belief that responsible corporate behaviour leads to sustainable business success seems widely accepted. Public interest in these issues is great but is mixed with widespread scepticism about the sincerity of corporate engagement with social and environmental programmes, and concern about the level of commitment among policy makers. Meanwhile, the many studies that try to link greater corporate responsibility with better corporate financial performance remain inconclusive.

The nature and effects of corporate responsibility are highly topical. This course enables you to engage with the many conflicting issues concerning corporate responsibility and to develop appropriate frameworks of evaluation. Students undertaking this course will benefit from cutting-edge research and thinking in this important area. Consequently, employment opportunities across the spectrum of management disciplines are extensive for graduates with this Masters qualification.

London Metropolitan Business School

www.londonmet.ac.uk/lmbs/

Applying and entry

PLEASE NOTE There is no official closing date for this course, but you are advised to apply as early as possible as we will only consider your application if there are places available on the course.

Tel: 020 7133 4202
Email: admissions@londonmet.ac.uk

A good Honours degree or equivalent. If you have lower qualifications but substantial relevant work experience you are also encouraged to apply.

For academic enquiries, please contact:
Course Leader:
Dr Lez Rayman-Bacchus:
Email: l.rayman-bacchus@londonmet.ac.uk

Open Days/Evenings

You are welcome to attend one of our open days and evenings, held throughout the year. See our website www.londonmet.ac.uk/open-days, or call the Admissions Office, for the latest information.

Course contents

Course structure

The course has been designed with the part-time student in mind, acknowledging that many people would like to be able to study while continuing to work full-time. Completing the course requires you to take six modules and a dissertation. Included within this are four compulsory modules, one designate module and one free elective. Your choice of elective is subject to your Course Leader agreeing that it is appropriate for the degree.

For the dissertation you are required to design, undertake and write a substantial (i.e. about 15,000 words) individual piece of research on a topic of your choice (subject to approval), working under the supervision of a member of the course team.

The full-time programme structures, for September and February entries, are shown below. The structure for part-time study is the same except that you choose up to 2 modules per semester, completing the MA over 2 or 3 years. Individual programme details may vary and must be agreed with your Course Leader.

Full-time Autumn Start

Autumn semester

• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporate Governance and Accountability
• Designate/Elective module

Spring semester

• Corporate Ethics
• Research Methods for CSR
• Designate/Elective module
• Summer semester
• Dissertation

Full-time Spring Start

Spring semester

• Corporate Ethics
• Research Methods for CSR
• Designate/Elective module

• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporate Governance and Accountability
• Designate/ Elective module

Spring semester

• Dissertation

Careers

Career opportunities

There are many potential areas of employment related to CSR and sustainability, such as environmental management, social marketing, health and safety, ethical investment management, product development, and public relations.

Across business, the voluntary sector, and public services, many CSR and Sustainability roles are carried out by individuals as part of their job, and located within a variety of specialist functions, including HR, Corporate Communications and Corporate Legal Services, Estates Management, Purchasing, Product Development. A growing number of organisations have created dedicated CSR or Sustainability roles, ranging from board level to more junior positions.

In addition, there are opportunities within specialist consulting organisations, such as social and environmental auditing, NGOs promoting ethical and fair trading, specialists in managing corporate social engagement programmes, and firms monitoring compliance of corporations against social and environmental performance indices.

Graduates of this course will find their skills much in demand in a variety of industries in this growth area. You will also be well placed for research work or further study such as doctoral studies.