GLOBAL AND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT - 2024/5

Module Overview

The world is witnessing significant transformation as a result of major contemporary trends and challenges including greening economies, sustainability of businesses, among others. These trends have further exacerbated and accelerated the need for action on sustainability from all stakeholders at the organisational/business, national and international levels. The current debate is on how the current trends are leading to new business practices and the need for new sets of skills in the design and implementation of innovative sustainability approaches across businesses. This is because at the nexus of many of these challenges are businesses who are required to address the concerns of multiple stakeholders including customers, governments etc.

This module is designed to explore these issues and challenges in contemporary business environment. By taking a multi-disciplinary approach, this module will explore the challenges businesses face in achieving economic growth and development while seeking to operate in and adhere to sustainable practices. The module will further explore the important role businesses have in the sustainability transformation of society. The module will expand students' knowledge and understanding of sustainability and the critical contemporary business challenges confronting the world today. Students will develop knowledge of the design and innovation for sustainability, how these are integrated across different levels (organisational, national and international) and their influence on institutional practices and performance.

The module will also explore the regulatory and international policy environments and the role key stakeholders have in shaping the sustainability and greening economies agenda. Students taking this module will also learn to develop, design, implement and monitor an action plan for sustainability in business practices. With the use an international array of case studies, examples etc., the module will further provide students with the tools to create and develop a way of thinking to reimagine and integrate sustainability practices in businesses.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

JUERGENSEN Jill (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

The module will cover the following topics:

• 1. Contemporary Global Business Issues


• 2. Global Sustainability Management (Sustainable Management Theory, Stakeholder Theory, Paradox Theory and Sustainability)


• 3. The Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts of Business (The Triple Bottom Line)


• 4. Sustainable Business Strategies


• 5. Sustainable Model Innovation


• 6. Stakeholder Collaboration and Partnership in Sustainability Governance


• 7. Sustainability Investing and Value Creation


• 8. Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility


• 9. Sustainable Culture & Leadership


• 10. Managing Sustainable Change


• 11. Sustainability Skills & Competencies

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Alternative assessment for the Group Project is an Individual Project

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that: (1) they have grasped the basic understanding of the key concepts and theories relating to contemporary global management issues and sustainability management; (2) they have developed their ability to understand and analyse the challenges and prospects for business sustainability practices. The weekly lectures and seminar sessions will facilitate formative assessment and feedback. The assessments are closely linked to the lectures, seminars, module resources, and the outcomes expected of students to demonstrate they have a theoretical understanding and can apply their knowledge practically. The assessments also encapsulate the nature of knowledge and skills that students are expected to demonstrate throughout their time at university and beyond.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module are:

• Group Project (Addresses LOs 2, 3, and 5) which aims to assess students’ familiarity with, and knowledge of, global and sustainability business management issues particularly on the challenges and prospects for businesses in implementing sustainability practices.


• Individual assignment (Addresses LOs 1, 2 and 4) which aims to provide students with the opportunity to analyse contemporary global issues in the creation of innovative sustainability practices for implementation of businesses and reflecting on their own understanding and knowledge of sustainability and its related impact.

Formative assessment and feedback

As part of the Group Project, students will be given the opportunity to receive formative feedback, integrated in the weekly seminars and further offered during office hours with the teaching team. Assessment support sessions on the individual assignment will be provided and one seminar session is dedicated to providing feedback to students on their individual assignment. Furthermore, students will be encouraged to make use of the office hours of the teaching team. During these meetings, students will be able to seek additional feedback and assessment support. The formative feedback provided will be constructive and forward-looking, identifying areas that can be strengthened as well as guidance on what students can do to improve their work in line with the clear assessment criteria. Students will also have the opportunity to discuss comments on assessments after they have received feedback.

Module aims

• Develop students' knowledge and understanding of contemporary global business challenges/issues, the business case and leadership action for sustainability and how these influence business practices, approaches and performance.
• Develop the skills and knowledge of students of the various designs, innovations (technology), and management of sustainability approaches and how these are integrated at the organisational, national and international levels.
• Provide students an understanding of the theories, processes, practices and institutional forces and their application in moving towards sustainable governance practices.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Empower students to become independent and innovative thinkers with a range of employability skills and knowledge so they will be able to adapt within the dynamic business environment.

The teaching and learning strategy will rely on a mix of learning sessions based on weekly 1-hour lecture sessions and 1-hour seminar sessions designed to provide students with the necessary tools to be able to understand, analyse and evaluate they main concepts, topics etc., covered in the module.

The teaching and learning methods that will include the use of both synchronized and asynchronized approaches in the form of presentations, case studies, prerecorded content, and videos etc., will support the aforementioned strategy.

Since much of the content on this module will be relatively new to students and will comprise of actors whom the students have not previously come across, students are REQUIRED to read the recommended texts (chapters and/or articles) for each individual lecture.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MAN1146

Other information

The module focuses on globalization and sustainability, which are key pillars of the university of surrey education provision.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2024/5 academic year.