Unit information: Sustainability and Ethics in Global Supply Chains in 2022/23

Unit name	Sustainability and Ethics in Global Supply Chains
Unit code	EFIMM0076
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Lopez Castellanos
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	Nil
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	Nil
Units you may not take alongside this one
School/department	School of Management - Business School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Unit Information

The unit addresses the key issues of sustainability and ethics (including inclusion) in today’s operations and supply chains for goods and service provision world-wide. Essentially, this unit will develop relevant management knowledge and skills necessary to deliver efficient and effective goods and services in a fast changing context facing global challenges. Students will be introduced to the core concepts of business ethics, corporate social responsibility, sustainable and resilient supply chains, circular economy/closed loop supply chains, humanitarian logistics, green/environmental friendly product development, carbon taxes, carbon neutral government regulation/legislation/policy, carbon/water foot printing, reverse logistics, eco-system services and associated frameworks/models to illustrate how operations can contribute to developing sustainable competitive advantage. This unit will also allow student to opportunity to discuss the global megatrends and how these may impact industrial systems in the period to mid-century. Students will examine the long-term and strategic importance of grappling with complex ethical, inclusive and sustainable business matters and the firm level strategies and practices involved in doing so. Focus will also be placed on industrial policy and system-level innovation that aim to drive future product and service delivery in a resource constrained world.

There will be an emphasis upon understanding dominant ethical models in business decision-making from a philosophical perspective, the importance of responsible, transparent and inclusive economic growth in global and local environments and triple bottom line reporting for sustainable business. Important discussions will also consider how organisations are working collaboratively with the not-for-profit-sectors to respond to the global challenges and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The module aims to:

• Introduce the theories and practices related to sustainability and ethics in today’s operations for the supply of goods and services.
• Provide understanding of the range of operations and supply chain management issues that organisations are addressing in response to United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and global challenges;
• Develop knowledge and skills required by operations and supply chain professionals to improve economic, social and environmental performance by distinguishing between success and failure in practice.

Your learning on this unit

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Develop a comprehensive understanding and classification of key issues/theories associated with sustainability and ethics in the academic field of operations and supply chain management;
2. Demonstrate broad and specific knowledge of global challenges and major organisational responses associated with firm-level strategy and operations;
3. Appraise and critique international/government policies and grey literatures associated with industrial transition;
4. Apply relevant models and theories to business and management issues associated with sustainability and ethics in operations and supply chain management practice.

How you will learn

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions including lectures, tutorials, drop-in sessions, discussion boards and other online learning opportunities.

How you will be assessed

Formative: This will include a small range of methods including in class and/or on-line quizzes, debates and case evaluation; Summative: 3000 word individual assignment (100%)

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EFIMM0076).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.