esade

Socio-Political Environment of Businesses (2225.YR.003174.1)

General information

Type:

 OBL

Curs:

 3

Period:

 S semester

ECTS Credits:

 3 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group Teacher Department Language
Year 3 Ignasi Martí Lanuza Ciencias Sociales CAT, ESP

Workload distribution

Full-class sessions: 15 hours
Group sessions: 15 hours
Independent study (readings, weekly study and exam preparation): 45 hours

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

The aim of this course is to provide students with a global perspective on the social and political context in which organisations operate, so that, when they analyse any issue, whether professional, economic, social or human, they can automatically situate these problems within a local and global interaction framework.

To achieve this, the course applies a multidisciplinary methodology to analyse globalisation, seeing the latter not as a simple economic process but, rather, as a major social transformation involving social, political and cultural elements. This transformation is not predetermined, and its results stem from multiple decisions which imply specific ways of understanding the world around us, seeing reality and putting human values into play.

This course's perspective is fundamentally cultural. First, this focus has to help students to understand the social impact of individual and collective decision-making and, second, it has to allow them to develop the criteria to assess the political and social consequences of their own decisions.

This course thus raises questions that underpin Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and allow future executives to address the major social issues that coexist alongside their professional endeavours.

Course Learning Objectives

Upon completing this course students should:
- Know and be able to analyse the fundamental elements of the techno-economic, social, political and cultural environment of organisations (business, public sector and non-profit), applying the appropriate methodology.
- Understand the impact organisations have on their environment.

Based on the above, students will develop a global/local vision of reality and thereby be able to develop a professional and civic commitment to society.

CONTENT

1. Introduction to globalisation

Objectives:
- Introduce the different models used to understand globalisation.
- Learn about the key globalisation concepts and core trends.
- Present a reference framework of globalisation theories.
- Set the foundations to present the different globalisation ideologies: neo-liberalism, alter-globalisation, jihadism, authoritarianism, and, along with these, anti-globalisation.

Content:
1. Introduction to globalisation; images of a complex world.
2. Theoretical framework.
3. Four globalisation theories.
4. Explaining globalisation: Ideologies:
5. How to understand today's world.

Readings to prepare the session:
1. SOCIOLOGY II class notes, chapter 1.
2. GIDDENS, Anthony (2000): Un mundo desbocado. Los efectos de la globalización en nuestras vidas. Chapter 1. Taurus, pp. 19-31.
3. WALLERSTEIN, Immanuel (2004): The Modern World System as a Capitalist World Economy. In Lechner, Frank J. and John Boli (ed.) (2008): The Globalization Reader, 3rd ed. Malden MA: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 6, pp. 55-61.
4. SKLAIR, Leslie (2002): Sociology of the Global System.In Lechner, Frank J. and John Boli (ed.) (2008): The Globalization Reader, 3rd ed. Malden MA: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 7; pp. 62-69

2.

3.

4. Globalisation's social, cultural and technological facets (I): Social structure and the at-risk society

Objectives:
- Understand the consequences of technological development for global social structures and cohesion within contemporary societies.
- Understand why a technologically advanced society is an at-risk society.
- Develop an awareness of both the existence of problems and conflicts derived from issues of identity and their implications for the globalised world.
- Analyse their impact on the relationship between the planet's countries and different cultures.

Session 2 and 3 content:
1. Globalisation and social change; 1.1 Agents and factors; 1.2 Traits of societies undergoing globalisation; 1.3 A historic view of baselines: towards a new social model; 1.4 The information society and changes in the job market.
2. Technological change and the at-risk society.
3. Culture and its different functions
4. Economic culture in a globalised market
5. Cultural globalisation and identity conflict; 5.1 A view of identities in a globalised world; 5.2 Globalisation and conflict.

Readings to prepare the sessions:
1. SOCIOLOGY II, class notes, chapter 2.
2. REICH, Robert B. (1993). El trabajo de las naciones, Javier Vergara Ed., Madrid, Chapter 14, pp. 175-186.
3. REICH, Robert B. (1993). El trabajo de las naciones, Javier Vergara Ed., Madrid, Chapter 16, pp. 198-208.
4. REICH, Robert B. (1993). El trabajo de las naciones, Javier Vergara Ed., Madrid, Chapter 17, pp. 209-224.

5. Economic globalisation

Objectives:
- Establish an analytical model for economic globalisation that provides insights on the growing trade interrelationship over the last two centuries.
- Understand the nature of economic globalisation from the perspective of restructuring wealth and growth.
- Discuss the re-structuring of the planet into geopolitical blocks and the new role that States play in terms of their relationships with multinationals.
- Discuss the social and political implications of States losing some of their power to regulate and manage.

Session 4 and 5 content:
1. A sociological approach to the economy; definitions and concepts; 1.2 Economic globalisation; concepts, phases and traits; 1.3 A historical perspective.
2. Economic globalisation at the outset of the 21st century.
3. Global production chains and changes in the world's production structure.
3. Economic globalisation; strategies and reactions; 3.1 The rise of geoeconomics; geoeconomic strategies; 3.2 Reactions to neo-liberal globalisation; 3.3 The relation between globalisation and inequality.

Readings to prepare the session:
1. SOCIOLOGY II class notes, chapter 4.
2. PACKER, G. (2013). The unwinding. An inner history of the new America. Nueva York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Chapter: Mr. Sam: Sam Walton. pp. 100-106

6. Contemporary business culture

Objectives:
- Understand the economic, social, political and cultural power of companies.
- Understand the ethical dimension of companies and their social responsibility.
- Understand the power of companies and their ethical and social responsibility in the context of globalisation.
- Understand and know how to apply CSR, Social Action and Corporate Citizenship concepts to real companies.
- Reflect critically on the necessary qualities for business professionals in the context of globalisation.

Session 8 and 9 content:
1. The rise of functionalism in management.
2. The business function and large companies.
3. Towards a new corporate culture; 3.1 The rise of conflict; 3.2 Companies and the rediscovery of social expectations.

Readings:
1. SOCIOLOGY II class notes, chapter 6.
2. HENNCHEN, Esther. (2013). Shell in Nigeria. Case study.

7. State sovereignty and global governance

Session 10 and 11 objectives:
- Understand the changes that globalisation has imposed on global governance.
- Understand its principal challenges.
- Analyse globalisation's impact on the role of States.
- Observe the interrelationship between the economic and cultural realms and the political sphere.

Session 10 and 11 content:
1. The erosion of State sovereignty.
2. The Nation-State crisis.
3. The State and globalisation's trilemma.
4. Global governance: Rethinking power in the 21st century.
5. Europe as a global governance embryo.

Readings:
1. SOCIOLOGY II class notes, chapter 7.
2. Rodrik, Dani. (2011): The globalization paradox. Democracy and the future of world economy. WWNorton & Company, Nueva York. Chapter 9. The political trilemma of the world economy, pp. 184-206

8.

9.

10.

Methodology

Practical session formats:

Format (A)
· Test (15 minutes, maximum of 1 sheet) + break (5 min.)
· Reading content analysis (1h 10 min.)

Format (B)
· Group presentations: Discussing the key ideas found in the session readinsg + moderating and guiding the debate on the reading dedicated to a current event (20 minutes to present the readings + 20 minutes of debate).
- Group and topic selection (first practical session): 5 groups with 4 to 5 members each.
- Presentation objective: present/explore the key points in the session readings + connect the latter to the reading on current events and moderate/guide the ensuing debate.
- Methodology:
Presentation without slides.
Demonstrate their understanding and reflection on the issues raised.
All the group members are required to speak.
Raise questions and guide the ensuing debate.
· Analysis of reading content (50 min.)


Tests:
· These can include either multiple-choice or open-ended questions based on the session content.
. Group faculty are solely responsible for marking these tests
· The lead faculty member will mark the exam, not the tests.

ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Description %
Tests 30
Participation in group sessions and other participatory activities 20
Final exam 35
"Enabling" activities 15

Assessment criteria

The assessment of the aforementioned course objectives includes tests taken at the end of each subject block, attending both the full-class and group sessions and the foreseen session activities. Assessment is understood not only as a means to calculate a mark but also as an integral part of the educational process. Faculty will thus focus assessment on students' progress, providing ongoing assessment to this end.

To calculate the average between students' marks on the different course activities and the final exam, the following conditions must be met:
- Both marks (from the ongoing assessment component and the final exam) must be a 5 (out of 10) or higher. Contrarily, students' final marks for the subject will be the lowest of these two components.
- In order to pass the ongoing assessment component, students must earn an average mark of 4 (out of 10) or above on the tests.

To pass the course by re-sitting the final exam, students must meet two conditions: a) they have to earn a 5 or higher on the re-sit exam; and b) the sum of the ongoing assessment component (60% of students' final marks) and the final exam mark (the remaining 40%) must total a minimum of 5. Thus, students' marks on the ongoing component are still considered when students re-sit the final exam.

Bibliography

Students will be required to prepare a series of readings for the different sessions. Some of these include the following (though they may be subject to change):

1. MURILLO, David (2015). De Walmart a Al Qaeda. Barcelona: Editorial Barcino, cap. 1, pp.29.56 (36pp)
2. Yuval Noah Harari. The World after Covid: https://www.ft.com/content/f1b30f2c-84aa-4595-84f2-7816796d6841
3. Parekh, S.; Wilcox, S. (2020): "Feminist Perspectives on Globalization". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Zalta, E.N. (ed.).
4. Alias, A (2021). The many forms of contemporary racism.
5. Mike Walsh (2028). Algorithms are marking economic inequality worse. Harvard Business Review
6. Rescuing Economics from Neoliberalism - DANI RODRIK (2017).
7. The Economist: "Impact investing" inches from niche to mainstream.
8. Joan Tronto (2010). Creating Caring Institutions: Politics, Plurality, and Purpose.
9. D Rodrik: La paradoja de la globalización (spanish) and D Rodrik: The Globalization paradox
10. Neusteurer, N. (2018): "The Concept of Green Economy and its Role in Hegemonic Neoliberal Capitalism"

Timetable and sections

Group Teacher Department
Year 3 Ignasi Martí Lanuza Ciencias Sociales

Timetable Year 3

From 2023/2/7 to 2023/4/25:
Each Tuesday from 12:00 to 13:15. (Except: 2023/3/14 and 2023/4/4)
Each Tuesday from 10:45 to 12:00. (Except: 2023/3/14 and 2023/4/4)

Friday 2023/5/12 from 12:15 to 14:30.