Corporate Social Responsibility Program

Next Offering Starts March 22-23, 2013

The rules of modern business are changing. Bare economic success is no longer enough. Firms must still be financially successful, but they must do so in a way that is socially responsible and respectful of the impact of their actions on the natural environment. Business leaders must attend to both short term planning horizons and the needs of the next generation. The traditional logic of the corporation is being challenged along with longstanding frameworks and models of competition.

There is a growing awareness that our business practices must be sustainable and our firms must be good corporate citizens. The pace and extent of these changes can be challenging even for the most seasoned executive. Keeping abreast of global changes in this rapidly changing landscape is essential and firms must continually revise and update their long and short term agendas in order to stay in the game.

Executive Education at the Alberta School of Business in cooperation with the Canadian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility has crafted a cutting edge program designed to help committed executives, managers and employees apply these revolutionary changes to business practice. The Corporate Social Responsibility Program is designed to expand and challenge traditional thinking while building upon relationship and reputation management frameworks.

The program includes workshops that focus on ethics, the emerging new role of the corporation in contemporary society, new global measures and standards of sustainability and the new forms of leadership needed to integrate social responsibility into long-term strategy and daily operations. Drawing on concepts and tools such as Strategic
CSR, triple bottom-line reporting and CSR audits, and integrating a stakeholder perspective throughout, this program will help you navigate today’s complex global business environment.

In particular, it will give you the tools you need to make sense of the broad and far-reaching implications of corporate social responsibility.

You will be exposed to stimulating discussions that will challenge your assumptions about the role of business in society, encourage you to reexamine your relationships with external stakeholders and guide you through the crucial task of repositioning and reevaluating how your firm perceives itself in relation to its ongoing obligations to its local community, the natural environment and global society.

The Corporate Social Responsibility Program comprises four distinct modules.

The spring 2013 program will start March 22-23, 2013.

Cost: $8500.00
Location: Edmonton, Alberta

MODULE I: Introduction and Critical Analyis of CSR
March 16-17, 2012 or March 22-23, 2013

Within this module you will:

• Receive an introduction to current CSR best practices and explore successful integration scenarios.
• Participate in discussions on the complexity of the triple bottom line and how it can be integrated within a CSR framework when exploring business issues.
• Explore various implementation modalities to ensure structures and processes fit within differing environments.
• Build a business case to articulate the importance of CSR within your organization.
• Discuss CSR’s ongoing and pivotal relationship with reputation and brand management.

MODULE II: CSR Analysis and Reporting
April 13-14, 2012

Within this module you will:

• Explore the various metrics utilized within CSR and the models and frameworks used to evaluate success.
• Learn the tracking and reporting frameworks utilized within existing and new business practices.
• Examine ways that metrics can enhance PR strategies and reputation management outcomes.
• Investigate voluntary reporting mechanisms and regulatory disclosure requirements. What needs to change? What is the rest of the world doing? How does reporting align with regulation?
• Examine the evidence of organizations and when reporting can yield misleading results. How do these outcomes interact with reputation management?

MODULE III: Leveraging CSR
May 4-5, 2012

Within this module you will:

• Examine the role that governance occupies within CSR models.
• Learn the importance of top down and bottom up organizational approaches.
• Examine ethics in governance.
• Explore various approaches to stakeholder relations and management.
• Focus on the history of corporations and their influence on government, stakeholders and CSR strategies.
• Refine your skills in building credibility with internal and external stakeholders.

MODULE IV: Organizational Strategy and CSR
June 8-9, 2012

Within this module you will:

• Explore the interaction of strategy and CSR.
• Examine the role that CSR plays in the creation of international strategies. Good business practices in some areas can be CSR reporting opportunities in others.
• Investigate the results of CSR strategies within differing markets.
• Learn to deal with disaster, mitigate risk and maintain reputations.
• Undertake a capstone case study to solidify concepts and further expand and apply your thinking.
• Learn assessment tools to accurately gauge organizational readiness.
• Learn tools and techniques around becoming a change agent within your organization.

For more information about the Corporate Social Responsibility Program please contact
Executive Education at 780-492-5832 or via email at executiveeducation@ualberta.ca.