Unit information: Corporate Environmental Management in 2016/17

Unit name	Corporate Environmental Management
Unit code	GEOGM1406
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Dixon
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	All core Term 1 units for the MSc in Environmental Policy and Management
School/department	School of Geographical Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

This unit provides an advanced introduction to environmental economic geography. It will consider how public and private institutions manage their environmental footprint in both developed and emerging economies. In particular, this unit will consider the internal and external factors that affect corporate environmental performance. It will examine issues relating to how firms are organized, the power different stakeholders wield, the influence of the stock market and institutional investors, reputational factors, and different national and supranational frameworks.

The unit aims:

• To familiarise students with the organisational, legal, financial and reputational factors affecting corporate environmental performance and management.
• To familiarise students with key themes and findings in academic research on environmental economic geography and the geography of finance.
• To enable students to undertake sophisticated analyses of corporate environmental policy and management dilemmas, particularly in different jurisdictional and institutional contexts

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

• Identify and explain internal and external factors material to corporate environmental performance and management.
• Explain how these internal and external factors interact.
• Analyse specific cases of corporate environmental malfeasance; locate background information about these cases that allows them to understand the key actors, legal and regulatory issues, and the consequences for corporate environmental performance

Teaching Information

The unit will be centred on a weekly two-hour seminar. Each seminar will be based on actual case studies, supplemented by general readings. The instructor will provide a short introductory lecture regarding the case and general issues from the reading. In following, the instructor will lead a structured discussion among the seminar participants.

Assessment Information

(1) One 2000 word essay (30%) completed in the first half of the unit that critically analyses the readings, lectures, and cases from weeks 1-4. (2) One 3000 word essay (70%) completed at the end of the unit, describing and analysing a particular case of corporate environmental malfeasance and/or systems of corporate environmental management in a given jurisdiction (e.g. the European Union).

Reading and References

Jensen, M. 1993. The modern industrial revolution, exit, and the failure of internal control systems Journal of Finance, 48(3): 831-880 Florida, R. and Davison, D. 2001. Gaining from green management: environmental management systems inside and outside the factory California Management Review, 43(3): 64-84 Orlitzky, M., Schmidt, F.L. and S.L. Rynes. 2003. Corporate social and environmental performance: a meta-analysis Organization Studies, 24: 403-441. Clark, G.L. and Hebb, T. 2005. Why should they care? Corporate responsibility and global standards. Environment and Planning A, 37: 2015-31. Porter, M. and Kramer, M. 2006. Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility Harvard Business Review, December 2006.