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Course contentSince its introduction in 2019, the course has been adjusted annually to offer an updated and comprehensive introduction to concepts, methods and tools in sustainable business development, while at the same time coordinating this content against expansion of sustainability-related topics in other courses at the program. In 2023, the course content was more focused on business development approaches, with fewer topics related to sustainable business management. The course was divided into three main modules, each focusing on a key topic within sustainable business development. Learning methods and activitiesLearning methods and activities are lectures, class and group discussions, and case day exercises. <ul><li>Lectures: As previous years, guests lecturers were used to cover some of the course topics, and effort was put to help students see links and structures across the lecture series. Students seemed satisfied with the lectures and connections made between them. Due to fewer concepts and guest lecturers, this seemed to work better than previous years. </li><li>Case days: As the exam was a group portfolio assignment with three essays, three mandatory case days were held to initiate topics and work on the essays. These sessions linked to curriculum in each of the three main course modules, and seemed to improve the quality of their deliverables and final exam results. </li><li>Class and group discussions: Discussions were used frequently during lectures and case days, and students showed a high level of reflection in discussing course material and topics. Unfortunately, the attendance on some non-mandatory lectures was quite low, which reduced the classroom dynamic in these sessions. </li></ul> EvaluationAs a follow-up from 2022, the exam was organized according to the three main course modules, where student groups worked to develop and integrate three essays throughout the semester. This helped students initiate and engage more actively with the material at an earlier point in the semester. Although the groups had some freedom of choice in solving the assignments given, the anchoring in course main modules and curriculum helped reduce some confusion and burden in defining and scoping their work compared to previous years. The assignments also linked to existing companies and business development cases, which helped students reflect on concepts in practical business settings. The feedback from students was that the practical approach supported a deeper level of learning. Groups submitted each essay as a mandatory assignment along with a group presentation of their essay in the class. Groups were given written feedback on their essays and class feedback was given after the two first essays to offer general advice on improvement. All groups were also supervised towards the end of the semester to engage in discussions on how their essays could be integrated and linked in their final portfolio.

Course contentStudents reported satisfaction with the structure and content of the course, and seemed to navigate course topics and the curriculum more easily than previous years. The reference group indicated that the curriculum was overwhelming at the beginning of the semester, so redistributing the core and supplementary curriculum for next year's course is advised. The three course modules seemed to offer an intuitive course structure and will be continued. Due to development at the master program level in the department, the content will be somewhat redesigned in 2024 to match adjustments in other courses and programs. Learning methods and activitiesIn 2024, the course will be organized in three mandatory full day day-seminars with lectures, exercises and discussions. Student groups will be supervised and receive feedback on their work between each seminar to follow up on their work and ensure progress towards each deliverable and final exam portfolio. EvaluationThe exam form will be continued for 2024, but students should be given a more thorough introduction to the essay and portfolio format as well as assessment criteria in the first seminar to reduce any unnecessary confusion. As students reported a good learning outcome from working in a case-based manner, this approach will be continued in 2024. A lot of effort was put into offering feedback and supervision to student groups on their deliverables during the semester. This resulted in a good level of reflection and integration of course material in the final portfolios, as well as demonstrated abilities to present viewpoints and arguments in a clear and logical manner.

NTNU:TIA:REST

Department of International Business

Institutt for internasjonal forretningsdrift

Engelsk

Mer om vurdering

Faglig innhold

Kursmateriell

Læringsutbytte

Læringsformer og aktiviteter

Forelesninger, og øvinger. Enkelte øvinger eller forelesninger kan ha obligatorisk oppmøte og/eller leveranser. Dette vil bli opplyst ved semesterstart.

Sustainable Business Development

Økonomi og administrasjon

Master i økonomi og administrasjon

NTNUs Entreprenørskole - masterstudium i entreprenørskap (2-årig)

Master in International Business and Marketing

Finansiell økonomi - masterstudium

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Based on student feedback and reflection from instructors in 2022, some adjustments were made to the course. 1: Organize the portfolio assignment as a group deliverable (optional)Based on student feedback, the exam portfolio assignment was changed to a group deliverable (optional). This was to motivate students to explore course concepts in dialogue and increase their learning outcome through group interaction. This arrangement will be continued. 2: Use both written and oral evaluation formsStudents also had to provide an oral assessment of their work, in addition to submit their written report. The oral presentation was graded as pass/fail. 3: Open for more flexibility in the examThe exam was formulated more openly, where students could choose their own topic and approach to analyze sustainable business development. Although this increased flexibility, some students also found it difficult to choose a topic and create a problem formulation. Some students also hesitated to choose a topic until the end of the lecture series. For next year, the exam description could be specified somewhat, and students should also be offered guidance on problem formulation. 4: Increase representation of companiesSeveral case companies were invited to lecture about their work, and students also performed exercises on solving problems formulated by case companies. A company excursion was initially planned, but due to the pandemic situation this was not possible until later in the semester. As students were immersed in exam preparations at the time, few signed up for the trip and it was ultimately cancelled. Company visits and excursions should ideally take place earlier in the semester. 5: Update learning outcomesThe learning outcomes were specified according to Bloom´s taxonomy. The new learning outcomes are:<ol><li>Define key concepts, principles, ideas and theories within sustainable business development</li><li>Explain how sustainable business development apply to strategy, marketing, innovation and management</li><li>Critically evaluate business cases in view of sustainable business development</li><li>Select and synthesize information from academic and other relevant sources to support your research and ideas</li><li>Design solutions to develop and implement sustainability strategies in companies</li><li>Clearly communicate your ideas and findings with academic and business professionals in an international context</li></ol>

About the courseThe course presents and discusses concepts and content related to sustainable business development. Emphasis is placed on how businesses can contribute to keep global production and consumption within the limits of the planet. Focus is on the emerging academic fields and concepts related to sustainable transformation. Student feedback and reflection from instructorsA feedback from was distributed towards the end of the semester, along with a class feedback session to gather input on how to improve the course. Few students responded to the feedback form, that was distributed on Bb at the end of the semester. The form should probably be included as a mandatory activity during the final lecture to ensure critical feedback is collected. Learning methods and activitiesThe learning methods are mainly lectures, where some exercise work and group and class discussions are used. Students are exposed to various topics in sustainable business development, and some students felt that there were to many concepts, making them only familiarize with them superficially. Currently, the course covers elements from management and strategy, marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship and supply chain management. A lot of concepts could probably be included in courses taught within the various domains in the program, making SBD a more management and strategy focused course. This would permit students to explore concepts more in depth within domain contexts across several courses, freeing more time in SBD to reflect on sustainability management and business strategies. A review of the "sustainability" portfolio at the master's program in international business will be performed spring 2023 to restructure SBD and other courses to integrate critical concepts in a more suitable manner. Due to the nature of the course, a lot of guest lecturers are used, both internally and externally to the department. This creates variability in the course that some students like and others not. While guest lecturers offer expertise on particular course concepts, theories and methods, they may also adopt different teaching styles and pedagogical approaches. As part of the restructuring on the sustainability-portfolio at the program level, SBD will become a more narrow course with fewer concepts explored in depth. This will naturally also reduce the number of guest lecturers. Students also expressed an interest in several types of learning activities, in addition to group discussions. For instance, they suggested using digital tools more to stimulate discussions, particularly digital lectures. Various teaching tools should be explored, especially if digital lectures will be relevant in 2023. Currently, in-person teaching is planned. CurriculumThe curriculum is mostly based on scientific articles and reports. Some students found the curriculum challenging as the majority of it consists of academic articles. Their impression was that there is a high degree of variability across the program with respect to the curriculum, i.e. the use of books vs articles in various courses. At the beginning of the semester, students were given a (mandatory) lecture on how to read academic articles. Students had positive feedback on the session and found that it helped them become more comfortable with reading and using literature in their studies. The way students used academic literature in their written reports could generally be improved. This could be an integral part of the feedback on submitted work throughout the semester. Some students also struggled to navigate across the concepts and gaining a clear understanding of the structure of the course. Narrowing the course down and using an organizing framework should be considered as part of the sustainability course portfolio assessment spring 2023. Evaluation formsThe evaluation form is twofold: Oral presentation of a case company (pass/fail) along with an individually written report on a selected topic (graded A-E). As mentioned, the oral and written parts should be connected, and both activities should be performed in groups (at least optionally). Students also expressed interest in having assignments throughout the semester feeding into the final exam, to incentivize progress and get continuous feedback. The assignment can be adjusted to include mandatory submissions of partial work (e.g. problem formulation, draft reports etc) to ensure that guidance and feedback is given throughout the semester.

Kurset tar for seg konsepter, teorier, metoder og rammeverk for bærekraftig forretningsutvikling<ul><li>Regulatoriske og politiske rammeverk for bærekraftig utvikling</li><li>Bærekraftige forretningsmodeller og innovasjon</li><li>Økoprenørskap og bærekraftig venturing</li><li>Bærekraftig markedsføring og merkevarebygging</li><li>Verktøy, metoder og systemer for bærekraftsledelse</li><li>Etikk, samfunnsansvar og CSV (Creating Shared Value)</li></ul>

Kurset skal gi studenter kunnskap om<ul><li>globale initiativer, standarder og rammeverk for bærekraftig forretningsledelse, innovasjon og utvikling</li><li>bærekraftig verdiskapning gjennom industrielle aktiviteter i globale verdikjeder</li><li>akademiske felt i utvikling knyttet til bærekraftig forretningsutvikling</li></ul>Kurset skal gi studenter ferdigheter i å<ul><li>anvende prinsipper for bærekraftig verdiskapning for å analysere forretningskonsepter</li><li>analysere verktøy for bærekraftig forretningsutvikling fra et akademisk og profesjonelt perspektiv</li><li>anvende kunnskap for bærekraftig verdiskapning i dialog med næringsliv og andre aktører</li></ul>Kurset skal gi studenter kompetanse i å<ul><li>forstå selskapers muligheter til å bidra til bærekraftig utvikling og de potensielle implikasjonene dette har for verdivalg og endringsprosesser i bedriften</li></ul>

Forelesninger, øvinger og arbeid med casebedrift.

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Due to the pandemic situation and the local shutdown in Ålesund at the beginning and end of the semester, most of the lectures were digital. This was challenging for both students and lecturers. Towards the end of the semester, more ICT tools and concepts such as flipped classroom was introduced to provide a more flexible and dynamic learning environment. Students and lecturers seem to think the course quality is satisfactory, but some improvements could be made to achieve the learning outcomes more efficiently.

The learning outcome was updated in 2021 and is considered highly relevant as it concerns students' knowledge, competence, and skills in addressing sustainable business development. Students are introduced to the learning outcomes at the beginning of the semester, and objectives are also stated when relevant, e.g., in conjunction with course activities such as the essay/portfolio assignment. Learning outcomes: The course shall give students knowledge about<ul><li>global initiatives, standards, and frameworks for sustainable business development</li><li>sustainable value creation associated with industrial activities in global value chains</li><li>the emerging academic fields within sustainable business development</li></ul>The course shall develop students' skills and competence in<ul><li>applying the principles of sustainable value creation to analyze various business concepts</li><li>analyzing relevant sustainable business concepts from an academic and professional perspective</li><li>applying knowledge of sustainable value creation in dialogue with businesses and other actors assessing the social responsibility businesses have in a global economy and the implications this may have for the internal value choices and change processes within a company</li></ul>

Teaching and learning activities involve lectures, case study work, group discussions, and individual reading and writing assignments. The various activities are designed to develop the students' knowledge of sustainable business development and their skills and competence in applying this knowledge to assess real-world cases pertinent to the course theme. Students put in a lot of effort to achieve these outcomes, particularly through the portfolio assignment. Changing the portfolio assignment from an individual to a group project could improve the learning outcomes. This way, more can be gained as students may also discuss and explore ideas and concepts within the assignment group. The learning environment is considered constructive but could also become more flexible and adaptable to each student's need. Assignment groups is one measure towards this end as students have more flexibility in their contribution to the case company assessment.

The examination arrangement is a portfolio assignment. Students write three essays on a chosen case company throughout the semester to analyze their current activities and impact on sustainability and evaluate and suggest potential improvements the company can make. This is meant to help students actively use theories, methods, ideas, and concepts from the course curriculum to assess a real-world case, ultimately obtaining the desired knowledge, skills, and competence. It is desirable to have students engage more with businesses during the course, and with assignment groups, it may be possible to identify local companies that may serve as business cases during the course.

Alle trykte og håndskrevne hjelpemidler tillatt. Alle kalkulatorer tillatt.

Ingen hjelpemidler tillatt.

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Sustainable Business Development - AI521316