GV3CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Putting Theory into Practice

Module code: GV3CSR

Module provider: Geography and Environmental Science; School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science

Credits: 20

Level: 6

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Mr Jim Ormond , email: j.k.ormond@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The world faces wide ranging environmental and social crisis, from climate change and biodiversity collapse to growing inequality and social unrest. Businesses have a critical role in these challenges – both in relation to the causes and the potential solutions. This course adopts a practitioner perspective to understand the emergence and role of corporate social responsibility (CSR):

• Combine academic critical thinking; corporate examples and practical exercise to build understanding and insight on the role of corporations in addressing sustainability challenges
• Detail analysis of individual company approaches to topics such as renewable energy, carbon reduction, biodiversity protection and ethical trade
• Provide a practical insight into what a career working in CSR

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Outline what corporate social responsibility (CSR) is and why it matters in relation to the governance of sustainable development pathways
2. Conduct a critical analysis of real-life CSR strategies, measurement and reporting
3. Understand the importance of CSR as part of the sustainable development agenda

Module content

The course follows a 10-week pattern, in which students are asked to study a company’s approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in-depth. Each week there are activities for students to undertake relating to their ‘company’, which are then discussed in plenary within the following week class. Topic covered within the module include

• What is corporate social responsibility (CSR) and why does it matter
• How companies define their CSR priorities
• Governance of corporate supply chains
• CSR measurement and reporting
• Business and the carbon economy
• How businesses engage consumers
• The role of companies in addressing global sustainability challenges

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The course is designed to be practice and engaging

• Students are asked to study one company’s approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in-depth.
• The content of the course draws from academic literature and a wide range of corporate practices to engage students into the role and responsibility of companies relating to their impacts (from climate change and biodiversity protection to ethical trade and ethical business practices)
• Each week there are activities for students to undertake relating to their ‘company’, which is then discussed in the following week class.

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Each week, students undertake a short activity relating to their chosen company – for instance, ‘research how your company measures its carbon footprint’ – this is then discussed in the following week’s class, with peer-discussion and commentary from the lecturer. This feedback can be used in the subsequent oral presentation and written assignment.

Reassessment

Additional costs