ESRM 320, Marketing & Management from a Sustainability Perspective, is a course that:
- Gives NW and I&S and 5 credits.
- Has NO prerequisites.
- Is an ‘introduction to business’ course designed for non-business majors.
- Is a hybrid online course, meaning there are some scheduled live online and in-person events (e.g., two mandatory in person exams on 11.6 and 12.4, 4:30-6:50 pm, online quizzes starting at 6 pm).
Overview. In ESRM 320 we explore two of the four primary business dimensions, marketing and management (companion course ESRM 321 explores finance and accounting) from a sustainability perspective. Marketing involves promoting, pricing, and distributing new and existing products that are aimed at satisfying consumers’ needs and wants. Management refers to developing, motivating, leading, and managing employees and resources. Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of people today without compromising Earth’s capacity to provide for future generations. Integrating corporate profitability, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility is triple bottom line sustainability.
Learning Objectives. ESRM 320 offers students the opportunity to: 1) learn marketing and management business concepts and strategies, and 2) gain hands-on experience assessing corporate sustainability performance. The business learning objectives, below in italics, are achieved through watching to recorded lectures online and reading the required textbook. The sustainability learning objectives, below in bold, are realized via live, online conferences where the professor mentors students in assessing current, real-world performance using corporate sustainability report information.
- Explain marketing, management, and corporate social responsibility.
- Describe how markets are segmented, targeted, and products positioned to satisfy individual and business consumers’ needs.
- Compare techniques for creating value-added products; valuing environmental and social externalities and managing traditional pricing; developing distribution strategies and “greening” the supply chain; and creating and implementing promotion campaigns.
- Define managerial and leadership styles and theories of motivation.
- Summarize the human resource process of recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, motivating, and evaluating employees.
- Discuss sustainability concepts and how a commitment to sustainability can enhance customer and employee satisfaction.
- Describe the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework for sustainability reporting.
- Assess human rights, labor practices, product responsibility, and society sustainability performance practices and impacts.
- Analyze real-world sustainability performance using info and data in corporate sustainability reports.
- Compare and interpret the sustainability performance of three case study companies.