Programs and courses

Business Ethics Leadership

Course code: COMM 312

This course will provide practical skills for students to help the organizations they are affiliated with better manage for their values.

One skill is to identify the values of an organization, and to recognize ways that it can better deliver on its values. An important part of this skill is to develop an awareness of how organizations negatively impact vulnerable people, and to use that awareness to identify business opportunities to do better. This skill will be developed through a variety of techniques including an arts and humanities project, “ethics audits” of various products, and stakeholder role-playing.

The second skill is to develop an understanding of best practices in business ethics leadership and management. This skill will be developed through studying ongoing business news cases, reading relevant parts of the business ethics literature, and interviewing business leaders and guest lecturers.

The third skill is to develop a plan for business ethics leadership. To develop this skill the student will identify an opportunity for an organization she is affiliated with to better deliver on its values, and to develop a business plan where she can help lead the organization.

Together, these skills will empower the student to exercise leadership in business ethics no matter where she stands in an organization.

Strategies for Responsible Business

Course code: COMM 314

This course will provide students with an understanding of the positive and negative impacts business can have economically, socially, and environmentally – and how long-term, strategic decision making can unlock business opportunities while addressing these societal issues. The language and tools of sustainability and responsibility are a new standard currency in business, and understanding the long-term impacts of business decisions can lead to more successful business models that readily adapt to the demands of new evolving markets.

Innovation and Sustainability

Course code: COMM 386I

This course explores sustainability as an opportunity for innovation. The term sustainable business refers to competitively advantageous strategies and practices that firms adopt to grow revenues, cut costs, improve market share, enhance brands, and redesign products and processes to reduce or eliminate adverse environmental and social impacts. This course will consider and critique the multiple ways that sustainability is contested and understood across various industries, including its biophysical, political, economic, institutional, ethical and technological implications. Students will look at the drivers of corporate innovation, strategic shifts, and new markets; learn to identify innovation opportunities; and recognize the tools, concepts, standards and frameworks used by companies currently pursuing a sustainable business model.

Impact Investing: Social Finance in the 21st Century

Course code: COMM 386L

Impact investing has emerged over the last decade as a new sector at the interface between philanthropy and investment. The sector currently represents $9-12bn of investment capital. This course provides an introduction to the impact investment sector and the related responsible investing sector, describes the evolution of impact investment, the growth of new asset classes, and the opportunities and challenges faced by investors seeking meaningful impact investment vehicles.

Indigenous Peoples and Economic Development

Course code: COMM 386T

The business community in Canada is striving to build stronger economic relationships with Indigenous communities. Exposing undergraduates to this subject will provide them with an understanding of the complexities and importance of Indigenous engagement, and better prepare them for roles in the private sector. While the focus will be on Indigenous engagement in Canada, the tools and frameworks presented will be applicable to cross-cultural business practices in many environments. This course will support these priorities by presenting:

1. A high-level review of political, legal, cultural, and historical contexts.
2. Case studies on the private sector's engagement with Indigenous peoples.
3. Frameworks that present best practices and tools for enduring and successful economic relationships.

Social and Nonprofit Marketing

Course code: COMM 460

This course explores the core principles of marketing within the context of social and environmental causes including healthcare, sustainability, public safety and human rights. Fundamental marketing strategies are reinforced as they relate to: 1) non-profits, 2) social marketing designed to change laws and/or society’s behaviour and 3) cause-related-marketing within the corporate sector.

Sustainability Marketing

Course code: COMM 484

This course integrates commercial marketing fundamentals with the core environmental, social, and economic principles of sustainability. Consumer awareness of sustainability issues has evolved from an emerging social movement to mainstream values, and marketing strategy plays an important role in a business’ ability to respond to these issues in a genuine manner.

Social Entrepreneurship

Course code: COMM 485

Social Entrepreneurship is about creating and leading organizations that strive to advance social change through innovative enterprise solutions that apply management tools and models to social and environmental issues. Some of the best known examples include Kiva.org, a distributed financing model for entrepreneurs in developing countries, and the Grameen Bank. This course will provide an overview of the field of social enterprise; outline the business structures and funding methods used by social entrepreneurs; illustrate the mechanics, tensions, and realities of starting and/or managing a social enterprise; and engage students in hands-on experience with real social ventures.

Corporate Responsibility and Business Ethics

Course code: COMM 486C

COMM 486C prepares you for the ethical challenges that you will face when you enter the workplace. This course adds a unique perspective on leadership over and above the traditional focus on practical leadership and the normal levers of influence. We will discuss (1) the basic psychological mechanisms and biases with which people make ethical decisions, (2) the ethical issues involved in leadership processes, and (3) how to address social responsibility issues as a decision maker of a corporation.

Ethics and Sustainability

Instructor: Justin Bull | Course code: BA560

This course examines trends in sustainability that are shaping the future of business, government, and society. Using a variety of conceptual frameworks, students will understand the challenges and opportunities that sustainability presents and how to play a leadership role in navigating these issues. Social sustainability and ethical issues around responsible business, inequality, racial justice, and decolonization are also discussed. Students will learn how to manage the complexity of sustainability, identify how it motivates different stakeholders, and be exposed to frameworks that foster leadership and innovative thinking. Completing the course will leave students equipped with the tools to effectively apply sustainable thinking and leadership skills to a wide variety of professional opportunities.

Topics in Entrepreneurship

Instructor: James Tansey | Course code: BAEN 580C

Impact investing has emerged over the last decade as a new sector at the interface between philanthropy and investment. The sector currently represents $9-12bn of investment capital. This course provides an introduction to the impact investment sector and the related responsible investing sector, describes the evolution of impact investment, the growth of new asset classes, and the opportunities and challenges faced by investors seeking meaningful impact investment vehicles.

Topics in Entrepreneurship

Instructor: Justin Bull | Course code: BAEN 580A

The business community in Canada is striving to build stronger economic relationships with Indigenous communities. This course will expose students to the political, legal, cultural, and historical contexts that make developing and improving relationships with Indigenous communities a priority for the private sector. Students will learn the context, tools, and best practices required to support and promote relationships between the private sector and Indigenous nations. The course will be divided in three parts: 

1. A review of political, legal, cultural, and historical contexts that shape private sector and Indigenous relationships. 

2. Case studies on private sector engagement with Indigenous communities, both successfully and unsuccessfully. 

3. Approaches that represent best practices and tools for enduring and successful economic relationships.