Corporate Social Responsibility EMBA Assignment

Corporate Social Responsibility EMBA

Assignment 4: Individual take-home assignment

Weighting (% of final grade): 30% Learning Outcome(s) Assessed: This take home exam is designed to assess 1) the capability to apply the lessons to analyzing your own environment, and 2) to thoughtfully discuss and reflect on some of the main topics of the course. Key learning outcomes 1, 2 and 3 Description of Assignment: In this post-assignment, students are expected to carefully assess their own business environment. They should reflect on the CSR maturity of their company with respect to different CSR dimensions, formulate recommendations, and indicate how (and why) it differs from more global/more local players (companies) in their environment, and from other regions. The submission should be Word-processed (pdf is accepted as upload) with a maximum of 3 singlespaced pages of content (excl. title page), font Times new Roman, size 12. Make sure to print your name on the title page and to number your pages. The assignment should be submitted electronically through MyCourses latest 10 days after class ends (24th of December) (Dubai time). E-mail submissions or hard copies will not be accepted. Late submissions will not be accepted either.

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Quality Indicators (how will it be Understanding the subject (24%): Students are asgraded; what constitutes a good sessed on how well they formulate their assessment assignment): using the course material, the validity of their arguments, and the relevance and robustness of their recommendations; 16% on the assessment of their own corporation (max 2 pages); 4% on comparison with more global/more local companies (max 0,5 page) and 4% on comparison with other regions (max 0,5 page). Quality of Paper (6%): the extent to which the paper is appropriately structured, absence of typos and grammar mistakes, consistent and appropriate use of font, punctuation, page numbers, etc.

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Before you start answering the questions, please indicate on the title page: Your name: Name of your company: Industry: Size (turnover in $ & number of employees): Geographical area of activity (global, specific continent, local, …): Your function: Number of pages (of this document):

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Assess the CSR maturity of your own company, provide recommendations and reflect on scale and geographical differences Please address the following 4 topics: 1/ Assess the CSR maturity of your own company (maximum 1,5 page) Indicate whether your company is a frontrunner or follower with respect to CSR adoption (from ‘compliance’ to ‘shared value’), relative to the industry it is operating in. Substantiate your judgment by -

Indicating where the industry as a whole is with respect to CSR adoption

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For your own company, indicate whether you regard yourself as frontrunner or follower in your industry by o

assessing (some) relevant dimensions for the different categories (Stakeholders, Primary Functions, Supporting Processes & Organization), providing arguments to support your choice, and company-specific examples, where possible.

o

Providing examples from competitors in your industry that justify your opinion on your companies’ position as a frontrunner or follower

2/ Formulate recommendations for your own company (minimum 0,5 page) Given the above assessment of your company, what are the top 3 programs and/or initiatives your company should undertake to ‘catch up/remain on par/remain or become a frontrunner’ in the next 3 years

3/ Reflect on scale (0,5 page) What would be different for companies in your industry that are much bigger and/or much smaller? Give 2 to 3 examples; provide relevant arguments, and specific examples, if possible.

4/ Reflect on geography (0,5 page) What would be different for companies in your industry in another geographical area? Give 2 to 3 examples; provide relevant arguments, and specific examples, if possible

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Some Readings Handbook Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Chapter 1: Culture & context p. 1921; chapter 5: The CSR threshold p. 181-189 Book Innovative CSR: From Risk Management to Value Creation: Chapter 4: CSR, an opportunity for SMEs p. 84-99 (Louche, Celine and S. Idowli and W Filho, (2010), Sheffield UK: Greenleaf Publishing) Article: Sustainability’s next frontier: walking the talk on sustainability issues that matter most (MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group) Research report, December 2013)

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