University
of Sydney:
Australia’s
first graduate course in corporate citizenship
In 2003 Orfeus
Research was contracted by the Faculty of Economics and Business at the
University of Sydney
to develop and teach a new unit on Corporate Citizenship for the University’s
Master of Public Policy and Master of Business Studies programs. At the time, this was the first graduate level course on Corporate Citizenship offered at an Australian university. The
unit is loosely structured into three parts:
- First, an introduction to the corporation,
the historical and contemporary contexts of corporate citizenship and
the reasons it has become a key focus for business, public policy and civil
society
- Second,
a focus on five key
spheres of companies’ impacts on society:
o Economic/financial
o Social/community
o The
workplace (employees and Human Resource Management)
o The
environment/sustainability
o Human Rights.
- Finally,
an examination of current issues in social reporting, measurement
and accountability to stakeholders as well as the relationship between
public policy and corporate citizenship.
A
key feature of the course is the involvement of guest lectures from practitioners
in the field of corporate citizenship and has included:
- Anthony Lupi and Louise Redmond, Positive Outcomes
- Louise O’Halloran, Ethical Investment Association
- Monica Richter, Australian Conservation Foundation
- Mike Wilson, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
- Jason
Yat-sen Li, Insurance Australia Group
(IAG)
- Richard Boele, President of the Social & Ethical
Auditing Institute
- Samantha Brown, Head of Community Involvement, Westpac
- Jeff Angel, Total Environment Centre
The
course has proved popular with students and is now a regular offering in the University's Masters programs. The next course is scheduled for Semester 1 2006.
To
find out more about these postgraduate programs go to: www.econ.usyd.edu.au/content.php?pageid=2326
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