- Enseignant-e: Berit Knaak
Managers today are expected to do more than deliver financial results. As stakeholder expectations evolve and grand challenges – from climate change to inequality to the disruptive effects of new technologies – become central to managers’ mandate, a manager's role is increasingly defined by the ability to account for the broader consequences of organizational decisions, both within and beyond the boundaries of the firm and to navigate dynamic global environments. Many managers believe they act with good intentions and without bias when responding to crises, social and environmental issues, and stakeholder demands. Yet corporate involvement in corruption, fraud, environmental degradation, human rights abuses, and customer manipulation persists, suggesting that good intentions alone are not enough – responsible management requires deliberate structures, critical reflection, and accountability.
This course builds students' capacity to manage responsibly by moving systematically outward from the company itself: starting with internal management considerations (values, ethics, leadership, and workforce diversity), extending to the firm's closest external stakeholder relationships (business partners, supply chains, and customers), and broadening further to the company's role within society, the environment, and technological change. A final set of sessions examines how organizational structure, culture, and industry context shape what responsible management requires in practice, recognizing that responsible management is highly context-dependent. By fostering critical reflection and practical insight, the course equips students to take on leadership roles grounded in responsibility in the future.
By combining lectures, case studies, in-class discussions, and guest speakers, the course pairs conceptual grounding with practical application.