Этика бизнеса

In response to global environmental, social and governance challenges that humanity faces today, flourishing enterprises of all sizes around the world are urged to make ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability a new normal way of doing business. The simplistic idea of corporations as wealth creating organizations with no obligations to their stakeholders is no longer acceptable in the public eye. The natural capitalism is becoming a response to an outdated shareholder-driven business model. Today businesses with purpose are expected to act as agents of world benefit and make an active contribution to meeting the 17 United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) . For doing business successfully on local or global scale a new mindset is required. It is not enough to be good at doing, a greater purpose consistent with creating economic value requires modern leaders to focus on their authentic state of being holistic with own values and actions. We live in the Anthropocene epoch that is characterized by short-term decision making and human practices, such as overconsumption or overproduction, which increasingly challenge our planet’s regenerative capacity and severely impact our ecosystems and livelihoods. The world is rapidly changing by becoming more digital and agile powered by artificial intelligence that replaces many of the traditional human occupations. Consequently, to educate the next generation of responsible leaders requires less concentration on the knowledge acquisition that becomes obsolete so quickly and more focus on critical thinking skills on our premises, the beliefs and assumptions at the foundation of our scientific and professional decisions, coupled by interpersonal and group communication competencies. What is the role of business in contemporary society? What is the United Nations Global Agenda 2030? What is the most appropriate way to measure how we achieve societal goals, GDP or people’s well being? Why does a circular economy outperform the linear one? How are values associated with ethics, CSR and sustainability becoming an integral part of corporate DNA? How do we develop sustainability mindset? What is the role of stakeholders for sustaining the future of a corporation? What is a purpose-driven organization? What is a sustainable business model? What is accountability and nonfinancial reporting? Why do environmental, social and governance indicators (ESG) matter? How to cope with CSR/Sustainability guidelines, international and local initiatives? What is quantum leadership and what are best practices of sustainable entrepreneurship today? These are some of the key issues, which will be addressed throughout this course. Why is this a capstone course? Students will be engaged in a formative learning experience to develop a sustainability mindset. This new way of viewing complexities and interconnectedness of the world will enable students to better understand and question the dominant economistic paradigm, as well as their own values and assumptions connected to unsustainability and resilience of the planet. By means of an engaging course design that incorporates the most advanced adult learning tools, students are exposed to the continuous cycles of action-reflection-learning, that enables them to better understand themselves in the contemporary setting. The course helps students to develop contemplative and critical reflection skills, and foster key cognitive mechanisms and competencies for a sustainability mindset. This is grounded in research findings that when we expand our understanding of ourselves and surrounding world, we are better equipped for shaping the world we want to live in. This course has a multi-disciplinary nature, drawing on philosophy, social sciences, business disciplines, including spirituality (secular, non religious) disciplines. On the one side, ethics-driven, responsibility-minded and sustainability-literate corporate behavior is understood as a means for constant individual and organizational self-reflection on how to proactively solve ESG challenges. On the other side, these concepts serve as a driver for innovation and a toolbox that helps dealing with the polarities of cooperation and competitiveness, pressures for sustainable development, and changes in international governance. Thus, the crucial role of business, movements and enlightened individuals as transformative agents for the flourishing society and clean planet is becoming evident.