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| Version 2013-2014 |
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| GEST3024-1 | Social Enterprise and Sustainable Development
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| Duration : | 30h Th |
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| Number of credits : |
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| Lecturer : | Sybille Mertens de Wilmars |
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Language(s) of instruction :
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| French language |
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Organisation and examination :
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| Teaching in the second semester |
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Course contents :
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| The economic and financial crisis, the growing inequality and the prospects of climate change are arguing for a fundamental change in the economic system. Through their activities and the choices they make, some enterprises are more directly inspiring for this transition. They are called "social enterprises". They fit totally in the perspective of sustainable development when they feature, sometimes as a priority, the social and environmental concerns in their economic objectives. This is usually expressed in their interactions with their stakeholders (employees, suppliers, consumers, financiers, civil society, etc..) This course provides students with a reading for their critical analysis of firm behavior vis- à-vis its main stakeholders. |
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Learning outcomes of the course :
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- Understanding the diversity of business,
- Learning the basic paradigm of transition
- Conduct a critical reflection on the conduct of the business in respect of its stakeholders,
- Introduce students to innovative practices of social enterprises.
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Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :
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| - A lecture on general political economy and, if possible, a course of micro-economic analysis and economic affairs. |
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Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
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Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
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| The course is organized into two parts. The first part of the course recalls the theoretical rationale of the entreprises and justify the great diversity that exists in this field (private, public, SMEs, large companies, multinationals, with profit or social purposes) . This part also describes the conceptual and theoretical foundations of sustainable development and transition. The second part is devoted to the analysis of relationships between enterprises and their key stakeholders. The analysis is complemented by cases presented by students. |
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Recommended or required readings :
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- A bibliography containing books and reference articles will be suggested for each topic. These documents will be made available (Lol@ or Louvrex Library).
- Movies, company visits,
- The course will use the virtual interface Lol @, on which will be mailed: PowerPoint presentations of the various sessions, the cases presented by the students .
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Assessment methods and criteria :
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| The overall assessment will combine two elements:
- Presentation of a social enterprise case (in group) (30% of overall score),
- An oral examination to assess the ability of students to enrich his argument with presentations of the course and further reading. The student is asked to respond orally to two questions from a list of twenty questions submitted during the last class. (70% of overall score).
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Work placement(s) :
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Organizational remarks :
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Contacts :
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| Sybille Mertens
Cera Chair- Center for Social Economy
HEC-Management School - University of Liège - B33/box 4 - 4000 Liège
Tel : + 32(0) 4 366 27 51 - smertens@ulg.ac.be |
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