NEW SBWL

New SBWL Winter term 2024/25

Access to Specialization: "Responsibility and Sustainability in Global Business". In discussion with the Rectorate, we have changed the access to the specialization to a first come first serve basis for 60 students.

There will be no entry exam on the 4th of September 2024. No Motivation letter. AND the good news is for those already registered you have a guaranteed spot in the SBWL, and the readings that we allocated for the exam are the readings for the core courses. So you will be ahead of the game. 

The registration period has also been extended, to 13.09.2024. You will be formally notified via LPIS after this date, and this will enable you to register for core courses. We will send an email with instructions.

We look forward to working with you this coming semester

Welcome to the RSGB Bachelor Program Specialization!

The RSGB specialization is located at the intersection of global business, sustainable management and corporate responsibility, focusing upon the role of business in tackling societal grand challenges and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Central to this focus is understanding the complexity and interrelationships that emerge, both between systemic elements of sustainability (environment, social and economic) and between levels of analysis (global, regional, national, organizational and individual). This complexity is further increased by the different disciplinary approaches used to understand business’ role in tackling societal grand challenges and the fact that the RSGB specialization will look at these complex relationships both from a comparative (e.g., differences across institutional contexts) and a cross-border perspective (e.g., the insight that effectively addressing societal grand challenges requires cross-national partnerships). The focus is on international business strategies, behaviors and impact in response to global challenges.  This includes:

• Assessing global-local tensions, to enable responsible and sustainable practices, which reflect local sustainability issues and stakeholder expectations.

• Understanding the implications of governance, stakeholder expectations and risk in decision-making processes but also the opportunities for transformation at both the organizational and societal levels.

• Recognizing the role of global business in societal transformation and the importance of “future proofing” organizations in respect to long term megatrends facing society, to enable business to evolve and meet the critical challenges to deliver true value across social, environmental, and economic dimensions.

• The role of purpose and value-driven leadership in sustainable and responsible business practice.

• How environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG) shape business agendas.

• The role of Equity, Inclusion & Diversity (EI&D) in helping global organizations to adapt to an ever faster changing socioeconomic and political context and in attracting talent from all walks of life.

Approach: The RSGB specialization adopts multi-level and multi-disciplinary approaches, to enable a holistic assessment of how global systems influence country context, organization decisions, strategies and operations of multinational companies. The specialization is committed to the values of interdisciplinarity and inclusivity, to inspire curiosity and exploration of the role of global business in the development of solutions to meet emerging local, regional, national and global needs.

Goals of the RSGB Specialization

Higher education is crucial to develop a workforce that understands both current and future sustainability challenges. This requires particular pedagogies to equip students with the skillset required. Students need to develop the skills and competencies to understand the complexities of sustainability. In fact, sustainability is often messy, uncertain, and difficult to model, with solutions often leading to unintended consequences, partly due to the high levels of interconnectivity between systems and elements associated with sustainability. However, as part of an educational process, solution-based thinking is key, but to educate on complexities so that solutions are not oversimplified.

Therefore, the RSGB specialization adopts a range of pedagogies, including real-world projects and experiential learning. After successfully finishing the RSGB Specialization, students have acquired a comprehensive understanding of the SDGs and the challenges of acting upon these, in addition to a range of applicable knowledge and skills required for an active and meaningful contribution to addressing the grand challenges of our time.

For all courses, the language of instruction is English.

What Do the Individual Courses look like?

During the first semester of the program, students enroll in two foundational courses: Responsible Global Business Foundations and Current issues in Global Business, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. 

C1 Responsible Global Business Foundations (4 ECTS)

This course is a foundation course introducing the core concepts of sustainability and responsibility. Students are exposed to systems-level concepts, complexity and systems thinking. In addition, students study concepts of ethics and responsibility at the organizational and individual level. This provides the foundational theories and tools to navigate and understand complex global challenges facing organizations and managers in the global context.

 C2 Current Issues in Global Business, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability: (4 ECTS)

This course is designed for students to explore current issues in global business and sustainability.  It is based upon a range of different experiences, using innovative methodologies such as service-learning approaches, 3-D learning, experiential learning, and mentoring to develop solutions to current challenges facing businesses, NGOs, and SMEs. In addition, as part of this course, students engage with current research conducted within the institute. This involves coverage of various research themes and approaches within the responsibility and sustainability field.

During the second semester of the program, students choose three electives from a wide variety of available elective courses. 

Semester 2

Elective courses 1-3 (4 ECTS each)   

E1: Sustainability Context and systems

•          CSR in the Global Context

•          Sustainable Development across Societies

•          Systems of Governance and Sustainability in the International Context

E2: Organizational sustainability landscape

•          Responsible International Business

•          Digitalization and sustainability in SMEs

•          CSR, Sustainability and Competitiveness

E3: Individual Responsibility, ethics and Sustainability Values

•          Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

•          Responsible Global Leadership

•          Decision Making for Responsible IB

Available Options

Whilst the SBWL does not launch until September 2024, if you can’t wait that long to take our courses, many of the modules offered in the new SBWL are currently offered within the current International Business SBWL.  The following options are available up to and including winter semester 2024 within the IB SBWL:

• CSR in the Global Context

• Sustainable Development Across Societies

• Systems of Governance and Sustainability in the International Context

• CSR Sustainability and Competitiveness

• Responsible Global Leadership

Any questions?

Please contact us.