This course will explore corporate social responsibility (CSR) as being central to the value-creating purpose of the international firm. New ideas, contemporary knowledge, and original research to the area of socially-responsible international business will be discussed, placing a priority on the global stakeholder influences on acting in a socially-responsible way, foreign buyer reactions to responsible business, and international market targeting to development of socially-responsible international business strategies.

At the completion of this course, students will be able to: Knowledge and understanding The role of CSR for tackling grand societal challenges of the world The complexity of operating in a global environment, the divergent stakeholder needs and the logic behind corporate strategies that manage the risks and challenges of operating internationally Applying knowledge and understanding A strategic management perspective and firm survival and growth through a proactive CSR strategy lens Sustainable business models for the international corporations in the twenty-first century Making Judgements Main theories and concepts on CSR Main elements of CSR and its impact on firm failure versus firm survival The potential of digital transformation for sustainable business models Communication Skills Necessary skills to organize and write the results of an empirical analysis with firm-level data  A team-working environment  Presentation skills Learning Skills Results of the relevant empirical studies on strategic CSR and sustainable international business models

The modules of the course will cover the following topics: Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility  Corporate Social Responsibility A stakeholder perspective An institutional perspective A legal perspective A shareholder perspective A behavioral perspective A CSR mandate A strategic perspective A sustainable perspective A value creation perspective Project week

The key textbooks for the course are: Chandler, David. Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf (6th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US), 2022.  Leonidou, L. C.,  Katsikeas, C. S.,  Samiee, S., and Leonidou, C. N. Socially Responsible International Business: Critical Issues and the Way Forward. Edward Elgar Publishing (2019).  Selected Case Studies provided by the teaching team

Fully synchronous  TA sessions Group project Case Studies Guest lectures

Students will be evaluated on the following activities: 1x paper presentation and discussion (15%)   1x Group case study presentation (10%)   Group Project Work (65%) 5 Steps of Project Work (25% - 5 % each)   Peer review evaluation (10%)   Group Presentation (with slides) of project in W12 (10%) Group Research Paper submission  (20%) - In-person final exam - individual (10%)   Bonus points – up to 2pt for Bonus activities Non-attendant students must study all concepts mentioned on the professor slides and all papers discussed by professor and students. The final written exam will include multiple-choice and open-ended questions on the above readings.

Active attendance at the course; Quality of the proposed issue for the thesis.