A Beginner’s Guide to Corporate Social Responsibility

Explore the principles of corporate social responsibility

Corporations are increasingly expected to be visibly socially responsible, driving sustainable development and maintaining transparency in reporting their processes.

On this six-week course from the University of Warwick, you’ll reflect on how businesses engage with and report on the three pillars of sustainability. You’ll further your understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different contexts and learn how to embed CSR principles into your operations.

Examine international perspectives on globalisation and sustainability

You’ll be introduced to key concepts including corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, business ethics, and the social licence to operate, allowing you to fully understand how a corporation should interact with these concepts when driving sustainable development processes.

You’ll explore the global nature of business operations, and examine CSR processes in international contexts, allowing you to assess how sustainability practices differ around the world.

Investigate the relationship between corporations and stakeholders

It can be difficult to plan a CSR initiative that represents the interests of all stakeholders within an organisation.

You’ll explore corporate relationships with employees, consumers, government, suppliers, civil society, analysing stakeholder expectations and how your organisation can deliver on the CSR principles that represent all stakeholders.

Learn how to deliver CSR reports

You’ll be introduced to international frameworks and learn what should be included in a comprehensive CSR report.

Using case studies from different global contexts, you’ll finish this course having gained insights into reporting styles and learn how to model your own report to reflect the context of your organisation.

This course is designed for mid-level managers and employees interested in how to embed corporate social responsibility principles in their operations.

It will benefit both those already in the role of reporting corporate social responsibility and those new to the concept.

This course is designed for mid-level managers and employees interested in how to embed corporate social responsibility principles in their operations.

It will benefit both those already in the role of reporting corporate social responsibility and those new to the concept.

• Demonstrate understanding of what it means to be a socially responsible business and the expectations of society about businesses role in sustainable development
• Identify the difference between true embeddedness of corporate social responsibility principles in business operations and green or whitewashing
• Discuss the complexity of the relationship of a company with all its stakeholders (employees, consumers, government, suppliers, civil society and shareholders) in a rapidly changing international context
• Critically evaluate corporate social responsibility reports according to their merits against the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental)