Contemporary Issues in Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics, Sustainability or Greenwashing

Contemporary Issues in Corporate Social Responsibility

Focus on a contemporary Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics, Sustainability or Greenwashing issue / topic. There is a list available   from the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) on ethical issues and challenges faced by companies and organizations. Whilst the list will give you an idea of the topics; you don’t have to restrict yourself to the list. Prepare and submit an essay on the contemporary issue / topic that you want to explore and present your point of view.

NOTE: An essay is a piece of writing where you present a point of view that is valid (based on evidence) and is also persuasive to the reader. ***

The word count for this assignment is 3,000 words and will not include the title page, executive summary, contents page or bibliography.

It is important that you show knowledge of key debates within the wider literature. Also, it is strongly advised that you are critical in your writing and ensure a good level of integration and coherence in applying theories. Please work on, and ensure an excellent level of criticality, coherence, and flow of your report. This will require effective discussion and clarity.

Please note that a significant amount of the marks is awarded on the basis of wider reading, critical and logical presentation, quality of argument, referencing, academic integrity and academic writing conventions. Please see Assessment Criteria on the Moodle.

Reassessment

The reassessment will be a resubmission of this report, with tracked changes made in response to the feedback given.

The Learning Outcomes assessed by this assessment are:

Knowledge

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of business decisions on stakeholders

Thinking skills

2. Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate underlying ethical issues in a given situation

3. Show an understanding of the conflicting demands upon the responsible decision make

Subject-based practical skills

4. Effectively use decision making tools to develop optimum solutions for ethical dilemmas and evaluate their effectiveness

Skills for life and work (general skills)

5. Develop an argument to support a course of action in a given situation.

We strongly suggest that you try to submit all coursework by the deadline set as meeting deadlines will be expected in employment. However, in our regulations, UEL has permitted students to be able to submit their coursework up to 24 hours after the deadline. The deadline is published in this module guide. Coursework, which is submitted late, but within 24 hours of the deadline, will be assessed but subjected to a fixed penalty of 5% of the total marks available (as opposed to marks obtained). If you submit twice, once before the deadline and once during the 24-hour late period, then the second submission will be marked and 5% deducted. This rule only applies to coursework.  It does not apply to examinations, presentations, performances, practical assessments or viva voce examinations. If you miss these for a genuine reason, then you will need to apply for extenuating circumstances, or accept that you will receive a zero mark.

Contemporary Issues in Ethics

a) Assessment criteria for the task:

b) Guidance on referencing

As a student you will be taught how to write correctly referenced essays using UEL's standard Harvard referencing system from Cite Them Right. Cite them Right is the standard Harvard referencing style at UEL for all Schools apart from the School of Psychology which uses the APA system. This book will teach you all you need to know about Harvard referencing, plagiarism and collusion.  The electronic version of “Cite Them Right: the essential referencing guide” 9th edition, can be accessed whilst on or off campus, via UEL Direct. The book can only be read online and no part of it can be printed nor downloaded.

c) Details of submission procedures:

Notice is hereby given that all submissions for this component must be submitted to Turnitin.”  If you fail to submit component to Turnitin, in accordance with the guidance provided on the Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle), a mark of 0 will be awarded for the component.

Submitting Assessments Using Turnitin:

Turnitin is required for coursework assessments, such as report/research papers or projects in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and in PDF format.  There are two main reasons we want you to use Turnitin:

· Turnitin can help you avoid academic breaches and plagiarism.  When you use Turnitin before a submission deadline, you can use the Originality Report feature to compare your work to thousands of other sources (like websites, Wikipedia, and even other student papers).  Anything in your work that identically matches another source is highlighted for you to see.  When you use this feature before the deadline, you will have time to revise your work to avoid an instance of academic breach/plagiarism.  

· Turnitin saves paper.  When using Turnitin to electronically submit your work, you will almost never have to submit a paper copy.  

UEL has permitted students to be able to submit their coursework up to 24 hours after the deadline.  Assessments that are submitted up to 24 hours late are still marked, but with a 5% deduction.  However, you have to be very careful when you are submitting your assessment.  If you submit your work twice, once using the original deadline link and then again using the late submission link on Turnitin, your assignment will be graded as late with the 5% deduction.

Best Advice: Don’t wait until the last minute to submit your assessments electronically.  If you experience a problem submitting your work with Turnitin, you should notify your lecturer/tutor by email immediately.  However, deadlines are not extended unless there is a significant systems problem with Turnitin.  UEL has specific plans in place to address these issues.  If UEL finds that the issue with the system was significant, you will receive an email notifying you of the issue and that you have been given a 24-hour extension.  If you don’t receive any email that specifically states you have been given an extension, then the original deadline has not been changed.  

d) Feedback and return of work:

Work should be submitted on Turnitin and all feedback will be on Turnitin.

You may submit formative work to your seminar tutor by 10th May 2020. Generic feedback will be given to the whole class.