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Streams

Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

In the Business Ethics (BE) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stream, students take up three fundamental questions.

  • The first of these explores what types of BE and CSR programs corporations have and why they have developed such programs (e.g., stakeholder pressure, niche markets, regulatory pressure, etc.). Students explore this question not only at at the level of individual firms, but also with regard to different economic sectors and national contexts.

    A key part of this analysis entails the interplay between corporations and civil society movements (e.g., environmental NGOs, worker rights NGOs, fair trade movements, etc.) which seek to influence the behaviour of corporations with respect to environmental sustainability, labour and human rights, local development aspirations, etc. In this way students are able to investigate how BE and CSR programs function in relationship to the larger national and global political economy.

  • The second question that students explore in this field relates to how we evaluate corporate behaviour in general and BE and CSR programs in particular. This involves the development of ethical standards (and democratic principles) for evaluating corporate behaviour and the application of such standards in complex circumstances.

  • The third question that students examine in this field is the actual impact of BE and CSR programs and, more specifically, what can be done to promote greater corporate responsibility.

    Again, such analysis occurs not only at the level of individual firms, but also examines sectoral, national and international initiatives. Such initiatives can be led by any of several different actors, including corporations themselves, NGOs, local communities and international organizations.

Course Requirements

BA Requirements

  • AP/PHIL 2070 3.0 Introduction to Ethics

An additional six credits from the following list:

AP/SOSC 2571 9.0 Introduction to Social & Political Thought

AP/POLS 2900 6.0 Perspectives on Politics

AP/SOSC 2570 9.0 Human Nature & Political Thought

  • AP/SOSC 3040 6.0 Corporate Social Responsibility

An additional three credits from the following list:

AP/PHIL 2075 3.0 Introduction to Practical Ethics

AP/PHIL 3020 3.0 Ethics

AP/PHIL 3050 3.0 Business Ethics

AP/PHIL 3776 3.0 Technology and Ethics

AP/ENVS 3000 3.0 Environmental Ethics and Epistemology


Honours BA Requirements

In addition to the above, students must include at least six credits chosen from:

AP/SOSC 4043 6.0 Corporate Governance & Business Law  or

AP/SOSC 4044 6.0 Ethics and Economics