Changing beliefs about the role of business in society in the past thirty years have increased the pressure on organizations to define how it addresses higher purposes beyond financial gain.  This is particularly relevant as companies are making long-term commitments to improving the world through mechanisms like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The success of an organization depends on the quality of its relationships with different stakeholders including NGOs and governments. More specifically, an organization develops its activities through a stakeholder network, which affects and is affected by the organization’s behavior. 
Therefore, the concepts of sustainability, organizational purpose and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are becoming more and more crucial. The course aims at defining CSR and how organizations create social impact.  The course will look at new managerial solutions and new performance evaluation and reporting methodologies capable of integrating and improving traditional economic measures.

The purpose of the course is to build a new vision of social impact based on a stakeholder framework. Whether CSR is understood as organizations taking responsibility or society holding organizations accountable, the underlying issues are how about the environmental, social, and governance opportunities and risks that have emerged in today’s globalized, networked world will be explored. 

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss basic concepts and vocabulary related to CSR and Organizational Communication.
• Interpret NGO governance and management.
• Discuss the ethical and social issues/decisions in CSR communication.
• Integrate CSR/Social Impact perspective into organizational communication strategy. 
• Assess an organization’s CSR initiatives.
• Assess corporate performance in a comprehensive way.