Corporate Social Responsibility

Department

International Program

Course unit code

IFLV6592

Number of ECTS credits allocated

Name of lecturer(s)

Agafonow Cordero Alejandro, PhD

Mode of delivery

face-to-face

Recommended optional program components

none

Recommended or required reading

Since the PowerPoints have been curated to be a "reference tool" to help students assimilate the most important aspects of the knowledge addressed, it is advisable that students read carefully such PowerPoints before attending lectures. The references used to curate PowerPoints are listed under "Additional literature," and it would be a plus if students are motivated to read directly such references.Primary sources (Articles and book chapters, timeless contributions to the discipline)

Agafonow, A., & Perez, M. (2017). The Transaction Costs of Stakeholder Board Membership. The Case of Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. SSRN Online Library, 1-31. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3667602

Belot, F., Ginglinger, E., Slovin, M. B., & Sushka, M. E. (2014). Freedom of choice between unitary and two-tier boards: An empirical analysis. Journal of Financial Economics, 112(3), 364-385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2014.02.011

Charkham, J. P., & Ploix, H. (2005). Germany. In Keeping Better Company. Corporate Governance Ten Years On (pp. 29-410). Oxford University Press.

Easterbrook, F. H., & Fischel, D. R. (1996). Voting. In The Economic Structure of Corporate Law (pp. 70-89). Harvard University Press.

Fama, E. F., & Jensen, M. C. (1983). Separation of Ownership and Control. Journal of Law and Economics, 26(2), 301-325. https://doi.org/10.1086/467037

Greenfield, K. (2006). Democracy and the Dominance of Delaware. In The Failure of Corporate Law. Fundamental Flaws & Progressive Possibilities (pp. 107-122). The University of Chicago Press.

Hill, C. W. L., & Jones, T. M. (1992). Stakeholder-Agency Theory. Journal of Management Studies, 29(2), 131-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1992.tb00657.x

Hornuf, L., Mohamed, A., & Schwienbacher, A. (2019). The Economic Impact of Forming a European Company. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 57(4), 659-674. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12839

Jensen, M. C. (2000). Value Maximization and the Corporate Objective Function. In M. Beer & N. Nohria (Eds.), Breaking the Code of Change (pp. 37-57). Harvard Business School Press.

Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(2), 235. https://doi.org/10.2307/3857812

SEC. (2000). Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. Definitive Proxy Statement Relating to Merger or Acquisition. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/

SEC. (2020, September 23). Amendments to Modernize Shareholder Proposal Rule. SEC Press Release.

Level of course unit

Bachelor

Year of study

Fall 2025

Semester when the course unit is delivered

Language of instruction

English

Learning outcomes of the course unit

1) To think of Corporate Social Responsibility as a multidimensional problem that escapes simple solutions.
2) To gauge the importance and limits of managing for stakeholders.
3) To understand how the firm is organized and governed for the sake of different stakeholders.

Course contents

This course is suited to a multicultural classroom environment with domestic and international students and, thus, the language of instruction is English. A number of corporate social Responsibility (CSR) definitions share a concern for how enterprises respond to stakeholders. Thus, this course aims to shed light on the forces that shape enterprises with separation of ownership and control, and around which stakeholders with different claims and duties interact. CSR is thus examined in the context of case studies, including: 1) The statement on the purpose of a corporation released by the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies; 2) How Amazon punishes employee activism and heads off unions; 3) Why are NGOs buying stock in companies they protests; 4) How charter competition in the US is preventing the increase of board diversity; 5) Ben & Jerry’s and its unique stakeholder board, and; 6) How the representation of employees on Volkswagen’s board failed to prevent the emission scandal.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course comprises an interactive mix of lectures, discussions and individual and group work.

Work placement(s)

none

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